One Thing To Rule Them All...I Mean, One Thing I Could Do Better.

Today’s Diabetes Blog Week topic is about something I could do better in terms of self-management. It’s telling that I had a very hard time coming up with even one thing I do well, for yesterday’s topic, and a very easy time with this one – I gravitated towards writing it first, because it was much easier.

 I’m not great at carb counting. I have the book. I try. But I seem to chronically underestimate, especially when I go out because I tend to eat complicated food and I’m not completely sure what’s in it. This is a particular issue because I love carbohydrates. They are tasty things. I would like to be better at restricting my carbohydrate intake. This doesn’t mean that I “shouldn’t” be eating anything in particular. I want to make it clear that a Type 1 diabetic can eat a perfectly normal diet. However, I know the results are better for my numbers in general, and for my weight, when I do this. In short: carbs, I wish I could quit you! (I love veggies and protein too, but they aren’t as problematic.)

I know this is “one thing to improve,” but I’d also like to confess that I’m not great at only using things for the number of days/uses that I’m supposed to. I reuse everything I can. I am, perhaps, the queen of blunt lancets (I’m not even going to tell you how long it’s been since I’ve changed mine, but you can guess if you want). I tend to milk my pump sites for longer than I should (and have paid for that, physically). I definitely reuse cartridges; a pump rep told me I could use them twice, but I almost always do more. I think that’s a product of frugality, fear that I won’t be able to keep the benefits at some point, and also my general frustration with how much waste material this condition generates. It’s not the greatest thing to be doing, though, and I’d like to get better at following the schedule.

Oh, and “have better test results” in general, but that’s so multifaceted, there’s no way it’s just “one thing” to improve! (And the more we realize that, the better for our psychological health.)

-Ilana