D-Blog Week: Taking The Weight Off My Shoulders

I used to put myself down quite a lot when it came to talking about my diabetes care.  Come to think of it, sometimes I still do.  When I went to check-ups I'd rarely have a positive thing to say about how I'd been coping and, before receiving the results, I'd always predict my HbA1c as being a good 2% higher than it actually was.  My doctor and diabetes nurse were constantly telling me that, although there was a little room for improvement, I really wasn't doing as badly as I thought I was.

However in the last year or so, and especially since completing the DAFNE course, I've realised that I do a pretty good job at looking after my diabetes.  My control isn't perfect and some days I'd love nothing more than to throw my insulin pens and glucometer into the bin or out of the window or into the ocean, but I manage to refrain.

The thing I'm the most proud of, with regards to my diabetes management, is my carbohydrate counting.  I used to put a massive, 9834592745925483 foot barrier up against it, thinking that it was the most impractical task ever and making out that I was hard done by because I'd been asked to do it.  In actual fact, like most things I make a big deal out of, it's pretty easy.

Nowadays the thought of eating a meal, without at least having an idea of how many grams of carbohydrates are in it, bothers me far more than getting my kitchen scales out or flicking through my Carbs&Cals book.  Guessing how much insulin to give for my Sunday Roast or bowl of pasta or Chinese takeaway only leaves me either dying of thirst because I haven't injected enough, or scoffing a much unwanted second meal a couple of hours later because I've overdosed!

All in all, I'm happy to have finally befriended my kitchen scales.  They take the weight of worry off my shoulders! ;)