Diagnosed Jan 5, 2006.. My Fears and No Hopes

[sbuff28@charter]

Hello my name is Steve, I was diagnosed 5 days ago and im breaking into tears as I type every letter in this sentence. I appreciate any and all who read and react to my story with prior expereince that helps me through a difficult time of my life. I sure could use it. javascript:emoticon('')
Sad

First my background and story,


When i was younger i had a pretty normal life. In high school I had B grades and i was a three sport athlete playing Soccer, Basketball and Baseball. I wasn't the most popular kid in high school but i say i was average. I even managed to have a girlfriend or two. I went to parties and had a good time. I was an average middle class kid that loved to live, i was happy. I then graduated and continued onto college where i continued soccer, and along with 90% of college kids, my drinking increased. I was still making good enough grades to pass in a hard feild. I continued to be Happy and content with life........ until 5 days ago.I had my wisdom teeth taken out on december 30th and i felt absolutly horrible the whole week after so i decided to visited the ER. Last thursday i was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and spent 3 days in the hospital. I am distraught and in total fear and shock. I have the disease on my mind 24-7 and just thinking about it makes me cry because of my Fears. I hate needles!!!!!!!! ive never been put though anything this tormenting in my life and i'm scared this disease is going to drive me crazy or suicidal. no joke. i havn't cryied this much since i was two. I do not take change well, nor do i adjust to different lifestyles quickly. I get 3 hours of sleep a night on average. I am a natual worryier,i think of conflicts constantly and i always have things on my mind. I know inject insulin 3 times a day, and test Bgs around 10-12 times now per day. and increasing.....My only way I coop now is keeping the best records of every little thing i canand do... its the only soothe to my painful fears.


And now my fears.

i have a Constant fear first most of all that i have "brittle diabetes".I dont want to go blind and die young, thats frightning to me. I have nightmares and do i mean nightmares at night where i mistakenly drink a biggie coke at Wendies and go blind. dreaming about going/being blind scares me into a purfusly sweaty sleep. In the hospital I had my soaking sheets changed 4 times a night. The lack of sleep is starting to scare me also which also in turn is not making me sleep. I have a constant fear that i will when i get older if i have kids, and i want to, i dont know i could deal amotionally with a diabetic kid. I am afraid to death of bringing another life into this world with such a crappy disease...almost to the point where i dont want to have kids. I fear that someday im going to give into alcohol and put myself into a coma.( I used to drink heavily 3 times a week). Im in constant fear im gonna get stuck somewhere and i dont have my insulin for days.(i love the outdoors). Im in constant fear that ill lose a limb someday and become a cripple. Im in just plain frightenment that i have to use needles and pricking for the rest of my entire whole forever life. I have the fear that just be having the disease my life is shortened by 10 years. It scares me that if i was born 100 years ago I would be Dying and helpless right now. My health was very important to me before my diagnosis and now i fear its gonna be an obsession. I fear its going to drive me literally crazy.I was wacthing my freinds drink and get drunk last night, and i almost cried infront of them because i know i can never drink again.Its impossible for me to sit sober when my freinds are partying... i cant loosin up!!! Most of all I fear that i wont be able to coop with this and lose my freinds because i cant do what they do. i fear im going to become a hermit and never be able to relax again. lastly i fear im going to become suicidal and i dont now but i can definatly see this disease driving me mad.



I could use any useful input right now... its 3:11am and i have a massive headache so im going to check the thread tomarrow.


Please Help...any input appreciated!!

[Aftiel]

Steve,

I could write a book in reply to you, but I will keep it short :)

Diabetes does NOT kill people. Lack of controlling diabetes is what results in complications.

I was diagnosed type 1 brittle when I was 16 (I am 43 now.) Following that,

I was a 4 sport athlete

I was in the symphony orchestra

I was in to mountain climbing, hiking, and bike riding

I went to college

I moved several times - just me, alone, and took on any new challenge that came about.

To be honest, I have friends with asthma who have more difficulty than diabetics do - so it is all about the control.

You will hear the horror stories - going blind, having limbs cut off, stroke, heart attack and on and on.

I have not been perfect in my control, and recently was switched to a new insulin - so I view every day as a challenge -- a good challenge.

In my career now I fly out of town to new places, tackle anything that comes my way, and do these things alone. No one in any new city knows I am diabetic, people at hotels dont, etc.

