30 Things Meme…

As part of Invisible Illness Week, answering questions from the ’30 Things…” meme from here.

30 THINGS ABOUT MY INVISIBLE ILLNESS YOU MAY NOT KNOW

1. The illness I live with is:

Type 1 Diabetes. I also live with Lupus, diagnosed in 1989, Classic Migraines since I was a teen, periodic Panic Attacks and more. This is a diabetes blog, so answers pertain to T1D.

2. I was diagnosed with it in the year:

Misdiagnosed in 1978 as Type 2, rediagnosed 30 years later after antibody testing.

3. But I had symptoms since:

About 3-4 weeks before diagnosis.

4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is:

Understanding that the stuff that sustains me can also kill me and that goes along with tons of blood glucose testing every day.

5. Most people assume:

I’ve done this to myself because I must have eaten too much sugar as a kid (I actually hated sweets and fizzy drinks as a kid), and don’t understand the role of antibodies attacking the  beta-cells of almost all people with Type 1 Diabetes.

6. The hardest part about mornings are:

Knowing the process of keeping myself alive and healthy as possible starts all over again every day. Yet I’m glad to have woken up at all.

7. My favorite medical TV show is:

ER – or used to be when it was being produced. There are others now, but nothing like ER

8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is:

My insulin pump… well, I could live without it and go back to injections, but the pump is a miracle to me and the best thing that has happened for my health.

9. The hardest part about nights are:

Making sure I’m not another ‘dead in bed’ person with diabetes.

10. Each day I take __ pills & vitamins. (No comments, please)

6

11. Regarding alternative treatments I:

Know there’s no alternative to insulin, but I will do/take other supportive treatments when there is good evidence to do so, and if I can afford it.

12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose:

Invisible because no one who doesn’t know, questions my ability to do anything.

13. Regarding working and career:

I’ve done almost everything I’ve wanted to do in work and career.

14. People would be surprised to know:

That even though I have panic attacks from time to time, the more scary thing is going to sleep every night, hoping I don’t have a hypo while I’m asleep and sometimes alone in the house.

15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been:

That I can’t eat whatever I want without making adjustments to my insulin and that the insulin has piled on the weight that is a bitch to loose. I eat about half as much as most people without diabetes do!

16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was:

Swimming with an insulin pump (mine’s waterproof)! Who even knew that an insulin pump would exist years ago?

17. The commercials about my illness:

Don’t exist. Yes, they do for Type 2, but I’ve never seen one for Type 1.

18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is:

Most of what I miss is the energy I had in my early 20s. Suspect this is more age and less diabetes related, but even the slightest elevation of blood glucose has an effect on me. The late afternoon nana-naps are becoming too familiar. Can’t be as spontaneous as I used to be.

19. It was really hard to have to give up:

Going out on a whim without taking a mass of ‘supplies’ and testing stuff; not worrying about activity (even just 10 minutes of walking) having an effect on my blood glucose.

20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is:

Probably given up more hobbies than I’ve taken up because of tendonitis (no doctor can tell me if this is diabetes or lupus related)

21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would:

Hmmm… I have almost no memory of what ‘feeling normal’ feels like. I’d probably eat an entire chocolate cake, drown a bottle of Coca Cola (which I haven’t had since 1978) and put real sugar in my tea and coffee… and not feel guilty or give it a second thought.

22. My illness has taught me:

That the more I know about it, the easier it gets to manage it.

23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is:

“You should lose weight, then your diabetes will be cured.” On what planet can Type 1 be cured?

24. But I love it when people:

Ask about my pump and actually understand the diabetes condition and what has to be done to survive.

25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is:

You can do this! You never know what’s around the corner.

26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them:

You can do this too. Learn everything you can and take charge!

27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is:

There many others with the same condition. Thank you to the Internet!

28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was:

Get some food for me when having a hypo and ask me how I’m feeling.

29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because:

This is part of what I do to be involved in the Diabetes Online Community (DOC) in the hope that it might help or resonate with others.

30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel:

You are interested enough in what I do or say, for whatever reason – you have diabetes, you know someone with diabetes, you’re a carer and so on.