Change the World - DBlogWeek Day 1
Monday, May 12, 2014 at 7:30AM Let’s kick off Diabetes Blog Week by talking about the diabetes causes and issues that really get us fired up. Are you passionate about 504 plans and school safety? Do diabetes misconceptions irk you? Do you fight for CGM coverage for Medicare patients, SDP funding, or test strip accuracy? Do you work hard at creating diabetes connections and bringing support? Whether or not you “formally” advocate for any cause, share the issues that are important to you. (Thanks go out to Kim of Texting my Pancreas for inspiring this topic.
My Aunt is struggling. She has type 2 diabetes and has made some serious changing to her life to fight back. But lately it seems everything she does is never enough and this continuing spinning of her wheels is bringing her down.
When I read the prompt for today's post it made me think of my dear aunt and what she is going through. She started to eat right, skip snacks and sweets she sould sneak now and then, and started exercising. It has gotten to the point now where she will skip meals to keep her blood sugar down.
Why? Why would she do this? Because of insulin. Or I should say, insulin injections.
The fear and disappointment she feels makes me terribly sad. After talking to my cousin about it she said that her mom is so scared of going blind and losing her limbs that she thinks starting insulin is the end of her life.
I explained to her that high numbers are what she needs to worry about, not taking insulin. Insulin can help her keep her numbers in tighter control which could help her avoid complications. Insulin is not the enemy or a punishment for a job poorly done.
This is what really grinds my gears. Doctors that threaten with insulin. Doctors that say, "if you don't do _____ you are going to end up on insulin!" So what happens if you do need it? Are you being bad? Are you to blame? Are you a failure?
Why not let PWT2D know that doing all they can may not be enough and if it is not then insulin may be needed. We are not there yet but if the time comes you may need to take shots to control your numbers. Say something like, "our goal is to keep your numbers as tight and steady as we can! We can work with all the tools we need as we need them but you are not alone! We are going to get through this together!"
Those tools may be change in diet, pills, exercise, insulin, and who knows what else! There is a way to approach it that does not make the patient feel like a failure or that they are getting what they deserve.
No one asked for diabetes and no one wants complications from it. And I know that this sort of "motivation" does not actually motivate. It makes me shut down, give up, and find a tub of ice cream to dive into.
Insulin is not an enemy or a punishment!
</rant>
Reader Comments (15)
Oh George, this is wonderful! This is certainly one of my pet peeves as well. Insulin is a wonderful tool for anyone with diabetes. I'm actually having trouble convincing my doctor to let me begin insulin use so I'm dealing with the opposite. No one should feel like they've failed. No one.
I'm a T2 who is on insulin and it's the best thing that's happened to be in regards to my T2. Food and eating had become the enemy. I hated eating because no matter what I ate or how I timed things out, my numbers were always high. I dreading going to my Diabetes Educator, because she was big on blame & guilt. "I don't know why you can't get these numbers in line!" she'd say. "You must not be telling the truth in your food & exercise journal..."
While insulin injections did not and cannot fix everything, they put me back in the drivers seat. I no longer feel guilt for eating. I don't cry when I check my numbers. Most amazing, my Endo & that now retired D.E no longer treated me like a non-compliant, problem child who needed to be guilted or shamed into better numbers.
Insulin injections are the best thing that's happened for me, and my diabetes.
Well said, my friend.
What a powerful post. Thank you for sharing the story about your aunt. I hope that NOONE ever feels bad about having to take insulin. You are right, it's more about the highs than the insulin. Doctors should not threaten like that...insulin can save lives (and limbs). Your aunt is lucky to have you fighting in her corner.
Great post! Insulin is a tool, and it's an effective tool. It's a pity people are taught to fear this tool as a measure of failure rather than embrace it as a method of ensuring tighter control. We're taught that doctors are great fountains of knowledge, which they are, but I wish there was some way of communicating to all patients how "up to date" they are with latest knowledge/treatments.
Keep fighting the good fight for your aunt. This post really hits home to me as I have a T2 uncle who has transitioned to insulin.
Couldn't agree more George. Insulin being used as a threat just does so much emotional damage to people who are already hurting.
Exactly! <3
Great post, George! Best wishes to your aunt.
My very nice TrialNet endo (who is not really my endo, but who diagnosed me with T1D, but in a slow-motion, LADA way) initially told me something like, "Some people, when they get this diagnosis go on an extreme low-carb diet. And I don't think you should do that. When you find your fasting blood sugar is regularly over 120 or 130, just start taking insulin."
How reasonable.
This makes me so sad that people are threatened and guilted into insulin. I hope your aunt finds a way to stop feeling that and seeing the good it could bring.
I know that I'm progressing and that something will need to change within a year or two. I fear some of the T2 oral meds and their side effects much more than I do insulin, and yet does health insurance cover insulin before the meds? No. The only way I can work my way around it is that I'm still considered "childbearing age", even though I have so many odds stacked against me in that category. It makes me even sadder to think of women just a few years older than me who don't think they have a choice in that.
Great Post. My aunt was recently diagnosed with T2D as well. She refuses to acknowledge it though. She continues to drink full sugar soda and eat whatever she wants. I don't even think she's checking her BG's. I wish there was something I could say to get her involved in her own health.
What a great post, George. There is so much guilt and blame placed on T2 and I absolutely hate it. And it makes me even more mad that needing insulin is just another way to place blame and guilt.
Great post, George. Thanks for writing this. Too many times our peeps with T2 are ashamed and discouraged from insulin, and that's almost a crime in itself... glad to see that starting to change some in the medical world, but we have a long way to go. Thanks for posting and advocating for this, and best to your family and aunt.
Argh!!
I am going through this with an extended family member as well. It has taken a 100% blocked artery in his heart and a stent put in to get his dumb internist to realize he doesn't know enough to manage his condition. His blood sugar has been in the 300s for MONTHS!! HE NEEDS INSULIN!
EXCELLENT post, George! I do peer diabetes education via the A1C Champions program, and I would love for your aunt to come to a presentation. They take place all around the US, and I'm sure she could find one close to her soon. It's important to see that there are people who have diabetes who have control via insulin. You are right. Insulin is NOT the enemy, it is a tool.
A physician friend said to me once that he's never had a patient regret going on insulin because it works.
Check out the A1C Champions programs here: http://www.a1cchampions.com/about-a1c-champions/a1c-champions-sessions.aspx
I would suggest that she first attend Taking Control, then later Managing Diabetes: the Next Step.
Also, here's the list of programs and where they're taking place:
http://events.a1cchamps.com/
Best wishes to you and your aunt!