Living With Diabetic 'Speed Bumps'

Diabetic speed bumps? Hmmm. You mean challenges? Yes, challenges. Let's talk. 

The word 'challenge' sets my mind spinning. Since I am not a competitive person by nature, even positive challenges hold a negative connotation for me. I prefer to call challenges 'speed bumps'. Why? Because I believe language can set the tone and therefore I have changed to a more positive one. For me, trying to stay positive in light of a very demanding chronic health concern can be difficult.

So what then are speed bumps?

Well, here's my description:

They are something in our way. 

They slow us down. 

They may require care to get over, but they are never so big that we can't get over them.
They are not walls. 

We can usually see them coming but sometimes we miss them until we come upon them. 

Other people are going over them at the same time. 

As diabetics you know we hit speed bumps all the time. They can slow us down, get in our way, may required time and changes to our care to get over or push through, sometimes we see the changes coming and sometimes we are blindsided, but mostly, others are going through this too and very often at the same time.

My biggest speed bump lately? Professionals 'pushing' insulin as the answer to all. Now. There is nothing wrong with insulin. It is a LIFE SAVING medication. But like many other things in life, timing is everything. When I began hearing the message that insulin was the answer to all, I felt it was time to get a second and third opinion. The second one said no it's not time; the third one, the endocrinologist, agreed. It still was not time. I had proven that I can make the lifestyle changes necessary to best support my wish, my decision to avoid insulin if it wasn't time. Even if that meant I had a job to do, work on my lifestyle. I'm one of the lucky ones. I have the power and ability to make and sustain those changes. I was not going to be disempowered.

I had to slow the professionals down because the insulin issue got in my way. I had to ensure that I could care for myself long term but I knew, even though I didn't see it the insulin conversation coming, I could push through this. I also knew that others felt the same way I did: no insulin before my time. Not no insulin. Just no insulin before my time.

Speed bumps. The best way to view any challenge, flip it into a positive if at all possible.

Make it a speed bump. Your diabetes speed bump.