A Whole New World of #DOC on TuDiabetes

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Does the DOC ever end? I’ve joined TuDiabetes recently, where I have discovered a whole new world of People With Diabetes to connect with. I’d heard of the name before, but I had no idea what it was. And it wasn’t until a prompt from my friend Rick at RADiabetes a few weeks back that I decided to join.

The biggest drawcard of TuDiabetes for me would have to be the forums, which are filled with lively, supportive discussions relating to almost anything I can think of. Chances are that if you have a question, there is probably already a discussion going on about it over on TuDiabetes. And while I’m hardly qualified to give advice, here are a few words of encouragement I’ve left in the forums recently.

In response to feelings of weakness and self defeat:

“Firstly, don’t compare yourself to others. You are your own unique, wonderful person. I’m sure that those other T1Ds have their own struggles. You probably just don’t see them, or they don’t show it in public. If anybody said diabetes was easy all of the time, they’d be lying. Secondly, don’t think of those setbacks as defeat. Think of it as knowledge you’ve gained that you can apply to the situation next time to ensure you won’t have a setback again.”

In response to not feeling human (which actually inspired last week’s post A Letter to My 17 Year Old Classmates):

“I was diagnosed a week out from my 18th birthday. Everyone else was out drinking, doing Shisha, living off Red Bull and generally abusing their bodies. And yet I was the good, sensible guy who ended up with diabetes. I get it.

Unfortunately, having diabetes means constantly having to field questions about why you’re not having cake or why you look so miserable. There’s no point in setting boundaries, because people aren’t going to remember. My best advice would be to come up with a strategy to deal with these questions, such as politely declining the cake, or politely telling the in laws you don’t feel like talking about diabetes today. Don’t let it bother you, because we all get those “stupid questions” all the time. And they only do it because they care (I know, I have a hard time believing it sometimes too!)

Finally, don’t be too hard on yourself. Diabetes is ALWAYS changing, and sometimes diabetes is more to blame when things go wrong.”

Another big drawcard of TuDiabetes is the interviews and other interactive activities which I can live stream from my computer if I so wish to. Sadly, the majority of these events happen while I’m fast asleep in the early hours of the morning! Ditto for the chat feature, which is pretty much like Facebook chat. I have my own profile page, which displays my latest activity. There are also diabetes resources and fact sheets at my disposal too.

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I know what you’re thinking – another social network? My thoughts exactly. Blogging and Twitter take up a lot of my DOC time, so I only check into TuDiabetes occasionally. However, many people do get their source of DOC support from TuDiabetes, and perhaps you will too.

You can sign up for TuDiabetes at www.tudiabetes.org.

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My Lousy, Flu-Ridden Friday

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My Friday had gotten off to a terrible start. I’d had very little sleep thanks to a wonderful cold, and it wasn’t until 5am that my drowsiness finally overpowered my congestion. My alarm went off at 5.30am, and I angrily hit the snooze button for another half an hour. By 6am, I knew that I had to get up.

Thankfully, nothing crazy was happening blood sugar level wise and there was no signs of ketones. But I felt absolutely terrible. It was cold, grey and raining outside. And I wanted nothing more than to call in sick to work and stay in bed. I knew that nobody would really think I was just chucking a sickie a day out from the weekend. I knew that I would easily have been able to guilt them with diabetes excuses if I really had to.

But I knew that we are always short staffed on Fridays, and I felt guilty for my workmate who would be left on his own if I didn’t go in. I also had to grab the key off of him as it would be my responsibility to open up next week. And being a day out from the weekend, I knew I might be asked for a doctor’s certificate if I didn’t go in. So, against all stupidity, I decided to get up, shower off all traces of Vicks that I’d rubbed on my chest through the night, and went to work.

For most of the day I was quiet. I was short. I didn’t feel like talking. I gave one word, unenthusiastic, I-don’t-really-give-a-shit-answers. People asked me what was wrong. I felt guilty sneezing and blowing my nose in front of others, despite doing my best to do it over in the corner. The day seemed to absolutely drag as I watched the rain pour from the miserable grey sky outside.

Honestly, my biggest regret of the day was that people had to see my shitty, flu induced mood. I felt so guilty and so embarassed that people had to see me like that. I don’t like to bring my problems to work and dump them on others. I go to work with diabetes every single day. I never let it interfere with what I have to get done. I never use it as an excuse to get out of something. I test, inject, correct and treat hypos in private. I rarely complain about it. And my colleagues always forget that I have diabetes whenever I bring it up in conversation in the staff room. And in a weird way, I’m kind of proud of the fact that I don’t make diabetes anyone else’s problem.

So why couldn’t I keep it together on Friday? Why was an innocent cold the thing that brought my world crashing down? I guess I was pissed that I guilted myself into going in. I guess I was pissed that I didn’t stay home in the first place. And I guess I was pissed that I didn’t take the time to look after myself.

And as it turned out, going home at lunchtime to look after myself was the best decision I made all day.

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My #OzDOC Story

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When I first started this blog a few months ago, I felt rather lost. I’d had Twitter for some time, although I thought it was absolutely stupid. I didn’t really see the point of following people I didn’t know. I felt so out of place trying to find diabetes stuff to tweet, which at the time didn’t sound even remotely interesting. And I felt like a desperate idiot tweeting my blog posts with every popular hashtag that I could think of.

Then one day, I stumbled upon somebody’s retweet from this Twitter account called the Oz Diabetes Online Community. It’s a Twitter chat for people with or affected by diabetes here in Australia. For one hour every Tuesday night, we introduce ourselves and answer a series of questions around a set topic of the week. We’ve talked about things like germs, exercise, team work, a cure and National Diabetes Week, to name a few. The best part about it is that anyone can see the chat just by typing #OzDOC into your Twitter search bar, and you don’t have to join in until you are ready.

