No Cure for Diabetes: What that DOESN’T mean

Last week I had a bit of a rant about there is no cure for diabetes…

Just because there isn’t a cure (yet) doesn’t mean it’s time to curl up and get ready to die a horrible death.

Sure, managing diabetes is uncertain.

People with diabetes experience sugar highs despite their best efforts. People with diabetes experience sugar lows despite their best efforts. People with diabetes develop complications despite their best efforts.

Life is uncertain.

Every time you step off the curb that proverbial bus might come screaming down the road and run you over.

So, what’s a person to do?

Hide under the bed?

I don’t think so…

Shortly after I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes my cousin asked me, “So, what can you eat now?” I responded, “I can eat whatever I want. It’s just a matter of how much and when.” It might sound like I was being flippant, but I was serious.

I can eat whatever I want.

And I’ll admit after 18 months of poking myself with a needle everyday to draw blood what I want has changed. After logging everything that I eat, my post-meal blood sugar levels, and if I felt dizzy or nauseous or sleepy what I want has changed.

After tracking my blood sugar after eating a Quarter Pounder versus the simple McDonald’s cheese burger how much I want has changed. After recording how I feel after eating a whole piece of carrot cake versus having just a bite or two and really savoring those bites how much I want has changed.

And figuring out a daily schedule of four small meals that is manageable and leaves me feeling satiated has changed the when I want. 

A lot has changed since my diagnosis. I am choosing to make those changes. Those choices help me feel alive and well.

This is not to say I don’t have days when I’m tired or frustrated or wish that I wasn’t living with diabetes. I’m human and fallible. But unlike some other medical condition what I choose to do affects how I feel—directly and in a very short while. Most of the time I choose well.