Posted by on Wednesday 13 July 2011

What if?

I still haven't heard about my 'annual review' (due last April) and the post I have been musing on full of questions about potential treatment changes is still rattling around in my head. In the meantime, and partly because no one has posted anything new here in a good long while, here's a quickie about a conversation we had at the breakfast table yesterday.

Beth asked me what I thought it would be like if I was suddenly cured of diabetes and didn't have it any more. Whether I would find it easy to stop doing all that routine diabetic stuff out of habit.

I don't think there is a diabetic who has not wondered about this, even if only for a moment, after living with diabetes for a while. Behind the question there is almost the feeling of 'Do you think, in a weird and unfathomable way, you would miss it?'

The first thing I said was that I would eat a lot more biscuits. No more having to just grab a handful of nuts if I was peckish for me, oh no. Now I know in theory that I should be able to bolus for a snack and eat pretty much what I want, but the reality is that snacks and doses rarely seem to behave for me. Either 1u is a bit too much or not quite enough, the dose stacks with another, or lags behind whatever I've eaten. Mostly snacks are just too much like hard work, and I just get too grumpy when I get it wrong again to enjoy them. Which is a shame really because I do love a biscuit.

The next thing I said was that I'd start eating properly massive pasta meals again. Jane suggested I'd probably stop going to the gym which I had to agree was fairly likely.

The upshot seems to be that if I got rid of diabetes tomorrow, pretty soon I'd be a lot less healthy than I am at the moment. And I wouldn't be getting all those regular checks to spot potential problems either.

So there you go Mr D, you can hang around for a while longer.

I'd still jump at the chance to get rid though really. Sorry about that.

6 comments:

  1. Honestly I had to pause and seriously think about what my life would be like without the D heck my whole adult life has been surrounded by it. Like you I probably would not be working out as much maybe get a new focus in life, maybe not blog or do the other diabetes related charity stuff I do, other than that diabetes really hast stopped me from doing anything I want so...

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  2. Bizarre isn't it! Must remember this when I'm next having one of *those* D days/weeks/months.

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  3. I totally agree with what you say about snacks...its hardly worth it as just end up regretting it! I had the same thought the other day when I saw someone eating something on the train the other day, what it would be like to just eat what you want and not have to think "how many carbs", "how many units", "have I got it right". At least without the "D" we would have the choice to be healthy or not! I'd like to think I still would be, and I'd like the chance to find out :-)

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  4. I'd like to think that I would most of the time too. But then again... bacon sarnies on fluffy white doorstop bread... bakewell tart... just grabbing a little something from the newsagents... ;)

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  5. It would be such a relief not having to plan ahead. Not worry about how much exercise I plan to do before the next meal. Not worry about carrying snacks or more substantial food. To not eat at all if that's what I want!
    In other words, regain the option of spontaneity!

    Robert

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  6. Completely agree Robert. People talk about all sort of things they don't like about D, but the lack of spontaneity has to be one of the worst.

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