Diabetes...

Diabetes is a source of suffering for many in our society. It effects every aspect of your life. What you eat, what you do, and how you feel are all changed for the rest of your life. High blood sugar weakens the immune system as well. You have to live the rest of your life taking medicines and using products that add as much as $300/month to the budget in your household. Every recipe and meal has to be adjusted to take into account carbs, proteins, fiber, nutrients, and fats to a greater degree than mental most health professionals would deem sane.

I have fought this disease for a bit over 20 years. It can be depressing and tiresome, but I face it every day defiantly. I will not let this condition define me or lessen my drive to live my life. If you have either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, always remember that you live by fighting the disease. Fatalism is a self fulfilling prophesy. The "Eat, drink, and be merry. For tomorrow we die!" attitude is a sure way to an early and painful death.

A Sensei at the dojo that my daughter studies Judo, Jujitsu, and Karate at was killed by he failure to control his condition. He had fallen into a binge and fast cycle. That cycle lead him to drive his sugar too low. When he passed out, he fall inclined on a chair. His position as he lay there, caused him to loose blood flow to his brain for an unknown period of time. After a week in an unresponsive state, the hospital detected that his brain was decaying. This was a failure to manage his disease. It cost his life. This sort of thing happens all of the time.

Too many people end their lives early because they cannot face the challenges of diabetes. They fail to see the challenge as something to be faced and struggled against. They let it beat them. I even met a young man in his 20's a few years back that used diabetes as a reason to file for disability. I do not grudge the disabled getting the help they need, but I find it pathetic that this young man used his disease as an excuse to bail on life and work. He has become a drain on all of us just because he will not face the challenge. He will likely die without having done anything remarkable in his life. His brother, who is epileptic, works full time and runs his own business. One brother has my respect, the other is a sad example

I have learned, in my over 20 years of fighting this disease, that to be lax and not fight against you limitations is a sure way to the grave. Amputations of fingers/toes, arms or legs are a thing I wish to avoid. The same is true of blindness and the host of other ailments that grind the neglectful diabetic literally to bits. Nerve pain is one of the scary ones. When your body hurts and anything short of special pain meds with warnings as long as your arm is useless in even dulling the constant throb of agony.

In the end, please, if you have diabetes, take care of yourself and reap the benefit of a longer, happier life. If you do not have diabetes, be thankful, and please support efforts to help find a cure.

Thank you.