Who is your most important team member
Lets take a quiz...is it
- Primary Care Physician for health and wellness
- Endocrinologist our diabetes specialist
- Dietitian for nutrition
- Ophthalmologist for our vision
- Podiatrist for our feet
- Dentist for our oral health
- Pharmacist to make sure all our prescribed medicines don’t counteract with each other
- Mental health advisors
- Fitness Trainers for exercise
- Family, friends and love ones to support and encourage
ANSWER: None of the above…The most important team member is YOU!!!
Only you can decide to make your diabetes a priority. You can do this. We’re all rooting for you.
Priorities have changed
I can remember when I had my children my priorities were baby, formula, diaper bag, car seat, baby’s safety and nothing else. Making sure we were there for them at every moment in their lives. They were the single most important thing in our lives. As I grew older my priorities became making sure I have my teeth, my cell phone and my car keys. Now that I’m diabetic my priorities have changed, they are:
o Take Medicine as Prescribed
o Check Blood Sugar
o Stick to Diet
o Exercise
o Positive Mind Set
Yes, My Priorities have changed. Being The Diligent Diabetic doesn’t mean we always do everything perfectly when it comes to our health and diet. It means we don’t stop trying. We are consistent in our effort to do better for ourselves and for those we love.
I understand that every diabetic is not an empty nester and can’t devote100% of your time to changing your lifestyle. I want to encourage you to take one small step at a time. Remember, it took me six years to get to this point. Most if not all of us have cell phones. Use your cell phone as your own personal assistant. That’s what I do. Set alarms to take your medicine on time each day.
Lesson Learned
I am not perfect; my blood sugar is not always between 70-130. I remember during the first few months of finding out I was diabetic I ordered and ate a fried chicken breast sandwich along with the mayo and fries. “It’ll be ok”, I said to myself, after all it is a chicken breast sandwich and I won’t eat all the fries.…. not good, not good at all. Oh, the sandwich and fries were good, but the results were not. I made the decision to get the fried chicken rather than the grilled chicken because maybe I wasn’t completely convinced that I was diabetic, and still in a stage of denial. When I took my blood sugar two hours later I thought I was surly going to die and to compound the problem my then teenage daughter come by and read the note I posted on my calendar in large black letters and numbers BLOOD SUGAR 364. Never Again!!! It wasn’t enough that my head felt like it was about to split open, or so I thought, guilt made me spill my guts and tell her what I did. She looked at me and confirmed “yes, you’re gonna die, because you know better.” I’m glad to say I got past that careless, ugly episode. Note to self “Never Again”. This is a new journey for me and I know that I’ll have my weak moments but as a diligent diabetic I have enough respect for life that I won’t stop trying to do what I can to live a healthier life. Living takes priority over a brownie, big oatmeal cookie, fried foods, ice cream, or things that are going to jeopardize my health. Because I Choose Life I will always be The Diligent Diabetic.