Question:
I've only known about my T2 diabetes for 3 weeks, but already I feel like it has dominated my life.

I feel like I've lost my identity! Suddenly, I'm not the intelligent, happy-go-lucky, accounting student/musician/chef/book worm/gardener. No, now I'm just a DIABETIC!

UGHHHHHHH

I know I can't simply "forget" that I am a diabetic, but there must be a fine line between neglecting one's health and not being consumed by it!!

I'm tired of feeling like THE DIABETIC! I want to be me again...

This probably sounds stupid to most of you, but I really feel lost as a person. Am I the only one who feels this way?

I want to be happy again. I need to get back into the things that make me tick--like music, cooking, accounting, friends, family, and genealogy. Maybe filling myself up with good things will help me feel stronger.

Tell me, what's your passion in life? What's the thing (or things) that makes you who you are?
Answers:

1223355:

I love talking to intelligent people. By doing so, I kind of get the chance to elevate myself to their intellectual level.

It will not be easy for you to lose your real identity. You can recapture it very easily by changing your present attitude towards your type 2 diabetes.

Will I suggest a way of doing it? No. Definitely not. But I will tell you what I would do if I were you, based on my personal experience with my t2d for 17 years.

Very few type 2s get diagnosed with a sky-high fasting bs of 468 mg/dl. At that high reading, I felt more dead than alive. But in less than 2 weeks after diagnosis, I was my old self again: happy-go-lucky, confident, hard-working, lively, full of faith in my God that He would always watch over me. I was diagnosed in July 1991.

What did I do? With the approval of our family physician then, I decided to use exercise as my only t2d medication. For you to understand me better, may I tell you that our family physician then was a cardiologist and he required me to pass a stress test to make sure that my heart was strong and healthy enough to take all the strains and stresses that it would be subjected to.

Now, here's the kicker. This very kind and understanding doctor referred me to a lady nurse/cde/dietician. This lady taught me everything I should know about foods for diabetics. In a 4-hour training session with her, I learned a very important lesson: free food.

Since then up to now, I have been eating a lot of this free food.

I have reached this crazy conclusion that if I don't allow myself to be afraid of foods I deem right for my overall health - mental, physical, spiritual - I will do well. So for 17 short years I have been thriving.

In a clearer way, what actually have I been doing? In unrestricted amounts, I have been eating a lot of heart-healthy carbohydrates in 3 full meals every day. Between meals, I drink water. Immediately before each meal and before bed, I have been exercising by running the stairs a total of from 40 minutes to no more than 2 hours/day. I started out on 2 hours/day, then went to 40 minutes/day, then moved up to 1 hour/day, upped to 80 minutes/day, and now I do close to 2 hours/day.

Every single moment, I don't allow myself to get mad, to feel inferior or superior, to get envious or jealous, to hate others, or to harbor any negative feelings. I try my best to be always helpful, understanding, and loving.

I was 55 years old when I was diagnosed and I felt weak, thinking that my end was that close.

I am now 72.5 years old, feeling half my age, full of life, and my obsession is to help as many people as I can by sharing whatever I have been blessed with.

I hate to be boring so I have to stop now. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

But before I forget, my carby meals definitely give me after-meal sugar highs. I don't treat them, I don't get scared by them, and fortunately, I don't have any diabetes complications yet. I think that my exercise routines have surely made my regular bs highs (I have had more than 18500 of them) short-lived, temporary, and harmless. Since 2 weeks after my diagnosis, I have always been living like I have no diabetes.

And don't forget to stay happy and to enjoy life always!!! You are smart and there's nothing better for you to do but to stay that way.

Bonny C Damocles
Answers:
I understand what you mean. I am very glad to meet someone so talented. Maybe I will pick your brain sometime in the chef and gardner modes. I just planted a garden (price of veggies being so high). And, I have not done one in years.... So, I might need advice.

Also, with your "chef" hat I hope to get a few food ideas from you over in the food forum.

I too am a bookworm. The librarian knows me so well, that I usually have my books checked out before I reach the counter. (I like to reserve on-line).

My biggest passion is my children. Get me talking about my boys and you will have trouble getting me to stop! Both are wonderful, intelligent young men that I am extremely proud of.

I also am passionate about kids. I work as an educator, and I spend a lot of my energy there.

I use to love crafts, but with my kids afterschool activities and such, I lost the time for them. However, with my youngest going of to college in the fall, I am hoping to get back to many of the things I have not done in years.

Remember, you ARE a person. A valuable, wonderful person to this world, and this forum. Although we KNOW you are a diabetic, the people here think of you as a person. The more you share with us, the more your portrait is painted in our minds.
Answers:
You are newly diagnosed, so until you get stablized and get used to the whole thing, it does kind of take over. It is a whole new world. I was diagnosed 6 months ago. It has taken about that long for me to more or less feel myself..... Yes, it is scary, frustrating and all the rest. It's something that you MUST focus on, because it will affect your life from now, till the day you die. BUT, as things get more routine, things will get normalized and you will be able to get back to the things you love. However, diabetes will not go away. It's now added to who you are along with book worm, gardener and all the rest. Accept it and work with it and make it yours, don't let it dominate you. I have been lucky. I have worked hard with the whole diet and exercise thing. I am now off my meds!!!! When I was diagnosed I had a sky high reading of 485. It has slowly and progressively gone down to.... normal readings. Yes, I have lost a lot of weight. Yes, I am now exercising more than I ever have. Yes, I am now seriously watching my diet. BUT I AM OFF THE MEDS!!!! OWN IT, DON'T LET IT OWN YOU.
Answers:
Hi...my love for my son and grandaughters is my hearts passion always and forever...that being said my other passion now is my health and taking care of it by eating right and walking every day no excuses... to live each and every day to the fullest and never worry about tomorrow because tomorrow never comes...I start and end every day with a smile..try my best to be kind to people and to offer help if I can...my longterm goal here is to see my grandchildren grow into strong beautiful passionate women
Answers:
I was diagnosed a couple of months ago myself. Thanks to a good doctor, an OK dietitian, my wife, and all the wonderful folks here in here, I know that I can continue being just who I am (sometimes to my wife's chagrin). You can too, with the support of those around you. One proof of that would be to look at the list of famous people with diabetes (look to the pull down n the left of this screen). It can be scary, and it can get you down sometimes. But scary is all in what you do with it, and frustrating is an old Frank Sinatra tune, "That's Life". You pick yourself up and dust yourself off. I know Bonny remembers that one, the old coot! Shoot, I'm only 58 and I remember it.
Answers:
I love you guys! Thanks for the encouragement. Well, vpenning, I should tell you that I'm an amateur musician, chef, and gardener Those are my favorite hobbies, but that's all they are: hobbies! I'm no professional.