Diabetes will NOT stop you. It is new to you now, so it looks terrifying, but it isnt.

You have a choice. You can die of old age, or you can die from complications of diabetes.

That choice is YOURS. Not the doctors, not the disease. YOURS.

I know you feel like you were just handed a death sentence. Far from it.

You were handed a challenge. The new developments in insulin etc. make this a far better time to be diabetic than 30 years ago.

You have an endo, and you have a great resource on this board. Everything is going your way in those areas.

Come to terms with it and attack it. Become educated, and do not give in.

Be consistent in your daily process, and post your progress here.

And by the way -- "brittle" is just a term, it is NOT a classification.

A year from now you will look back and wonder why you were worried or stressed over it.

It is something you have that you can and will live with, so go after it with a vengeance.

- Aftiel

[sydneya]

:dito: to Aftiel. He's got it right on the button. You can do what you really want to do. It may take a little more effort as you are learning, but it will happen.

Welcome to the forum. You made a good choice posting in this forum. Continue. If you need knowledge you'll find it here. If you need only support, you'll find that, too.
Hope to hear from you often.

[am1977]

Steve-

Yeah, I can completely relate to what you are saying. Hearing that you have Diabetes (or any chronic illness) is hard news to take... And managing this disease can quite frankly suck :thumpdown... However, saying that, at least we have the power to do that. There are so many diseases where the person can feel powerless to the condition. At least with hard work and determination, we can somewhat manage this disease.

Right now, it's perfectly understandable that you are feeling this way. I'm sure you are very overwhelmed with everything. Looking back, I was too. I was confused, scared, and extremely overwhelmed. I was admitted into the hospital overnight and received a crash course in managing this disease. I had no insurance at the time so that's why my stay was so brief. The next evening I went home. That evening, before bed, I remember wishing that I wouldn't wake up the next morning. That basically sums up my emotional state of mind at the time...

Now, I realize that I was foolish for thinking that way. Although things were difficult at first, things have become easier with time. I've learned an awful lot about this disease and, all in all, I'm doing ok. I never thought that I would be able to do the multiple, daily testing & injections. However, I realized that I had no choice. I still hate that stuff, but if that's what it's going to take to stay healthy-so be it. Diet is still something I struggle with, but I try my best- I think that's all you can do. So that's my suggestion for you- just do the best you can...

Also, remember that there are people in similar situations-you are NOT alone! Most of us here have been where you are sitting at some point. So don't forget that- and also don't forget that there are groups (online and in person) that you can turn to for support. Honestly, I don't know what I would do without this group here. We have a great bunch here:love:...hope you will stick around and see that for yourself. :)

Hang in there- it will get better ;)

[Linda57]

Please try to listen to these good people telling you that you dont have any reason to despair.

I too suffer from extreme anxiety.........as do a few others here, together we face this thing a little braver, helping each other out and sometimes even having a laugh or two on the way.

Give yourself time to accept the diagnosis, something new is begining for you, better self care can never be a bad thing.

Please stay, and keep posting, we will help if we can.

[discordia]

Hey Steve. Your post is very thought provoking. Having diabetes isn't the end of the world. Many people will live a perfectly normal life with little or no complications. When I was diagnosed 6 years ago, I, like you, worried about blindness. That was my #1 concern at the time, followed by the dreaded *gasp* impotence. It's good that you're a worrier, it'll help you to stay focused on your #1 job which is taking care of yourself. And it can be a little depressing at times, but I usually think about all the people out there that have it worse than me, and there are plenty. You should be discussing these concerns with your Dr., especially the thoughts you are having. Trust me, someday you will look back on this time in your life and realize it wasn't as bad as you thought. Feel free please to send any of us a private message, we're here for ya bro.

[Erin]

Steve,

I can relate to a lot of what you said, you are having very natural fears. They are natural, but not necessarily correct. The best advice I can give you is "control your diabetes, don't let it control you" If you take care of yourself by checking your blood sugar and taking your insulin, and working with your doctors to make sure you get on an appropriate insulin program (there are many kinds of insulin, and not every one works for every person) you can do ANYTHING. Your diabetes will become so automatic that you wont' even think about it anymore. The more you stress about it, the harder it will become. But you have to be proactive... if something isn't working, you need to get your doctors to fix it!

