The famous Joslin Diabetes Center began awarding medals to patients with diabetes whose disease has lasted for more than 50 years many years ago. A few years ago, the Chinese Diabetes Society also began recruiting people with diabetes who have had diabetes for more than 30 years to reward them. Therefore, longevity is not a dream! Many times, sugar lovers close their hearts and dreams to themselves. Let us listen to the journey of this senior sugar lover.
I was only 15 years old when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. At that time, I didn't know how to face it, nor what my future would be like.
All the doctors and nurses told me “don’t be nervous, you can live a normal life”. But they always said this to me, which made me a little worried, although I didn't know exactly what I was worried about.
Forget the past
At that time, I had to inject a mixture of NPH (low protamine insulin, a medium-acting insulin) and regular insulin every morning, and I had to test my urine sugar four times a day, and I had to figure out how to eat. The situation is obviously different now, with huge advances in diagnostics and treatments. If diabetic patients can receive correct treatment and care, their prognosis can be the same as that of people without diabetes. This also encourages diabetic patients to face their condition more actively and work hard to control diabetes. However, at the time when I was first diagnosed with diabetes, I did not have access to good diabetes education. Because of this, I have been unable to get over the shadow of diabetes for a long time. I don’t want to tell others that I have diabetes, including my teachers, best friends, and of course my first daughter. friend.
Because I refused to let others know about my illness, I was never able to get the best treatment for myself. I simply don't take insulin shots or test my urine when I'm around other people. The reason why I feel this way is because I feel ashamed about my illness, always think that I am different from other people, and feel embarrassed to do those things in front of others.
Get out of the closed space
It wasn’t until I was about to graduate from college that I emerged from the prison of diabetes. Because I was busy with my graduation exam, I suffered from severe hypoglycemia and was admitted to the hospital. There, I met two very good diabetic doctors. They not only formulated a new treatment plan for me to keep my blood sugar under good control, but also enlightened me and helped me relieve my worries. I'm really grateful to them.
Now, I can face my diabetes calmly. In fact, getting sick is like: we are all standing on the earth, facing the falling rain. Each raindrop contains a type of disease, and raindrops fall on everyone. However, a very small number of very lucky people have never been "drenched"; there are also some people who are more unfortunate and will be "drenched" by many raindrops containing different diseases; but more people only have some "slight" diseases. ” (which only includes colds, coughs and other diseases) raindrops will quickly “evaporate”. From childhood colds and coughs, to diabetes and asthma, to heart disease and cancer, we have now found some preventive measures that can reduce their occurrence to a certain extent. However, there are also some diseases that have no symptoms and are unpredictable before they occur, at least according to our current medical level. Therefore, if a disease occurs, what we have to do is to face it calmly and actively treat it.
Since I figured this out, I started to pay more attention to my daily life: exercise makes me stronger; scientific diet makes me healthier; correct self-care keeps me away from various diabetic complications. ; Communication with friends makes my life full of happiness.
I am telling my story here just to tell those children who have just been diagnosed with diabetes. Although diabetes will be with us for the rest of our lives, we should not let it become an obstacle to life. Instead, we should strengthen our confidence and be optimistic with those around us. friends to face it together!
Advice for children newly diagnosed with diabetes
* Learn as much as possible about diabetes. Knowledge is power and it will help you eliminate your fear of diabetes.
* Join a diabetes friendly organization. Communicating with patients who have had the disease for many years will be helpful for you to better face diabetes.
* Open up gradually. If you still feel hesitant about telling others about your illness, you can try telling your closest friends first and see how they react. I think they will generally support you. Then gradually tell your family, classmates and other people.
* Take the initiative to communicate with the doctor. By doing this, you will see diabetes from a completely different perspective, and the doctor will help you better understand the meaning of facing diabetes calmly and opening up to communicate with others.
The content of this article is reproduced and adapted from Diabetes World with permission for use on this platform.
