Featured Blogger of the Week: Sept. 13-20, Post #3

Featured Blogger of the Week: Sept. 13-20
Riva Greenberg , Diabetes Stories
Post # 3

One of the things I do is talk to fellow patients mostly at a support groups and health fairs. I help them learn healthier habits that make diabetes easier to manage and I also dispel the fear and confusion people have about using insulin. But I’m here to tell you about something interesting that happened when I gave my presentation one time.

I was speaking in Buffalo, N.Y. to about 40 patients and for the first time I was double-billed with a diabetes educator. I am not a medical person. The CDE’s speech preceded mine so I leaned back and listened. I heard a solid forty-five minutes of A1cs, blood pressures, weight control, exercise, portion control, and carb-counting…in short, numbers, zones, and target ranges up the wazoo. Where is the humanity in this, I thought? Where is the patient in this? Where is the acknowledgement of the work we do and energy we spend slogging through each day? I saw my purpose was to put it back in our diabetes and talk about how we hold diabetes in our lives.

Taking the stage I shared my own shock and fear upon diagnosis, my subsequent denial, and my early complications. The room quieted. I was, they saw, like them: a soldier in the trenches. I saw the landscape they saw; I tramp through the same dark forest; I look for cover when diabetes rains down upon me or drains me out.

“When you’re so busy testing every day,” I said, “reading labels, counting carbs, and calculating, do you stop to think why you’re doing all this work? Isn’t it to see the grandkids grow up, start that second career, create the best vegetable garden in town, contribute something to the world, or have another million days with your spouse?” Heads nodded and people leaned forward, people actually smiled and eyes lit up. Someone had understood and acknowledged this piece of living with diabetes where their heart resides along with their struggle.

People are dying–literally–to hear their healthcare providers address the emotional issues of living with diabetes. But doctors and CDEs don’t know the experience of living with diabetes if they don’t have it and they haven’t been trained to deal with the psychosocial aspects of chronic illness.

We, however, are in the business of chronic illness. We have life adjustments to make, and we have precious little help to make them. So here are my recommendations: Learn all you can. Appreciate what you hold dear. Pace your efforts and forgive your mistakes. Keep the vision of your ‘best life’ ever-present. And spend more time doing what you love. While we’re living with diabetes, let’s not short-change the “living” part.

Riva Greenberg is the author of "50 Diabetes Myths That Can Ruin Your Life: And The 50 Diabetes Truths That Can Save It" and “The ABCs of Loving Yourself with Diabetes” available in English and Spanish. Riva also speaks to patients and medical professionals. To learn more about Riva’s work and read her blog, visit her web site at www.diabetesstories.com