| Hello Norcal,
I'm glad you found this group. You belong here. We all have felt exactly like you at one time or another, mostly at the beginning. You brought back some stong feelings in me. I had just turned 13 when I was diagnosed. At that time, not much was known about diabetes and my mom was in charge of my care because the doctors set it up that way. It was a tough time for my parents to have MORE power over me, just when I was wanting less. Much less.
I went through the next five years doing what I had to to stay alive, but not really accepting that I was a diabetic. Just like Blue Sky and John have both said, I didn't think anything would happen to me. At that age, the diabetes was easy on me. You've had a harder time than I did. I was only hospitalized for my appendix. My closest friends knew that I was diabetic because it was a small community and our parents all knew each other, but I pretty much kept it to myself otherwise.
Well, your quote is telling.
"Time is never time at all and you can never ever leave without leaving a piece of YOUTH"
And I did. Finally I realized I had missed that whole part of my growing up that I wanted to be all carefree. (My daughter introduced me to that song.) Any person who faces a serious health problem does grow up much sooner, whether they want to or not.So, I did finally have to face that my youth would never be what it was before.
So here's the part you'll be glad to hear: While diabetes was and sometimes still is a PIA, I decided early on that it was not going to stop me, or even slow me down. I was determined to find what worked for me so that I felt good and could do anything I wanted. And I did. You can click my forum name and read my bio.
Now that we have tools like insulin pens, pumps and glucose meters, We don't have to guess anymore and it doesn't really take very long to do the things we have to do. To have the very best health would take you approximately ten minutes a day. Two basal injections, three to five bolus injections--with a test before each one. You can do ten minutes. If you are down on going to the doctor, get yourself a book. Gary Scheiner's THINK LIKE A PANCREAS is a good one. If you want to know good doctors in your area, post it and we will send personal messages if you like.
We're here because we care and we all wish we'd had a place like this much sooner.
Please get to know us and let us get to know you. There is an amazing amount of combined knowledge here precisely because we wake up every morning with diabetes just like you.
Here's a hug from a fellow diabetic.
Mich  | 