If you mistakenly drink a huge regular full sugar coke, you'll feel ****, your blood sugar will go really high, you might even throw up... but you wont' go blind unless you do that pretty frequently and don't take insulin to fix it. You'll get so good in a couple of years, at tasting the difference between diet and regular that you could never make that mistake. And if you want to make that mistake on purpose, go ahead... just take a bunch of insulin, or save the coke to treat a low blood sugar.

You can have kids, Diabetes isn't all that highly genetic. I think your children will only have a 7% chance of getting onto this wild ride... and that isn't that much higher than the general population.

You can drink. When I was in college I would drink on a daily basis and get drunk at least once a week. I'm talking normal college age stupid drinking stuff. I was able to figure out how to keep the diabetes under control while getting intoxicated. If you choose to you can do that too. (I'd wait until you have a better handle on how diabetes works with your body... but you can do it). If you decide you wanna give alcohol a try, come back and post here, and we'll talk, so you don't have to re-invent the wheel.

If you are going camping / hiking / basically anywhere where there is a chance that you'd not get home for a few days... bring your insulin with you. then you don't have to worry! I always have like a 3 day supply of D stuff on my person... because I very frequently just don't get home. You also need to bring glucose tabs, or candy or some sort of sugar with you too. I'm not an outdoors person, i prefer the urban jungle... but I've backpacked through Europe, gone to a fair few raves (back in my younger days), been stranded in a few cities wondering how in the world I was going to get home before work on Monday morning, eaten all sorts of crazy food, drank all sorts of crazy drinks, not known when or where my next meal was coming from, and I did all of it with Diabetes. And I did all of it while keeping my Diabetes under control.

Take a deep breath... I've been doing this for a long time, and I've still got both my eyes, both my feet, both my kidneys, both my everything that you're supposed to have two of. (As well as one of everything you're supposed to have one of). Yes it's scary when you're first diagnosed... and some days it's still scary, and some days it's easy, and some days it just makes you want to scream... but most days it just is.

-Erin

[sbuff28@charter]

Thnx guys, It's very helpful to hear that many people out there were much worst off and are still doing fine. i appreiciate all your replies very much. I know thats if i drink a soda it wont kill me, but even then i cant control the nightmares ive been having recently. Last night i had a dream that i was drinking a few beers at the bars with my freinds and i began to get really sleepy, i was dreaming about being sleepy...kinda weird huh. Then i spent the rest of the Dream driving around drunk almost crashing trying to find a 24 hour store to buy some lifesavers.... Which of course i couldn't find. Until i finally crashed my truck and died... this woke me up at 7:30 crying and sweating. I wish these dreams would go away, and i would stop thinking about my disease. I know they are likely never to happen but i am irrational when i dream. How can i coop with this ????? ive decided to ask my doc for some ambian when i go see her tomarrow.

[Cinnabon]

Hey there Steve...
I was there 22 going on 23 years ago. I can also joing alot on here that can write books of the things we have been able to do. You need to take control and as hard as it can be, YOu CAN !!!BIG HUG TO YOU.. ask away to all the ? you may have in your head.. we are to help as much as we can!

I have selected a few links for you to read.
http://www.diabetesforums.com/chit-chat/6986-inspiration.html?highlight=inspiration
http://www.diabetesforums.com/diabetes/7168-more-inspiration.html?highlight=inspiration

Halle Berry is Awesome proof!
http://www.health24.com/medical/Condition_centres/777-792-808-1536,16928.asp

[Erin]

I wouldn't go the ambian route just yet. I think your fears are valid (though not necessarily rational... who says you have to be rational all the time?)... and working through them is important. Talk to your doctor about your fears.

And make a plan for all the worse case scenarios. If you have a plan for say... drinking too much and going low (asking the bar tender for a glass of juice for example) or drinking a regular coke and going high (taking a bit of insulin) or getting stranded somewhere without insulin (have your pharmacy on speed dial, and know what you can do to survive in the mean time... drink lots of water, don't eat carbs etc) it may relax your brain a bit.

It's scary because it's new, but realizing that there are ways out of the scary situations is empowering and comforting. See if next time you're having a dream you can make yourself react positively (you can control your dreams once you realize you're dreaming).

[sbuff28@charter]

I guess the biggest thing is that i realized that im not immortal anymore... i used to have a mindset that i was 110% healthy and was going to live forever. thinking of death even 50 years ahead of me is frightning also.

