Lecturing to

[Guest guest]

sweetie,

After sharing bedrooms with you and learning your secrets of

secrets....hahaha, I feel we're intimate friends, and I know you DO

feel stressed and scared about all of this. I've been taking some

lessons from our friend, Lilly. She's the ultimate teacher and

person who won't hesitate to lecture to someone she cares about, if

she thinks or knows it's for their own good!! And she's always

right! My " lecture " , as you called it, WAS a lecture, but it's

because I'm worried about you and I want you to be healthy and have

as few complications as possible with this new problem that's part of

your life now. If I didn't care about you, I just wouldn't bother

to say anything at all. It's easier to just disregard a person's

anxious post if you don't care about them.....than it is to sit down

and put together some instructions and advice that you think can help

them.

You said you felt like just giving up on the whole process, and that

you just don't care and that you just don't want to do it....and

that's really not an option for you if you want to be healthy and be

around long enough to enjoy Amy's and the twin's children, be a

grandmother and neat stuff like that.

I know it all seems overwhelming, and that you're really scared, but

if you can learn what you need to do, what to look out for and how to

care for yourself, then all that fear will go away. If you can learn

enough for you to control it, instead of " it " controlling you, your

life will be so much easier and less stressful. And no, you can't

really tell when you're high, you don't normally feel any different,

but we all CAN feel it when we're low, can't we? If you're keeping

track of your BG's on a regular basis, though, then you can avoid

those scary lows and prevent the harmful highs.

If all your doctor is doing when you complain to him or tell him

about things that are bothering you with the diabetes, is hand you

some glucophage and tell you to take it at bedtime....then you need

to find another doctor, . That guy doesn't sound as though he

even keeps up with what's been going on, or who you even are. Can

you change doctors, and find someone who cares about what's going on

with your treatment? Gee whiz, it's not fair to you to have a DINK

like that looking out for your medical care. Is he the same one who

won't let you use your port for at home med access?

Well, anyhow, when you do see him, see if you can get him to pay

closer attention to your complaints, what's been happening with your

BG's, and tell him about that pain in your lower right side....MAKE

SURE you let him know about that, dearie, because if it is pneumonia

again...(heaven help you)....it might be that they can get you on

some antibiotics right away so you don't come down with a hard case

of it. You WILL do that, won't you? A struggle with pneumonia is

NOT what you need right now, so whatever it is that's causing that

hurt down there needs to be nipped in the bud, pronto!! And if the

glucophage is making you go too low, he needs to know that and he

needs to adjust your dosage to avoid that. Or recommend another

medication that's more suitable. Even taking 2 cinnamon capsules

when you eat might be enough to help, who knows?

I'm sure that getting Amy all settled in at college will calm your

nerves down, but if you're like me, leaving her at the dorm and

walking out the door alone, driving home alone, will seem like one

of the saddest, and most lonely trips that you'll ever make!

I remember that first day with Lindy like it was yesterday, and it

was so bittersweet. She, naturally, was in such a nervous rush to

get up to ton to the college and her dorm room, to meet her

seven suitemates, that she drove me crazy on the trip. After making

5 exhausting trips up and down the elevator in the 98 degree heat,

hauling all her stuff, she was settled in and ready for me to leave.

Leaving her was one of the hardest steps I'd ever taken, and I cried

nearly the whole 2 hours of the drive home!! The house was so empty

and lonely that first autumn without her.

You'll probably experience the same feelings and end up feeling

exhausted tonight when you get home. Try to get yourself a good

night's sleep and try not to think about Amy too much....at least

you've got the twins there to keep you company and keep your mind

off the absence of Amy. And then you'll probably feel such a let

down....poor, poor Mom!

But then, tomorrow morning, pull your boots up, get your head

straight, and get ready to tackle the diabetes stuff with your

doctor, and yourself. I know you wish it would just go away and that

you wouldn't have to deal with it at all. We all feel that way. It

isn't something you can ignore, though, if you want to stay healthy

and avoid nasty complications. It just doesn't pay to go into denial

about diabetes. The sooner you know what you need to do, the easier

it will be.

Just as Karyn recommended earlier for , seeing a CDNE would be

excellent for you, too. Have you thought about that? There should

be a CDNE, (Certified Diabetic Nurse Educator), at your local

hospital, and they should offer classes of instruction for new

diabetics that you could attend. Insurance pays for this type of

instruction, and if you haven't done it already, now would be a

perfect time.

Talk to your doctor about it, and see if he would refer you to one

of the programs. I know that if you understood more about what to

do, and how your diet and exercise can affect your blood glucose,

that you'd feel better about it all the way around.

I'm sorry if you feel like I was jumping all over you. I admit that

I was. The reason, though, is because I do care about you, and I

want you to live a long time without problems blocking your way. I

want to be able to hear more stories about those girls of yours for

a long, long time, and I want you to be healthy and happy so that

you can share them with us.

With love, hope and prayers,

Heidi

Heidi H. Griffeth

Bluffton, SC

SC State & SE Regional Representative

Pancreatitis Association, International

Note: All comments or advice are based on personal experience or

opinion only, and should not be substituted for professional medical

consultation.