"I could NEVER do that!"

It seems like every week someone new wants to know about my "devices"and today a colleague of mine had lots of questions during lunch. She was asking me about when I was diagnosed, how it even happens that people get diabetes, how my machines work, and so on and so on. I actually tend to really like these conversations because it gives me a chance to educate others on something that not a lot of people know about. I take that back, I like these conversations until I get the following statements:

"My grandpa has diabetes" or "Everyone in my family has diabetes"

... and in today's case, "They test me all the time for diabetes and I'm so worried I'm going to get it."

... and then to top it off, "I could never do that!"

 I can usually manage the conversations about how Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are different. And generally I am pretty forgiving when people don't know a lot about what I have to go through on a day to day basis. I can even tell when people don't quite understand WHY I have to do what I do, but ultimately I appreciate their taking the time to try and understand by asking questions and doing their best to be empathetic. To me it can all be so simple, although, again, I understand that an explanation of blood sugars, insulin, and carbs can sound like a foreign language to some people.

Today though it really struck a chord when this particular person flat out exclaimed, "I could never do that!" while I was answering her questions about my daily regime. Despite my original annoyances against some of her previous statements, I was really trying my best not to let my feelings get in the way of a totally teachable moment. I did however have several thoughts about this particular statement ...

Diabetes is not a choice. I did not choose this for my life nor would I wish for anyone to HAVE to choose this for their life, because let's be honest, living with diabetes is a challenge, to say the least. I didn't have the choice of "Should I do this?" I was forced to do this. The only other option: Not to do "this" and end up with a slew of medical problems and ultimately death if I CHOSE not to do anything. When faced with the news of a diagnosis that will ultimately follow me the rest of my life, to me there was no other option than to hook up machines to my body and do my best to keep my blood sugars decent. And I gaurentee that while probably every person faced with this diagnosis is going to deal with some type of stress, negative emotion, frustration, etc, a lot of us would choose life over "never doing this."

This conversation has really got me thinking about things I have said "I could never do this" to. Wearing an insulin pump was probably one of them, and look at me now. I'm attached to TWO wireless machines that I couldn't imagine my life without. Giving birth .... freaks me out! Will I ever do it? Hopefully some day.... The list of fears could probably go on and on, but surprising myself by doing those things has been enlightening to say the least.

It takes a strong person to really manage Type 1 diabetes. Diabetes takes it's toll physically and emotionally. I work every. single. day. 24 hours a day to manage my blood sugars. If you had asked me 5-10 years ago if I could get my blood sugars down to an average of 100 every day, my answer probably would have been, "I could never do that!" Well, guess what ... I AM doing it! The moral of the story here is, we're stronger than we think. I didn't choose this, but I chose a life of health and happiness ... and a life of "I can do this!"