Who knew? Life with T1D is hard!

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Yes, life with T1D is hard! But you know what, life is hard.

Maybe itā€™s that Iā€™ve always been on MDI, never a pump, but giving yourself an injection a few times a day isnā€™t the end of the world. My mother always used to tell me, when I was feeling put upon, that there were people doing much worse than me. She was right.

Iā€™m not saying that T1D is easy or fun, in just saying that we could be strapped with much worse. In just not going to cry about it.

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Interesting stats. Thanks for posting. @CatLady!

Iā€™ll cry about T1D if it helps. Crying can help sometimes.

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As always, I think itā€™s really, really important to remember that those of us on this site are not the typical person living with type 1 diabetes. By and large, we have outstanding control compared to most. (I mean, I feel like I struggle compared to many here, and yet my endo has said Iā€™m one of his star patients. That really says something about the calibre of most peopleā€™s control here!) So many people who answered this survey may be dealing with extreme fluctuations in blood sugar on a daily basis.

I think itā€™s important to acknowledge that type 1 diabetes is hard. And maybe try to find ways to make it less-hard. And recognize that we are awesome for dealing with it and not letting it stop us, despite how hard it is.

For me, I find type 1 diabetes especially hard in conjunction with several other serious chronic illnesses. Trying to live my life as an ā€œaverageā€ thirtysomething, working and travelling and socializing and striving towards life goals, while dealing with numerous chronic illnesses and a disability really does make me feel like my life revolves around my health some days.

Sometimes itā€™s not easy. At all. And yeah, occasionally I do cry about it or feel a bit sorry for myself.

But most days I try to kick butt and not let anything stop me.

And many days, I really like not being average.

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[Bruce Wayne]: Why didnā€™t you justā€¦ kill me?
[Bane]:You donā€™t fear deathā€¦ You welcome it. Your punishment must be more severe.
[Bruce Wayne]: Torture?
[Bane]: Yes. But not of your bodyā€¦ Of your soul.
[Bruce Wayne]: Where am I?
[Bane]: Home, where I learned the truth about despair, as will you. Thereā€™s a reason why this prison is the worst hell on earthā€¦ Hope. Every man who has ventured here over the centuries has looked up to the light and imagined climbing to freedom. So easyā€¦ So simpleā€¦ And like shipwrecked men turning to sea water from uncontrollable thirst, many have died trying. I learned here that there can be no true despair without hope. So, as I terrorize Gotham, I will feed its people hope to poison their souls. I will let them believe they can survive so that you can watch them clamoring over each other to ā€œstay in the sun.ā€ You can watch me torture an entire city and when you have truly understood the depth of your failure, we will fulfill Raā€™s al Ghulā€™s destinyā€¦ We will destroy Gotham and then, when it is done and Gotham is ashes, then you have my permission to die

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I donā€™t avoid driving, and I donā€™t avoid exercise. With the exception of those two, Iā€™m a hit for all of the other categories. Life is just easier without restaurants and parties, and, as was evident from my last one, vacations.

Iā€™ve learned how to have good control. Those things make good control very difficult. Iā€™m not sad without them though. Quite the opposite. I cross my fingers and hope not to be invited anywhere. :smiley:

Yes, life with diabetes is hard, and, yes, life is hard for non-diabetics, too. Itā€™s the hermits life is easy for. Thatā€™s my thinking. :smiley:

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Iā€™m actually pro both dealing with it AND crying about it sometimes. I think everyone above had a valid, interesting take on T1 whoā€™s posted so far. We all have our own take, and every day is different.

I will, however, add that the study and infographic and article linked above reeked of fear mongering to me. Painted with a brush of cheeriness and positivity. But underneathā€¦it felt like it was trying to scare - to remind me that leaving the house will make control worse.

Everyone chooses their own path. Eat out, donā€™t. Travel, donā€™t. Drink, donā€™t. Exercise, donā€™t. We are all so different, thereā€™s no one size fits all solution. And Iā€™ve got room in my life for all of the combos. :relaxed: :kissing_heart:

But for us, even though it means worse control, EH does most of the above and figures it out. Often by the seat of our pants.

Today, for instance, followed a yesterday of long lasting drifting and hard to correct lows. But today, given the random opportunity that arose, Eric hopped into a race car and did a couple of trips around a race track - ignoring the wildly inaccurate Dex readings, having a Coke or two, doing lots of fingersticks, trusting The Force, and landing at 120 before he donned the helmet and drove off. :checkered_flag:

Not letting diabetes hold us back is the goal. Today felt like winning.

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With the UTMOST respect, and I hope you know this, I disagree. I didnā€™t feel like it made me afraid, I felt like it represented the kind of diabetic I am. Actually, I should say it represented the kind of diabetic I am CURRENTLY. I was a very different diabetic for 14 years, which Iā€™d call ā€œfearlessā€ if it werenā€™t closer to reckless abandonment, and I finally had to learn to say ā€œno.ā€ Whereas I used to say yes to whatever, I had to learn to say no. Not easy, but simple. I wonā€™t eat at the restaurant, I wonā€™t get the cookies, I wonā€™t head out the door without grabbing my entire emergency kitā€¦ It was the only way I could learn to make good choices.

My control has finally TRULY changed (for the far better), and there is a touchā€”sometimes JUST a touchā€” of ease in my daily management. My hope then is that this is just a stage, and it really might be. I went through a number of stages in the first 14 years, but they lacked know-how, time, energy, organization, motivationā€¦ The list is at least 86 items long. In the last year, however, things have come together for me, and now Iā€™m learning how to live a kind of ā€œminimalistā€ diabetic life. Except for the brownies. Cookies, chips, popcorn, chocolate chipsā€¦ So minimalist except for the clutter. :smiley: My point is Iā€™ve had to learn how to get better control by exhibiting better self-control.

Maybe down the road, with stronger skills, I wonā€™t still be this kind of diabetic, but I have to learn the full route for the shortcuts to be any help. This is just a stage. A temporary reality.

I LOVE this for you guys. I know what the gist of this forum is, and I know my incessant insisting that I need more control and less freedom goes against the grain, but I donā€™t think itā€™s wrong. I donā€™t want to step on toes, but I donā€™t think itā€™s wrong. Sometimes true freedom is more confining when someone struggles with how theyā€™ve used the opportunityā€¦ Likeā€¦ telling a toddler to go into the candy store and grab a couple of thingsā€¦ and then hoping they make good choices.

Okay. Iā€™ve really strayed from anything of any kind of quality at this point. I started off with a point in mind, and it mainly was that at this stage in my diabetes, this is very much in line with how I am living my life. But itā€™s not a bad thing. Itā€™s a layover.

My cat looks like she is about to go into labor, and I should probably be focusing on that. Though Iā€™d prefer not to. Because yuck.

Yes. Absolutely. And yes. I have those feelings, too.

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