My Bs range from 131 to 450,

I am having trouble deciding right now if i should just eat for comfort and have my doc adjust my doses... or should i try and aim for a constant 200 Bs

either way i have been keeping dilligent records of what i ate and when, water intake and when, when and how much insulin i took, when and what my bs is, and how im feeling, also if i feel stressed or not during the bs test. Now ive decided to keep records of sleep and keep track of my weight. I went from being 200 lbs in august and now im a very skinny 160. my height is 6'1".

[sydneya]

either way i have been keeping dilligent records of what i ate and when, water intake and when, when and how much insulin i took, when and what my bs is, and how im feeling, also if i feel stressed or not during the bs test. Now ive decided to keep records of sleep and keep track of my weight. I went from being 200 lbs in august and now im a very skinny 160. my height is 6'1".

As I read your posts and remember my feelings 19 years ago I remember how hopeless I felt it was. I was put in the hospital for 3 days to be taught how to manage the disease. :bawling: All's I could do is despair. But look at the difference between your first post and this last one. You are doing the dreaded record keeping. By doing this you are making it possible for the doctor to see what to do to help you. You are becoming more positive. CONGRATULATIONS!! Progress is wonderful. The dreams have to be awful. I haven't experienced this, but as you become more positive and learn more I'm sure you will control this too. A little meditation on what you have to be thankful for before going to sleep may help.

Keep posting your feelings and realize WE CARE.

[Aftiel]

Hey Steve, it's me again :)

I think your Doctor will tell you to eat for comfort and health, and adjust your dosage accordingly.

Our bodies need fuel (food,) and insulin. All the doctors I have had have always placed good nutrition FIRST - then insulin to cover it.

Also - your Doctor will want your BS below 200, since normal range is 80-120. And as others have noted - dont stress if your BS isnt perfect all the time.

Stress can do more damage than anything. Relax, learn, and get a consistent program down.

And btw - my whole family had our eyes tested recently. The youngest being 18 and the oldest being 53.

Want to guess who has the best vision? :)

Yup - it was me :) I must have missed the day when they told us we were supposed to go blind.

- Aftiel

[valc3]

Hey Steve, don't try to fix everything at once. You will drive yourself nuts.
Work on this a step at a time. You can't swallow the elephant whole, you need to eat it a bite at a time. I know it's easy for me to say this, but try to relax. Stressing isn't going to change anything, it will just make you glucose higher.

Being dx'd has not stopped me from doing things. I still go everywhere and do everything, I actually do more. I feel great. You too will get there. Work with your diabetes team, they will help you.

It's okay to be afraid and overwhelmed with info. We've all been there.
You've been given some good info from the other posters. Read it and try to digest it. I found it helpful to read the older posts and digest the info.

We all care, please ask questions and visit often

[sbuff28@charter]

You can have kids, Diabetes isn't all that highly genetic. I think your children will only have a 7% chance of getting onto this wild ride... and that isn't that much higher than the general population.


Erin-
Does that account for just type ones? I've heard that only 5% of diabetic people have type 1, the rest have type 2. So it would make the general population go much lower than that about 20 times. It gives me chills to think how tormenting and life altering this could be for me if i had it by say four years old. I would definatly not be the same person i am today. I dont know if i could put a kid through the pain of this disease, especially at childhood, not only there whole life. That 7% means a lot to me and is probally enough for me to be too scared my future son/daughter would develop it to have kids.

[Erin]

Steve,

I know I shouldn't poke fun at your right now... but that's just the kind of gal I am :T

I've had it since I was 8, and I'm just-fine-thanks! In fact, I'd wager I had an easier time with diagnosis than you are having... In fact, I watched these videos of people in their teens / twenties finding out they had diabetes and crying and stuff... and I just didn't get it. :T

Don't make the decision right now... but keep an open mind.

And the stat's were just for Type 1... but 7% is still a small chance... no matter how you slice it.

[SueM]

Erin-
Does that account for just type ones? I've heard that only 5% of diabetic people have type 1, the rest have type 2. So it would make the general population go much lower than that about 20 times. It gives me chills to think how tormenting and life altering this could be for me if i had it by say four years old. I would definatly not be the same person i am today. I dont know if i could put a kid through the pain of this disease, especially at childhood, not only there whole life. That 7% means a lot to me and is probally enough for me to be too scared my future son/daughter would develop it to have kids.

