This is the third year that I am participating in the Annual Diabetes Blog Week. The idea is that many of the bloggers blog each day for a week and we share not only among ourselves but tell you about some other blogs you might want to read.
Not completely typically, I am behind already. I was not feeling well yesterday and did not start on time. So today, I will cover the first two days. I am usually late at the end – not the beginning!
Each day has a topic and we are all to write on that topic. If there is a topic that you prefer not to wrote about, there are a couple “wild card” topics.
While I have found that many of the topics don’t necessarily apply to Silent Sam or our situation, I still think that it is a great unity exercise and I love finding all the other bloggers. So, off we go…
Monday’s topic -
In the UK, there was a diabetes blog theme of "I can...” that participants found wonderfully empowering. So lets kick things off this year by looking at the positive side of our lives with diabetes. What have you or your loved one accomplished, despite having diabetes, that you weren't sure you could? Or what have you done that you've been particularly proud of? Or what good thing has diabetes brought into your life?
I would say that in our case, the “I can” was that Silent Sam decided that he could start exercising and eating right and reduce the medicines that he was taking when he was diagnosed. In case you never read the beginning of this process for us, Silent Sam was diagnosed when he was in the hospital for a different issue and he went from nothing to shots and pills. He was able to work hard and reduce his use of medicine. I am very proud of all the hard work he put in.
You know, if you follow this blog that there have been some missteps along the way and we have had to kick start the process a few times. We are currently back in the kick start phase again. We are doing well – Silent Sam always does better than I do – but we are both working on diet and exercise.
But to those of you wondering if you can work your way off the medicine or reduce the amount that you need to take, I will tell you that you really might be able to do it. The rewards are well worth the effort.
Tuesday’s topic
Many of us share lots of aspects of our diabetes lives online for the world to see. What are some of the aspects of diabetes that you choose to keep private from the internet? Or from your family and friends? Why is it important to keep it to yourself? (This is not an attempt to get you out of your comfort zone. There is no need to elaborate or tell personal stories related to these aspects. Simply let us know what kinds of stories we will never hear you tell, and why you won't tell them.)
This is hard because I think that I share most of what happens around here. I do try not to concentrate on or write about the long term affects of diabetes. I think that they are so scary that I just try and concentrate on trying to work with Silent Sam to keep his levels in a good place.
Because really, not taking care of your diabetes is a path that leads to major problems. The loss of body parts is bad but the loss of your mind is even more serious. I know that diabetes is a hard disease to come to grips with because you don’t necessarily know there is any thing wrong with you. They call high blood pressure the silent killer but I think the same can be said for diabetes.
I think that when I find something truly scary, I don’t want to talk about it. I certainly don’t talk to friends and family about the long term issues of diabetes. It is almost like tempting fate. I keep that as the stone in my pocket that I occasionally peek and then hide it away again.
I will try to keep on top of my daily posts for the rest of the week now!
Thanks for reading!