Living with Diabetes: A Personal Journey

I think, so I think my consultant who looks after my diabetes was really, really good at making me, kind of demonstrating to me that it is less of a big deal than I thought it would be and that actually injecting yourself a number of times a day with insulin really isn't a problem or an issue and that it interferes with your life much less than you think it might. And she was really clear that it's a thing, you learn to live with it really quickly, it's not that big a deal and it shouldn't stop you from doing anything that you want to do. And she's right. I mean, I don't think I could join the military apparently, but that's okay. But effectively, it hasn't yet stopped me from doing anything that I want to do. I think that some healthcare professionals are somewhat ignorant in what it's actually like. And it's really interesting when you get asked by some people, you know, well, how much insulin do you take? And you go, what? Depends, doesn't it? And they're like, well, you know, you must have a set dose. And I'm like, no, not really. And I think that there is a perception that, you know, you take your insulin three times a day and you take your long acting insulin twice a day and you do this and you do that and you have to eat the same thing every day and you have to eat at the same time and it all is all very rigid. And I don't I mean, that doesn't work for my life. I assume that probably doesn't work for a lot of people's lives. And I don't think people necessarily realize that it has, whatever you do and however you treat it, it has to work with your life as well as make your diabetes control good. And that probably you have to alter your diabetes treatment and control more than your lifestyle. I say that with the caveat that yeah, you probably should give up smoking and not eat all the cake, but at the same time you have to live your life and enjoy it.