Just to set your mind at rest a 4 year old would just accept it as a way of life.
I have never experienced any pain from diabetes not even 40 yrs ago when needles were the size of harpoons.
I was 4 1/2 years old at diagnoses.
Diabetes has never stopped me doing anything I ever wanted to do either.
Once you have calmed down a bit and had a chance to sort your mind set out you will see plenty of positive posts.

Personaly I would hate to have been diagnosed as an adult or teenager.
Being only 4 1/2 at diagnoses I have grown up with diabetes so know no different.
I was never treated any dif than my brothers whole family ate the same food (wholesome and healthy).
Hope this helps to put your mind at rest.
Best wishes
Sue

[sbuff28@charter]

yeah.. haha sorry... i didnt mean to offend you or anyone by sayin i wouldnt be the same, but its what i think about all the time. Because i never experienced it i dont know positively for sure. everyone is different and i think it could be very tramatizing for any child. The fact that you are doing fine now just could mean that your a strong person mentally. Who knows mabye done the line, ill have a change in heart as i deal with it and realize its not so bad.

I started to get that horrible fruit keytone breath the other day...

The tops of my hands feel really crampy all the time too... is this a bad sign?


Sue... good point, thats true

[Gangrel]

To add my two cents (Canadian). I've had Type one since i've been 7, and now I'm 30. I've done all the stupid things a boy can do (drink, party, eat like ****, oh, and did I mention drink?) and I'm still alive. You are still allowed to have fun. You just need to be more aware of things. And even if you aren't (like i was when I was younger) you will still be ok if you have any sort of reasonable control.

I play all kinds of sports, do anything else I wanna do (well, aside from fly an F-14 or go on a date with Kirsten Dunst, but that's not diabetes related. ;)

Do I realize there is a chance when I get in my 50's and 60s that I'm going to have some sorts of diabetes related problems, no matter how well I control myself? yes. But I'm not going to sit here and worry about it when there's a hockey game out there to be played, or a dance floor to be stomped on.

I know you're head is being filled with information, and it will take you a while to digest it all, figure out insulin doses, and all that ****. But relax, and realize that drinking a Diet Coke is just at much fun as a Coke (and a bonus, doesn't make your fingers sticky!)

[sbuff28@charter]

Feeeling much better today after venting last night and this morning. the replies are great for me.


Its not that i fear my freinds are gonna leave me thats not an issue they are very understanding and sympathetic. Almost too sympathetic to my likings, telling me stories of their realtives and all. Its the fact that i just plain dont have fun at all hanging out around them drinking and having fun which they do a lot. just having a conversation where they are drunk and im not, i have a tough time standing it. while i feel as though im up tight.... with everyone feeling good and happy, i can't join in because i can't loosin up and lession my tension in my mind which what alcohol is notorious for doing. when im not drunk i am kind of a reserved person, that jumps in for a quick one liner every now and again when in large groups. I especially dont like competing to talk in large groups which drunk people do ALL the time... really really especially when im not drunk. So i find myself in those situations repelling my freinds, and all i want to do is go home. So this scares me that i will repel them to a point where i dont hang out with them anymore

[Cinnabon]

Good to see your attitude seems A LOT better... :dancing:
I have a daughter/Woman..lol, now 12 and no Diabetes. I have her checked every year and when she tell sme shes thirsty, ill pinch her(meter)! lol
I understand your fear, I had that for a long time. But I took real good care of myself during my pregnancy and everything was fine. After that I behaved like the usual "good" diabetic (chocolate, sugar, and good stuff..oh my!), But I have been in real good control now.

[DeusXM]

I dont know if i could put a kid through the pain of this disease, especially at childhood, not only there whole life. That 7% means a lot to me and is probally enough for me to be too scared my future son/daughter would develop it to have kids.

http://www.diabetesforums.com/chit-chat/5820-what-causes-diabetes-2.html

Now let's look at the next generation, whereby the parents are as follows:

Parent 1: DD (non diabetic)
Parent 2: dd (diabetic)

The children will be as follows:

Dd (non-diabetic)
Dd (non-diabetic)
dD (non-diabetic)
dD (non-diabetic)

So basically, if you have diabetes and have children with someone who is not a carrier, none of those children should have diabetes, although all have the potential to pass on the condition to their children.