Ever since then, OzDOC has been the place to be on a Tuesday night. OzDOC really got me started in the Twitterverse and the Diabetes Online Community, and helped me to feel less like a stranger. They are an amazing, friendly, welcoming, supportive and inspirational group of people. They were among the first of the #DOC friends that I made. Although I don’t know any of them in real life, they certainly have come to feel a little like family. And I don’t think I’ve missed a single chat since I first found it.

I feel extremely empowered having a space to share my experiences in managing diabetes, and I take a lot of inspiration from the other wonderful people there too. I love that we can all have a good laugh at ourselves, not to mention our fierce comptition for the wittiest tweet of the night. Having a wonderful community like OzDOC helps me to feel a little less alone with my diabetes. And while I love that the Diabetes Online Community connects me with people from all over the world, OzDOC helps me to feel a little more at home with my diabetes here in Australia.

Have a think about what you share about your diabetes with the people in your life, and what you choose to keep to yourself. Then join in by following #OzDOC on Twitter from 8.30pm Tonight AEST (GMT+10). Hope to see you there! (I’m guest co-moderating this week).

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Everything in Moderation Will NOT Cause Diabetes

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Okay, so I was sucked into part 2 of Sunday Night’s report on the Paleo diet again last night. If you’ve been living under a rock, reporter Mike Willessee undertook the Paleo diet for 10 weeks with the help of My Kitchen Rules judge and chef Pete Evans (I’ll call him Paleo Pete from here on in).

Admittedly watching the program last night, I was able to learn a little more about this diet. Basically, there are two sources of energy that the human body can use for fuel: carbohydrates and fat. I hear from a lot of people with diabetes who live and advocate for a Low Carb, High Fat (LHCF) diet. I completely respect that, and I’m sure that your body could be fuelled by fat. I myself have seen some merits in reducing “unnecessary” carbs and sugars in my diet, such as bread on my dinner plate and high sugar snacks such as muesli bars or breakfast cereals. But I do still eat carbs. I don’t feel that I could realistically cut them out completely and still be a happy man. But I completely respect those that do make that choice.

I just can’t fathom how Paleo Pete was quick to dismiss healthy, nutritious foods such as Dairy, Legumes and Grains. I also didn’t appreciate the way he referred to all of these carbohydrates as sugar, which is NOT true. And I can’t fathom how you could expect a human being to live without coffee!.

He went as far as suggesting that a diet of “everything in moderation” would cause type 2 diabetes among a string of other threatening diseases. Paleo Pete, you know absolutely NOTHING about diabetes. Don’t make an empty threat on the base of a common stigma. As my Twitter friend Lala brought to my attention, he even suggested that people who follow the Paleo diet are all exclusively healthy.

Paleo Pete is a chef. He is not qualified to provide nutrition or dietary advice. As one Twitter user commented, being around food doesn’t qualify you to provide nutritional advice. It would be like having a passenger fly an aeroplane. The Dieticians Association of Australia is qualified. LISTEN to them.

Paleo Pete also makes a lot of money off of Paleo. He has a series of cookbooks and other money making products that I don’t really care about. It’s a bit hard to take his claims of “speaking the truth” and “never feeling better” seriously.

As I said last week, Paleo Pete also works for the television network that aired this story. He is a judge on cooking show My Kitchen Rules. So is this story just a convenient case of networks keeping their talent happy?

At the end of his 10 week challenge, reporter Mike Willessee said that Paleo had opened his eyes to some of the his food choices. I feel exactly the same way, particularly after watching the similarly themed That Sugar Film earlier this year. What Mike Willessee neglected to mention was whether he’d stick with Paleo or not. I suspect his view would be similar to mine. There are some aspects that I’d take away from Paleo, but I won’t be rushing to clear out the cupboards and fridges of anything even remotely delicious.

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A Letter To My 17 Year Old Classmates

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To My 17 Year Old Classmates,

While you were getting ready to buy your first bottle of alcohol, I was getting ready to buy my first blood glucose meter.

While you were nervous about getting past the bouncer, I was nervous about getting past my first insulin injection.

While you were applying for your proof of age card, I was applying for my National Diabetes Services Scheme card.

While you were busy planning your next wild night out, I was busy planning my next diabetes appointment.

While you were surviving from 4 cans of Red Bull a day, I was surviving from 4 insulin injections a day.

While you were in a state of extreme drunkenness, I was in a state of extreme ketoacidosis.

While you were in hospital getting your stomach pumped, I was in hospital getting insulin pumped.

While you were procrastinating on your uni assignments, I was desperately trying to get an extension from my hospital bed.

While you were out there partying, my blood sugar levels were out there having a party of their own.

While you were getting a 2am hangover feed from McDonald’s, I was getting a 2am hypo feed from my jelly bean tin.

While you felt wrecked after partying all night, I felt wrecked from dealing with diabetes all night.

While you were getting through a hangover, I was getting through a hypo.

While you were boasting about how many beers you’d had, I was boasting about how many good blood glucose readings I’d had.

While you were counting the number of jello shots you’d downed, I was counting the number of carbs that I’d downed.

While you had been abusing your body for a while, I was a fairly sensible kid.

While you were the one that deserved this more than me, I was the one that got diabetes instead.

And while I wouldn’t wish diabetes on you or anyone else, it would be nice to see you treat your healthy body with a little more respect.

Your classmate always,

Frank