What if...

[thomasb]

Time for reflection. Bare with me.
I figure i know pretty well why i got diabetes, or well atleast what set it off. My dad has it, but never ever talked about it when i was younger. He always left the room and took his shots. So i never thought of it.

24 years old i leave for USA. I start school, get a job and all that at once. Coming from Europe to a country like usa is more of a culture shock then you'd imagine. Suddenly everything was about success and hard work and performance. I worked all day, studied all night( and i had never ever studied past 10 pm before), ate like ****(i cooked maybe 10 times in a year) drank 5 cans of regular soda each day. And some JD when it all got a bit too much. And stacked on some personal problems with the girlfriend as well. In short, not good times. But hey, everyone else seemed to do it.

Then, the last weeks before i was to go home, boom. diagnosed in a week.

I can help think sometimes, what if?
what if i had taken care of myself? Could i have avoided this or perhaps pushed it back a few years?
And looking back i wonder what the H#"#"¤%% i was doing sitting up studying all night and trying to do all those things for. To seem successful and hard working? Much good that did me. Oh well. I am not bitter.

Luckily i am taking care of myself these days, and trying to avoid stress and all those things that are bad for you. Given that is a lot easier on this side of the atlantic. I don't mean to complain on usa though, i'm going back soon. i liked it.

whoa that got personal. Oh well.

[ladytaz]

Thomas, if those things "caused" Diabetes, then there'd be a WHOLE lot more people with Diabetes hun!! No, they don't know the exact reasons for Type 1 (or Type 2 for that matter - though they like to "play" that they know the cause of that one!) anyway .... Don't get down on yourself! You didn't do anything to cause it! It just "happened" to you!! And now ... you're doing things right and taking good care of yourself!! YaY for you!!! :wink:

[shockme]

thomas-you did absolutely nothing to cause it!type 1 is an autoimmune disease-where the body's own immune system destroys the pancreas.if staying up late and drinking causes it-i would have been a type 1 20 years ago!:D take care,trish

[kel4han]

I wonder this all the time too.....ice cream/candy/chocolate binges, day after day drinking all summer long......lack of excersize, lack of sleep, hmmmmm. I always wonder. Wish I could just turn off the wonder since we all know that this wasn't something we caused.....prevented from happening this soon, I believe MAYBE. But not likely.

[Who?]

I Could i have avoided this or perhaps pushed it back a few years?

In a word.......No!

[princesslinda]

I have this wonderful magnet posted on my refrigerator door that says
"What might have been does not exist....don't go there!" and this has helped me in many different situations.

From what i've read, there's absolutely nothing you could have done to prevent yourself from having T1 diabetes; therefore, you should feel no guilt whatsoever about anything...it just happened.

I truly admire all of you guys and gals who have to deal with all you deal with on a day-to-day basis and have such a positive attitude....I wish I could be as strong myself.

[June91]

I think you're doing just fine and even the fact that you're sometimes a bit philosophical and want to know why you have to live the way you do is very healthy. I would worry if I never wondered about so many aspects, including the origin of, this all-consuming evil disease.

[CarrieScott]

Someone once suggested that I got T1 because early in highschool I went on the Atkins diet for 3 weeks.
:hmpf:
How stupid is that?!

Better yet, A born again over zealous religious family member pointed out that God was "punishing" me for having pre-marital sex.
:motz:
Are you F***ing serious!!

[grace girl]

When it comes to type 1, I don't believe there's anything you could have done differently to change things.
I went through all of that after dx because I'd had truly horrible eating habits for most of my life. I'm thankful now that I know better, and I take better care of myself better than I ever did before, but i don't think for a minute that there is anything I could have done differently that would have changed it.

[REDLAN]

Somehow I think that because diabetes is a "lifestyle" disease people just can't help making judgements about how someone has lived their life.

I think it goes something like this...

people who eat bad food, get fat, and then they get ill, and then they die young.

oh you've got diabetes, you must have eaten bad food, not done enough exercise, let yourself get fat, and so it must be your fault.

which is utter B*****x

no you got the disease because you were unlucky.

think you have to look at the all people who did what you did and DIDN'T get diabetes, first before anyone starts pointing out so called "dodgy" lifestyle choices.

[LancetChick]

I think all you could possibly have changed by good behavior is lengthening your honeymoon. Before I was diagnosed I was on a restaurant testing vacation with my brother. I ate SO much food, so many carbs, not knowing that diabetes was responsible for the horrible way I felt. My honeymoon ended pretty much at diagnosis, and I'm sure my over-the-top behavior is why it was so short. I consider it a good thing, though, because dealing with ever-changing insulin doses was not my cup of tea.

[DeusXM]

This might sound harsh, but you're a T1. You were born screwed. It was written in your genes that you were going to have that autoimmune reaction. Ultimately then, there's nothing you could have done to prevent it, which can also be quite liberating.

[NoraWI]

Me? I ate right, I led an active life, I still got T1... at age 62. Go figure!

[JediSurfer]

Don't be daft man. Snap out of it, there is absolutely nothing which you could change that would have made any difference.

[Esme]

princesslinda, what you wrote:

I have this wonderful magnet posted on my refrigerator door that says
"What might have been does not exist....don't go there!" and this has helped me in many different situations.

I love it! We were all brought up with the "what if's".
That quote is so simple and to the point. I'm going to stick this on my fridge too. : )

[Esme]

Hi Thomas, I know what you mean. I am Type 1 and when my son was diagnosed with Type 1 about 3 months ago I thought "what could I have done, and what didn't I do to prevent this". I know the answer is nothing, but we still think it don't we.

[Cyborg]

FDA approved food additives caused mine... ;)