The science isn't 100% accurate there but it does help illustrate that the risk of passing T1 onto your children is very, very low.

I especially dont like competing to talk in large groups which drunk people do ALL the time... really really especially when im not drunk. So i find myself in those situations repelling my freinds, and all i want to do is go home. So this scares me that i will repel them to a point where i dont hang out with them anymore

Then here's the good news - you're going to be able to get drunk. I wouldn't recommend it just yet and you're going to need a few months before you've got the hang of diabetes before you can start taking a few risks.

If it's any consolation though, I've been a student for the last 3 years and spent most of that time in some form of inebriation, and on New Year's Eve I drank my bodyweight in lager and half a bottle of absinthe - and guess what? I'm still here. And I'm also a qualified SCUBA diver too.

I really feel for you because right now, you're in the 'shock' stage. All this is really new to you, and it's a massive upturning of your life. However, once you learn a little more (and here's a great place to do that), you'll be able to start taking a deep breath and seeing things with more clarity. Trust me on this one. The first couple of months are the hardest because you don't have a clue what's going on, and everything's terrifying.

What will amaze you is how quickly you'll start picking things up, and in a year's time you'll be in a totally different frame of mind. You're going to feel back in control of your life and you're going to amaze yourself at just how much strength you've got in yourself. I know all of this is probably really hard to believe right now. Don't worry, because you don't have to believe it. But I guarantee you that you will be able to look back at what I've written and see yourself in it. You can cope with this, and you don't have to cope with it on your own, because you're going to have your friends and family right behind you every step of the way - and everyone else on this forum will be right in front of you holding your hand and pointing the way when you need it.

[Aftiel]

Steve wrote:

Its not that i fear my freinds are gonna leave me thats not an issue they are very understanding and sympathetic. Almost too sympathetic to my likings, telling me stories of their realtives and all.

ooh ooh! let me see if I can guess this one :)

It usually starts out with:

"MY <insert relative here> had/has Diabetes, and they had <insert body part here> removed right before they went blind and died a horrible death.

Am I close? :)

- Aftiel

[SueM]

Steve
Can I also point out to you that once you have your blood sugar under better control and mainly in the normal range a lot of the negative feelings will go.
Many diabetics feel very black and unreasonable when running high numbers.

[sbuff28@charter]

hahaha yes the night before last my freind jim was drinking, got pretty wasted and told me the story of his cousin with type 1... it went a little like this...

yo shhteve man, my cooousin has diabetes..and hes blind man, just dont drink man cuz sssshe did that and didnt take care of himself and now hes blind man...dude bro hes like blind..and he has so many other problems....jusssst take some care of yourself man. just dont drink man.


Then he just repeated what i typed about 4 times... just with the slurred sentences in different spots so it sounded different.

[amccrazgrl]

First of all take a deep breath.
I'm sure everyone has gave you great information.
It's not the end of the world and could be worse.
Diabetes is like the most managable illness out there.
Just keep your blood sugars in control. You can still eat sugar which is a misconspetion. Just eat in moderation.
This forum has great information and you can always ask anything you want.
Maybe pick up a book on being diabetic.

Its almost been 10yrs for me being diabetic and my Dr said I have great control and wonders how I do it. Its like I'm a normal non-diabetic with the control I have.

"The diabetic who knows the most lives the longest." She has that qouted in her office and its true. I've learned more now since I've been on the insulin pump that I have known since day one.
I'm 22 so now I want to learn more about it than I did when I was younger.

Welcome to your life long diasese that is VERY managable.

[jen_slc]

Glad to see you are feeling better! You need to hear some stories about diabetic folks in good health, there really are tons of them out there! And ok, so you're not immortal, but there's no reason you can't live a very long and fulfilling life, filled with ooodles and ooodles of children if you want to. You might think I'm crazy for saying so, but I am thankful for my diagnosis. I didn't want to continue living my life when I was diagnosed, but when I look back on it, it was the kick in the a$$ I needed to begin taking care of myself and now I am the healthiest I have ever been. Don't despair! :smile:

[Mick]

Sue--Harpoon needles, lol--I had them as well, 41 years ago--my dad called them the "horse needles"!!

