A Strong Base: House of Cards

   Welcome to Part 2 of House of Cards: A Series! In this post I'm going to share what a strong base is to me, diabetes-wise. Please note that I am not a doctor or a medical professional in any way, shape, or form, and do not claim to be one, nor do I suggest that any type ones reading this make any changes to their diabetes management plan solely based on something I say. Talk to your doctor if you have any concerns about your management plan and want to make drastic changes. Every type one has their own experiences and feelings related to diabetes and managing it, so I can only speak to mine, but hopefully someone out there in Internet Land finds this helpful or relatable. 

   A strong base to me is something that you can trust to be stable and strong, and something that you can build on. What does this mean in the context of diabetes?

   Something that you can always build on is knowledge. The more you know about diabetes management, the easier it is to understand, and the more confident you will feel making big decisions concerning your care and lifestyle. If you have questions, or if you don't understand something, the best thing you can do is some research and some reaching out! Go online and research things you're curious about and things that don't make sense to you, like the benefits of different types of insulin (like NovoRapid versus Humalog versus Lantus versus Basaglar), or why pre-bolusing for meals might be helpful, or in what situation one should check for ketones, or how you as a type one diabetic would be impacted by COVID-19. Reach out to your diabetes care team or to other type ones that you know and ask questions. Keep up to date on new research and treatments and technology that becomes available (JDRF Canada, for example, always has the newest info on their website - signing up to receive email updates from them could be a good start!). Do whatever you can to stay informed. This trick hasn't failed me so far - knowledge is power! It'll help you feel like you're on top of your care, and it'll make your life easier.

 Something that has been extremely helpful for me personally is having a supportive diabetes care team. A supportive team contributes to having a strong base, because you can always lean on it. I have always been able to call my team when I have questions, they have always been supportive when I wanted to try new technology, and they're just really nice and accepting. The first thing my endocrinologist said to me when I met him was that my life should always come first, and diabetes should come second. He didn't mean that I should just do whatever I want and ignore diabetes because taking care of myself is unimportant, he meant that I shouldn't not live my life just because I have a disease. It was a good first thing to hear after being diagnosed. Diabetes hasn't stopped me from doing the things that make me.... me. It has for sure presented challenges, but we were able to work through them, and now (or, when COVID-19 wasn't a thing) I go to overnight Scout camps and I hang out with my friends and I exercise and I eat what I want and diabetes doesn't stop me from doing any of it. I have to change the way I do some things to accommodate it, but I still get to be me. That's thanks to the support of my team and of my family and friends. 

   So, yeah! By understanding diabetes and how my body works with it, keeping up-to-date on all new information, and having a supportive diabetes care team that cares about me as a person just as much as they care about me as a patient, I consider my base to be pretty strong. It's the key to building the house of cards that is my life managing diabetes.

  Tune in at some point in the next couple of weeks for the next part of House of Cards: A Series, about finding a good support system in the context of life with type one.

   Till next time, Type 1 Warriors! Good luck with back-to-school next week!


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