Diabetes Joy

You know how challenging it is to live with diabetes. Those days when it seems nothing is going right. You can't control your blood sugars, then you get a bleeder when changing an infusion set and your meter runs out of batteries at the worst possible time. The countless times when the possibility of complications weigh heavily on our hearts. The frustrations of not being able to eat something without first having to do some math.

You get the picture, you know the story.

It's hard to see any positives to diabetes, but they do exist.

Given my love of carbs, if I didn't have type 1 diabetes I probably would have eaten myself to death by now. Despite diabetes I've been able to do pretty much anything I want. And diabetes has led me to things I wouldn't have done without it.

So I see joy is some aspects of diabetes. And it seems I'm not the only one.

I got a copy of Bob Hawkinson's excellent book The Joy of Diabetes, and I've read it twice. I plan to try and do this every other month.

Bob's message is simple but important. Diabetes is serious, but if you take care of it properly then you can have joy in your life despite the big D. His book is also a great high-level overview of type 1 diabetes, outlining what's important without drowning the reader in details. Excellent reading for diabetes newbies.

His book starts six points for a 'Life of Joy'

1. Accept the disease
   
2. Understand the disease, as much as possible
   
3. Manage diabetes
   
4. Be there for folks who need you
   
5. Remember to laugh at myself from time to time
   
6. Relax and take charge of my life

For me, this was a quick read. It helped me focus on some important points. I especially liked the idea of ensuring that I will be there for others. The best way to do this is to take charge of my diabetes.

I like the colorful drawings and I especially liked the slightly larger type face. Some might think this makes it more like a children's book - it's certainly approachable enough to be read by teenagers. But this choice of font makes it easy to read and is probably even better for folks who may be struggling with eye problems.

Bob has also put together a set of t-shirts, magnets and key chains. They've all got an attitude, and poke fun at diabetes.

This may not be for everyone, but I see the book (and some magnets he kindly sent me) as great parts of the toolkit I use for living with diabetes. Joyfully.

Labels: book, diabetes, joy, review

posted by Bernard @ 10:17 PM