Six Things I Want You To Know About Diabetes.

Today is the Sixth Annual D-Blog Day, and the DOC is blogging about the Six Things We Want You To Know About Diabetes - so, here is my list.

1.  I don't expect you to know everything, or even most things, about diabetes.  What I do hope for is an open and curious mind, and your ability to patiently listen to me blather on about it.  I also hope that you'll retain at least some of what I'm saying, and pass it on to others who need to know.
2. "Sugar-Free" foods don't really do me any good.  All food (even protein) is eventually converted to glucose by the body, and even sugar-free foods still have carbs.  The sugar-free stuff doesn't taste as good, and I rather like to enjoy the food I eat - so hand me the real stuff, please.
3. Checking my blood sugar and inserting a new insulin pump or CGM site hurts.  It hurts every time, and I can't even tell you how many thousands of times I've stuck some sort of needle in myself during the past quarter century.  It's just a sort of hurt you get used to tolerating.
4. I am not my A1C.
5. But, when I have a "good" A1C, I will totally brag about it.
6. As much as diabetes can suck, it can also have an upside. As a side effect of our obstacles and challenges, I think we become stronger, more resilient, more compassionate, and more highly in tune with our bodies than most. Diabetes teaches us some tough lessons, but also makes us appreciate life a little bit more - because we recognize the fraility of it.