Thursday 18 November 2010

Exercise or Torture??

I know that as a person with diabetes I should try and include exercise as part of how I manage my diabetes. I’ve read all the articles relating to how it works miracles and I’ve received all the lectures over the years from Health Care Professionals (***********).

But, I really don’t like exercise! I never have. And the normal types of exercise, such as walking, cycling, jogging, etc. just don’t do it for me. The not so normal forms of exercise for example Salsa Dancing or Pilates is just too flipping expensive and not often enough.

I used the excuse of being on the basal/bolus or the Multiple Daily Injection (MDI) insulin regime as an excuse to not even bother. I felt that I couldn’t plan that far ahead with my long acting insulin.

And I was not going to add insult to injury by exercising and then having to stuff my face to treat hypos. I mean what’s the point! I wasn’t going to risk adding to the number of kilos that I needed to trim off.

Now I do have to add that at the time my children were very small and trying to exercise, even the boring walk, was just extremely difficult. And this I feel is a legitimate excuse but I suppose an excuse none the less.

So what’s changed?

Well, I’m not a spring chicken anymore. Things don’t work as well as they once did. It’s time to make time for exercise.

I moved to Insulin Pump Therapy and so eliminated the first excuse I had. Then with trial and error I eliminated the second excuse (although I’m still not shaving any kilos off the hips). And of course the darlings are both in school 5 mornings a week pretty reliably which helps.

I’m still not “excited” about the walk around the block and I won’t go out in all-weather but I am feeling benefits. But I will persevere and hopefully end up just like my mother-in-law; a 61 year old kicking a ball with the grandchildren.

Tuesday 9 November 2010

Happy World Diabetes Day


November 14th was chosen by the International Diabetes Federation because it also happens to mark the birthday of Frederick Banting who, along with Charles Best, first conceived the idea which led to the discovery of insulin in 1922.

Anyone with insulin dependent diabetes knows how important these two chaps are and I personally owe my life to them.

But it’s bitter sweet to wish people a “Happy World Diabetes Day” when maybe I should save my wish and wish that I didn’t have diabetes in the first place.

Why should I celebrate this day? Why am I celebrating having an illness??? I could roll over and say “to hell with it”. I could decide to not care anymore and give up – let diabetes do its worst and painfully make my life miserable until death.

But I choose to fight! I choose to want to live a good life for a long time and watch my children grow up and maybe even become a grandmother. I want to keep all of my digits and my sight; I don’t want to be on a waiting list for a donor kidney. I want to live life to the fullest.

So, I work hard at trying to stay on top of it. I take my insulin, I test my glucose levels multiple times a day and then some, I weigh my food to find out the carbohydrate content and then calculate how much insulin to inject, and I try to eat healthily.

So I’m not really celebrating having diabetes. I’m celebrating life and the quality of it.