Steve--I was dx'ed at age 12--that was in 1965, so I guess SueM and I are tied for the ancients around here!! Funny thing--I was also scared that I would pass my bad genes onto potential children. Stupidly, I fell in love and got married anyway. We both wanted kids. Guess what? My wife could not have any!! We adopted 2 beautiful, wonderful, smart little ones--they are grown now, and the lights of our lives, successful, ambitious and healthy. Life has a way of working itself out! We've been married for 32 years, and altho we've had problems all those years, we've always managed to battle thru and come out the other side--sometimes a bit beat up, but laughing and smiling.

I still have all my limbs, as well as 20/20 vision, full kidney function, and vitrually perfect health otherwise. And remember this important point--I went for my first 25 years as a diabetic getting my blood sugar tested TWICE A YEAR!!! Somebody in this thread mentioned they realized that, yes, maybe by the time they got to their 50s or 60s that they might develop some problems... HAHA!! I'm in my mid-50s, only 5 years from retirement, and figure to live long enough to not only collect on my pension and social security, but have a really long, healthy and happy retirement--in fact, we just bought a condo in Florida as a bit of faith in my ability to last long enough to enjoy it.

Don't worry,
be happy,
Michael
41 years Tyoe 1

[gettingby]

Hi Steve. Man, you are really going through the ringer.
I was diagnosed at age 13. I think handling the fact that I had diabetes was easy for me because I lost my daddy at the age of 6. That and having diabetes have made me the person I am today.
Having kids??? I've got one. She's 15 and no diabetes (hubby's mom was a type 2 diabetic also).
DIABETES IS NOT THE DEATH SENTENCE it used to be !!!!! There have been alot of advancements and there continues to be more and more.
You have made alot of new friends here and we will help you through this. Diabetes is not an end, it's just a new chapter in your life. PM me anytime for help and guidance. We are all here for each other.
Take Care !!!!!!!!:)

[dws]

Compared to 66 yrs ago , DM is almost like a cake-walk! None of my children or Grandchildren are diabetic, I can still see - pee- and walk so don't believe all the BS of how bad diabetes is. There are many many things worse than DM,
Take a deep breath, relax and remember 'if that old f*** can make it to 71, it can't be that hard'

don
dx 1940 type 1

[Aftiel]

Mick is my new Hero.

Aftiel is a Type 1 Diabetic.

Aftiel was also an Orphan who was rescued and adopted. Adoptive Parents get an extra star in their crown in my opinion.

Much respect to you and your Wife Mick. Without wonderful people like you, many of us would still be Orphans.

- Aftiel

[duck]

Compared to 66 yrs ago , DM is almost like a cake-walk! None of my children or Grandchildren are diabetic, I can still see - pee- and walk so don't believe all the BS of how bad diabetes is. There are many many things worse than DM,
Take a deep breath, relax and remember 'if that old f*** can make it to 71, it can't be that hard'

don
dx 1940 type 1

I like it when you post...you remind me I may make it to my 70's...

[Erin]

hahaha yes the night before last my freind jim was drinking, got pretty wasted and told me the story of his cousin with type 1... it went a little like this...

yo shhteve man, my cooousin has diabetes..and hes blind man, just dont drink man cuz sssshe did that and didnt take care of himself and now hes blind man...dude bro hes like blind..and he has so many other problems....jusssst take some care of yourself man. just dont drink man.

Then he just repeated what i typed about 4 times... just with the slurred sentences in different spots so it sounded different.

Don't you just hate it when drunks repeat themselves over and over as if they were saying something soooooo profound, when really they have no idea what they're talking about?

Don't you just hate it when drunks repeat themselves over and over as if they were saying something soooooo profound, when really they have no idea what they're talking about?

Don't you just hate it when drunks repeat themselves over and over as if they were saying something soooooo profound, when really they have no idea what they're talking about?

Don't you just hate it when drunks repeat themselves over and over as if they were saying something soooooo profound, when really they have no idea what they're talking about?

[VanDamage]

dam no wonder my friends kep calling me parrot! :beer:

[Simon]

I went through the shock bit last year when I was diagnosed. What I did find a comfort was the fact that perhaps more than any other desese you can be very pro-active in doing something to help yourself with diabetes. It's strange, before I was diabetic I used to think the worst thing about it was having to inject so much. Now I think it's all the paperwork that comes with it:pcguru: . If paperwork is as bad it gets I can live with it.

[WhyNotSmile?]

this forum helped me a lot at the begining..

thank you guys