Saturday, May 30, 2009

Different




There are days when I don't realize how truly different I am from other people. I spend a lot of time on my own so I've gotten used to my own schedule and what I have to do as far as monitoring myself and giving myself insulin. It's not until I am with a group of people that I realize how different I am from most of my friends and family.

I remember I had a small get together with just a few friends and we sat out for a campfire in my backyard. I asked everyone if they wanted any marshmallows for toasting. I remember thinking to myself, "I know I want marshmallows!" Of course I had already had my snack and to roast marshmallows by the dozen like everyone else was out of the question. It was a simple thing like this that made me realize that I was different. There are many of these moments in my day to day life when I am offered something I can't have or I offer something to someone that I can't enjoy with them.

It seems like diabetes is all about food. I thought about this when I was in my carb counting class. I kept thinking, wow all we talk about is food, what has the most carbs, how many carbs can we have, what's a good snack, how much should we eat. It's super overwhelming. I even noticed in my blogs most of the time I am talking about food. But it's a big part of being a diabetic.

Instead of thinking how tasty my supper is going to be I am thinking, " a medium baked potato has 30 carbs, I've got a cup of milk 12 g, and one chicken finger is 6 g but I'm having 2, so 6 plus 6 is 12 plus 30 in the bake potato 42 and the milk 42 plus 12 is 54 and every 15 g of carbs is one unit, 54 divided by 15 is 3.6 rounded to 4 so 4 units" Let's Eat!

Eventually being overwhelmed won't be a feeling anymore instead I will be used to counting in my head and be able to do it without even realizing that I am literally doing math. I know that with time and patience I will learn how to cope with being different from my peers. This will all come about in a matter of time and I am in no rush instead I'll enjoy every minute of it.

Kayla




No comments:

Post a Comment