[Diabetes-talk] I'm a silent Diabetic

[Sandra Murillo]

Hi Kijuana,
 
First off, you should know you are not alone. I too was diagnosed with type II Diabetes about 5 months ago. Like you, I had know symptoms; it was diagnosed unexpectedly. Since I also have rheumatoid arthritis, I had gone to a check-up with my rheumatologist. For some unknown reason she decided to include a glucose test in my lab work. When she got the results my blood sugar was 234. She then refered me to my primary care doctor so that more tests could be done. After several urine and blood tests, it was confirmed that I indeed had Diabetes.
 
At this point I had mixed feelings about the diagnoses. I was certainly happy that it had been caught on time, but I was also very upset. Like many people, my immediate conclusion was that I would never be able to eat sugar again. During the next few weeks after the diagnoses I received a lot of education of diet, exercise, and how to test my blood sugar.
 
At first I thought my doctors were being harsh with me about my exercise and eating habbits. Now, however, I am realizing that they wish and expect me to control the disease as best as I can. "You can't control the fact that you got diabetes, but you can certainly control how you will manage it," my rheumatologist told me.
 
So far I have succeeded to get my sugars under control. I've changed some of my eating habits and do exercise on a daily bases. Along with the medicine this has helped me control my sugar levels.
 
I think that most of us are scared when we first hear about our diagnoses because we associate diabetes with severe complications and even death. Although it is true that diabetes does leave complications in it's path, we all have a chance to minumize them by educating ourselves about the disease. Most importantly, however, we must take everything we have learned about diabetes and put it into practice in order to successfully manage it.
 
Good luck,
 
Sandra



--- On Mon, 11/3/08, K C <kcc86 at hotmail.com> wrote:

From: K C <kcc86 at hotmail.com>
Subject: [Diabetes-talk] I'm a silent Diabetic
To: diabetes-talk at nfbnet.org
Date: Monday, November 3, 2008, 9:12 AM

Hello, everyone.  My name is Kijuana.
On Thursday the 30th of October I was diagnosed with Diabetes after
Uterine surgery on the 23rd of October.  I had no idea I had it.

I'm so scared!  I have never had to stick myself to test my blood sugar or
anything else.  I know a little about it because I have had personal friends
who have
suffered major complications from this disease, and some of them have died.
Logically I know it is something people live with, and control everyday.  I
also understand that it is a very common illness.  It's just that it has
never been a part of my daily life.

I don't know how to act, or react now.  Because I have no symptoms I
don't
know how to eat differently or anything else.  Over the past few days I have
continued to do like I always have, but the numbers on the blood tests say
different.  Its silence scares me more than if I had some weird symptoms,
went to my Doctor, and was diagnosed then.

How do you deal
with the days, weeks, and months after diagnoses emotionally?  They'll be a
lot of education I'll get in the coming weeks on diet, life style changes,
etc.  But what I really need right now is those who're living with this
disease to share their experiences with me so I can put my feet on some kind
of ground.  Thank you for reading all this.  I feel totally disoriented.  My
state services for the blind leave a lot to be desired, so my councilor
doesn't even know where to begin as far as purchasing a meter, testing
supplies, etc.  Any help will really be appreciated.
Kijuana

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