Living with Diabetes Archives - Page 50 of 52

Diabetes and depression – not a one sided affair

January 28, 2011 by Helen-Edwards Leave a Comment

Diabetes is not just something that happens to one person – it happens to a whole family.

Parents, sibilings, spouses, partners, grandparents, friends and loved ones, are all affected.I clearly remember how my sister had to suffer the restricted “diabetic diet” of the 1980’s when I was diagnosed and the extra attention and worries heaped upon and around my life…I also know my parents had to deal with their grief and anxiety about my future while I challenged the restrictions placed upon me. Diabetes is certainly a central part of our lives and my children and husband have no choice but to come along for the ride.

A recent study http://www.healthcanal.com/metabolic-problems/14136-Study-Diabetes-affects-patients-well-being-and-also-impacts-spouses.html reports that “Responsibilities and anxieties can differ for patients with diabetes and their spouses, but each may experience stress, frustration and sadness at times related to the demands of living with this disease,” said Melissa M. Franks, an assistant professor of child development and family studies. “We know spouses often support their partners, but in our work we want to know what form their involvement takes and how the disease and its management affect both the patient and spouse.”

Franks and her team found that the distress spouses feel is similar to what patients feel, and this could contribute to their own depressive symptoms such as irritability or sadness. These depressive symptoms come from their own anxieties about living with the disease or caring for someone with the disease and not necessarily because the other person is struggling.

Researchers also found that when male patients were concerned about the management of their diabetes, their depressive symptoms were elevated more than those for female patients with similar levels of concerns. We certainly know that men in general are less likely to seek support or to talk about how they are feeling. Diabetes Counselling Online will be undertaking a project in 2011 to provide counselling to men living with diabetes and depression in rural and remote areas of Australia.

The researchers in this study found that “This gender difference is consistent with prior work showing that male patients who are not managing their disease well tend to experience greater depressive symptoms,” Franks said. “And while we saw this difference between male and female patients, we did not see the same pattern of distress between their respective spouses. This is surprising, because one might assume that the spouse would be as worried, or, according to family roles, that wives might worry more. However, more research, especially long-term observations, is needed.” They concluded that because spouses’ distress is not always directly linked to feelings of their partner, it tells us that we need to pay more attention to the spouse as well as the patient.

Diabetes is certainly a family affair – one in all in!

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The art of diabetes management

August 27, 2010 by Helen-Edwards Leave a Comment

We all know that science underpins diabetes don’t we? That billions of dollars are spent worldwide researching the causes, possible cures and treatment options for diabetes. That there are millions of scientists and health care professionals working hard in the diabetes field, far and wide, across the world. And that there is a precise science to the way people with diabetes must manage each and every day of their lives. Once you get diabetes, life revolves around numbers, graphs, counting, measuring, working things out and navigating the all the ways that daily life affects diabetes and vice versa.

This is all true and all so vital.

But is it just a science?

I am starting to think perhaps it is actually an art.

Having lived with type 1 diabetes for 32 years now and working in diabetes for a decade I know a lot about the science and maths of diabetes. At school I hated maths and was not that keen on science, except for chemistry which I saw as a sort of “art” anyway! I remember how much I dreaded getting to year 9 science where I knew they would make us dissect a rabbit ( not sure they do this anywhere now!) and being in the country the boys came in with a live rabbit in a hession bag and proceeded to kill it on the spot. At which point I took my leave and made a stand for my belief that this was not a necessary learning experience!

Arts were my thing – drama, visual arts, painting, drawing, multi media, singing, music and literature – were the things that kept me alive and to this day, bring me much of the joy in my life. In recent years I have spent time learning to sing properly and have just started a visual arts course at university after many years of wanting to do this. It has started me thinking more and more about the importance of the arts in our lives as human beings.

It has also started me thinking about how art could be entwined with diabetes. Hence the “art of diabetes management”.

Think about it – one of the definitions of “art” is “a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation; “the art of conversation”; “it’s quite an art”

I strongly feel that learning how to manage diabetes is a “superior skill that you learn by study and practice and obeservation” and that managing to live with this disease is “quite an art”!

Extending on this idea I started thinking about the use of art in a therapeutic sense. Most people have listened to their favourite piece of music or song when they want to feel relaxed, or excited, uplifted, romantic and every other emotion in between. We have all laughed, cried, been scared and engrossed in film and theatre; many people play an instrument, sing, dance, read, write or paint, in their “spare” time.

So it seems “art” is woven through most of our lives in some way and is directly connected to our emotions and our wellbeing.

In a more formal sense art has been used in therapy for many years and can form a powerful part of dealing with problems in our lives. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_therapy

And in fact people have taken this into specific diseases and illnesses such as diabetes!

http://arttherapyfordiabetes.blogspot.com/

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/alternative-treatment/Diabetes-Colour-Music-Art-therapy.html

http://www.diabetesmine.com/2010/08/art-therapy-for-diabetes-what-the-heck.html

The artist in me is jumping with delight at the idea of taking diabetes management out of the science arena and into the arts!! No more mice and rabbits!!!!!!!

