Some days are harder than others but that is the same for most however I suppose this disease, along with all the critical diseases, there is the hidden effects on us. Days where enough is enough and even getting out of bed is to much of an additional work to put on your plate. The pressure of always being on and knowing the same tasks of calculating, measuring and having control is laid out before you. The knowledge that if you don't manage all aspects then the complications may present themselves one day.
Someone once likened living with T1D was like living on a see-saw that was on a see-saw that was on a see-saw that was on a see-saw. The first see-saw is the management of medicine, with a little balance that is achievable however if you lean the wrong way it can throw you off balance. The second see-saw is the management of food intake. Now managing to stay even on two see-saws is a challenge. Now the third see-saw is the management of exercise. Exercise does some strange things to blood sugar. In the beginning due to the adrenaline rush it can have the opposite effect to what you might think. It actually shoots you blood sugar higher and then once the adrenaline subsides then the blood sugar will drop dramatically. Usually this will be well after you have finished exercising. As you can imagine you have three see-saws that you balancing trying to do a job that is natural and automatic to most and if one element in 3 way see-saw is tipped in the wrong direction then there is a lot of work and process to try to get things back and level. If that wasn't enough there is the forth see-saw. This is the hidden invisible see-saw that people either don't believe in or don't want to talk about. The forth see-saw is emotions. Whether it is happiness, sadness, stress, tiredness, sickness or depression there is an effect on trying to maintain balance on the beams. I have had days that the biggest swings in my BSL's are due to emotions. I have managed to work through knowing people who have committed suicide, through divorse, through marriage, through the elation of watching my children come into this world and in each situation the one common thread is that my diabetes was always there and always needed to be managed. There have been days where my control has been anything but perfect going ridiculously high and dropping scarily low but this didn't stop me from picking myself up again and fixing it when possible. There have also been days that I have done the bare minimum to control my diabetes because there are sometimes that life takes priority and for those hours even though you still do what is needed, diabetes takes a back seat. No matter what ,and it is the same if life in general, there needs to be flexibility and understanding and most of all confidence that no matter what comes up you have the ability to tackle it and prioritise what part your diabetes needs to and will play. It is there and there are smart and not so smart decisions but when ever a not so smart decision is made then the lessons learnt are taken and used if the situation arises again.
As you can see those people lucky enough to have T1D do their best to stay with in a level that will ensure minimal complications and they strive to find a team of individuals that understand that it isn't just a matter of not eating sugar and having an injection and all will be fine with perfect numbers. There is management and there are days where balance is easy and other days where even though you do exactly the same as a perfect day (from a physical point of view) the control is impossible. We all do our best and no there are no perfect people out there (even Fabio gets hit in the face with a goose on a roller coaster) and the day that specialists and doctors understand that the better the management process could be.
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