I love music: I play piano by ear. I love accounting, too. I went back to college three years ago to become an accountant. People say I'm a little weird for loving all those debits & credits! It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it!

As for my cooking abilities, I cook that old southern cooking that my Grandmother taught me. You know, the kind of cooking that gives you a massive heart attack! I like taking her old recipes, and reducing the fat content to make healthier versions of those dishes. I wish I could cook that fancy gourmet food. Now that's impressive!


It's been years since I planted veggies, but I think I remember some stuff. [I have great tips for canning your veggies in mason jars, if you're interested.] I mostly deal with houseplants now, and I have some beautiful ones!

Maybe you and I should start a gardening/houseplant post for the others who love it, too! We could all share advice. What do you think??

Hey, all this talk makes me feel like ME!! WOW! For 5 minutes, I kinda' forgot that I was on a Diabetic forum!

Bonnie, no one would ever know that your in your 70's! In your posts, you sound so young and smart! My Great-Grandmother lived to be 99.5! She still had a good mind, and cooked large meals when she was 95! You remind me of her.

I hope I can have a healthy life with Diabetes. Food and exercise are the big issues for me. I plan to call the Diabetes educator at my local hospital so I can learn about healthful meal plans.

Thanks again to you both for your posts. You guys inspire me!!

PS: Vpenning: I am reading the "At Home in Mitford" series by Jan Karon. I found it strange that I was reading these books the week I was diagnosed with Diabetes (the book's main character was diagnosed with Diabetes! ) Maybe God intended for me to read them at this special time because they make me feel better.

Hey, what kind of crafts do you like? I can crochet and do needle-point a little. I'm too busy to finish anything I start, though.


Thanks cinderella2 and jlcopen. I am scared, but I hope I'll get use to it over time just like you two did. Your words give me hope....

Hey, catman8_99, how did you know that Frank Sinatra is my favorite singer??? I know every word to "That's Life" by heart. (I'm only 30)! Hah.

Love you guys! I'm feeling better already!!!!!!!
Answers:
Thanks for bringing this topic up l223355. It is great to read all the others stories. As many have said, your still you it just doesn't feel like it. Your at a point you eat, drink think diabetes. It will be just like brushing your teeth and other daily activities in the years to come. Ok now about me and my interests, of course my family and faith is number one. We have two lovely daughters one with children and the other unable to have children. Both our second daughter and our grand girl stopped breathing at birth and barely made it past there first day. Why we think it had to do with infection at birth. The grand girl was very close to death, in fact my daughter came up to take her photo on the 10 th day to say goodbye to her. Of course writing this is making me cry, oh darn it thats just me. I am so happy to say, my precious grand girl is alive and so well you would never know she had problems. She is a spitfire and the nurses said that had a lot to do with her fighting for her life. We have 3 fantastic grandsons that I love to pieces. So as you can see family is so very important to me. I am so very thankful for my lovely wife of 36 fabulous years, I am truly blessed. Lets live life to the fullest we all can do it with the right attitude. By the way my mom lived to the ripe age of 77 and was diabetic for 57 yrs not all of them in very good control. It wasn't diabetes that caused her death but colon cancer that was left undiagnosed even though she had several tests. Again I want to thank you for this post, it has given me greater insight on others lifes, great stuff really.
Answers:
hi i am shelly lynn what make me tick is my two cats they are why i am still alive i wanted to end my life almost 2 years ago as i took some antibaolics that made a mess of my brain i was in hospital for four week my had to look after my cats but they where what keep me going they also got though my start with diabetes as i have had type 2 for over a year but i am back to myself and i am happy i also love writing for the coast post to help others with mental health iuess thanks take care shelly
Answers:
Hi furball:

I'm so glad you enjoyed this post. Everyone posted great answers, didn't they? I feel like Diabetes is taking over, but all your posts help me to understand that it won't always be like this.

I've only known that I was T2 for less than a month. It's still tough to break into the new lifestyle. I'll get there, though.

Shelly:

I'm so glad you're with us on this site. I, too, love cats! What are your cats' names? I don't have any pets at the moment. I live with my elderly Grandparents, and vivacious pets might make them fall. I hope to have a cat and a dog someday. Maybe I'll have a bird, too.

Anyway, I am really glad that you're doing better. Anytime you need to talk, just hop on over here to the site. You sound like such a nice person! Most everybody on here is friendly, and always willing to lend a helping hand. Thanks for replying to my post. Talk to ya' soon