Sweet life

I have been a diabetic close to 6 years now and life with diabetes has always been an attempt to choose between sweet taste and sweet life. Reining in the unbridled freedom and choice in food habits will always be a big challenge. Being in a white-collar job always encourages the cozy and comfortable sedentary lifestyle but it is harmful for diabetics. So there is a lot of emphasis on physical activities to spend calories. Surprisingly, injecting insulin(s) twice a day didn’t feel very bad or awkward to me as it would for most, as it was comparable to taking vitamin tablets for vitamin deficiencies.

Keeping the blood glucose level (I will use ‘sugar level’ to refer to the same) under control is somewhat like treading a thin line between two extremes. When we try to pull it down, it doesn’t respond/over-responds and vice-versa. ( ‘Hypoglycemia’/’low sugar level’ and ‘Hyperglycemia’/’high sugar level’ are the dangerous extremes that diabetics should guard against. ) I have always been unable to resist the temptation to eat sweet food and on the pretext of eating such stuff “occasionally” I ate them too often to harm my health a lot. Diabetes, often dubbed as “mother of all diseases”, causes a lot of health complications to vital body organs and functions when left uncontrolled. Sadly I have kept blood glucose level uncontrolled most of my diabetic life till now.

I often think about the health hazards that I am opening myself to and try some form of control, but not once I’ve been able to practice more than a few days. Recently I made up my mind not to eat anything sweet so that I can aim for better control. Initially it felt like a ‘mission impossible’ considering my previous futile attempts, but the maturity that I have attained with my health condition made me last long enough to find out that such abstinence wasn’t so difficult after all. This has given me immense confidence in handling my health condition. I feel more responsible for my health which in turn has made me take full control. I have bought myself good shoes and started working out at my office gym. Even though I am just 2 days into it, I am confident of turning it into a valuable habit that is going to help my health a lot.

Diabetes healthcare in India is still mostly non-existent in countries like India when compared to the developed nations like the US, UK where the diabetics get excellent healthcare, medical insurance to cover the huge expenses incurred in buying insulin, glucose meters/monitors, test strips and etc. It will take a long time to have comparable healthcare in India but from my experience with Diabetes, I confidently say that we can still lead a safe, healthy and long life with diabetes with some conscious, regular effort. As with any step we take forward, there will always be obstacles, but with confidence and focus we can always overcome them. In fact, my diabetologist often says that “Diabetics can live a longer and healthier life than the non-diabetics if they live a disciplined life which gives them the longevity”. So I am extremely happy to have a chance to live a sweet life. I hope that my words can motivate diabetics to live a sweet life and non-diabetics to switch to an active, healthier lifestyle to keep diabetes away.