Today I’m supposed to list ten things I hate about diabetes. I am being completely honest when I say that there is nothing I hate about diabetes, let alone ten things. I do, however, find a few things annoying, so I’ll tell you about those.
I drive three hours – each way – to see my endocrinologist (because that’s the closest I am to one). Although on nice days, the drive is beautiful, it is a hassle to go down and back in one day. My endocrinologist, on the other hand, is the bomb. I have the utmost respect for him, in fact, I call him the man who knows everything, so I don’t really mind going down to see him. And I recently found out (better late than never) that I can deduct 19 cents per mile for health care travel on my taxes!
I also drive three hours – each way – to see my opthalmologist. I am invariably heading home at sunset (going west in Colorado), with dilated eyes. This too, is a hassle. But it’s nothing that a little shopping – I mean time – can’t fix!
I have lipoatrophy in several of my injection sites. My theory is that it was originally caused by an allergic reaction to the animal-based insulin of my childhood (I have photos to prove that I had it as far back as fifth grade). When I use an insulin pump the atrophy gets significantly worse, even to the point where I have no sites in which to insert my infusion sets. So I stick with multiple daily injections. This is annoying because I don’t think it looks very good (my nice husband says he can’t tell) and because I would rather be on a pump!
Finally, I find hypoglycemia very annoying and a nuisance. It always seems to strike when I’m all geared up for a big housecleaning project or such. I have to treat the low blood glucose, hang out and do nothing for a while, then summon the enthusiasm to restart the project. This is also a hassle because I never leave enough time for these projects in the first place, and certainly can’t afford the time it takes to take care of a low!
As my mother always said, “hate is a very strong word.” I honestly don’t hate these things; I find them annoying, and then I move on. Sometimes I’m even organized enough to plan ahead so the hypoglycemia doesn’t happen, or so I can use my trip to the endo/optho to get other things done.