So to celebrate this, we at Diabetes Counselling Online www.diabetescounselling.com.au are launching “The art of diabetes management” on our website in preparation for an “art exhibition” online at our site for world diabetes day on 14th November 2010

We aim to get as many people as possible to submit their “art” in any form, which tells a story about their experiences of life with diabetes.

So start your project now – it may be a photograph of something that relates to your diabetes, a painting, sculpture or drawing (take a photo so we can upload it to the site), video, ( we can load via our YouTube channel) poem, story, piece of music etc etc – whatever form of expression works for you and tells people some of the story about your or your loved ones diabetes and how you manage each and every day. We will share it on Facebook and Twitter to get the word out there too.

You can email us on [email protected] to ask questions and to submit art work at any stage between now and 14th November 2010. We will soon be adding a page for this so stay tuned

The philosophy on the art of diabetes is

At moments of great enthusiasm it seems to me that no one in the world has ever made something this beautiful and important.
::: M.C. Escher :::

We are all important so share your story with the world!

Yours in art and diabetes

Helen

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What’s it all about anyway? Or don’t sweat the small stuff

June 10, 2010 by Helen-Edwards Leave a Comment

I got to thinking the other day about life. I know, deep…..but from time to time lately (must be getting into my 40’s surviving 30 years of type 1 diabetes plus having teenagers and a toddler) I have really started to ponder this.

Living with a chronic disease or life threatening illness can really put you in a headspace where you start to question what life is all about. Many people talk about realising what is really important when faced with their own mortality. In particular when there is shortened life expectancy; daily impact from their condition and/or chronic pain – there is often a real impact on the way we view and live, life.

In these fast paced, competitive, money focussed “me” times of the human race, it is all too easy to get caught up in the idea that life is all about what you can get out of it. We see that we need to get the latest “iPad”; “Blu Ray”; Widescreen TV; sports car; bigger house and so on – but we miss the point that these things do not make us happy.

People then seem to pass this message on to their kids so early – little ones are taken to 4 different classes each week – you know, music, dance, sport, extra tuition – all driving towards the ultimate goal of being a “celebrity”, being “rich”, “successful” and supposedly “complete”.

What people who have never faced a chronic or life threatening illness can fail to realise is that at the end of their lives none of this will matter and none of this will be of any consequence to anybody at all. What will matter will be the people we have touched in our lives, the impact we have had on other human beings, the experiences we have had in our short lives (in comparison to the universe) and the way in which we lived these lives. That is what we have put in to life.

In my opinion a life lived graciously, generously, with joy and passion and connected to other human beings on this amazing planet – is FAR more valuable and treasured than one lived to excess…

Looking at the universe and seeing all those planets out there, which at one stage of the history of our solar system may have been just like our earth and who knows, may have harboured “life”, makes you realise that we are totally at the mercy of the environment in any case and that human history may one day end just the same way, perhaps becoming a planet of gas and volcanic activity, viewed from space by a new and emerging life form.

Who knows, anything is possible – just look at the miracle of a new baby and you can see this.

Yes I have just become an Aunty for the second time (yay!) and it never ceases to amaze me how a baby is created and born – nothing short of a miracle.

Living with a chronic disease such as diabetes can also make your view of life become very insular, very focussed on how horrible you feel today, how hard it is, how unfair it is – this then makes life seem very small and hopless. If we can take some steps back and look at the bigger picture of life, this is where diabetes (or whatever you have to manage) can seem smaller and the possibilities of life, depsite this disease, can loom large and joyful.

When you feel anger rising because your teenager did not clean their room, do their washing or turn out the light; when you become stressed because your house is a mess, or you have not had a chance to tick off all the things on your “to do” list; when you scream at the car in front of you for going too slowly – just try to stop, breathe and remember that every minute lived is a gift – and that it is in your control to shift the way you feel about all of these daily pressures to ensure a happier and more peaceful ride, no matter what challenges you face.

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Holidays, life and taking a break

May 18, 2010 by Helen-Edwards 1 Comment

What is a holiday? Does it have different meanings and bring up different images for different people? I think the answer is a resounding “yes” and “no”. We all have shared ideas and images about holidays. There are the traditional shared holidays and there are also shared ideas about the ultimate holiday. Maybe it is skiing on a powder white slope; lazing on a golden sunny beach under a palm tree; hiking in bushland; an eco holiday; rail journey or cruise – whatever the word “holiday” conjures up for you, there will be many dreams, memories, emotions and plans centering around the idea of a “break”.

In order for this to work we need to be taking a “holiday” from something. For most of us this involves ‘getting away from it all”; spending time with family and friends; “hitting the road” and exploring the many twists and turns of a new place. We are so focussed on work and the everyday grind that holidays have become a formal part of our lives and one which many of us spend our time working for. A classic Aussie dream is to retire and become a “grey nomad” – hitching up the rig to finally get out an “live life for real”. This saddens me as the “for real” is the everyday – it is what happens from the minute you wake up, to the minute you go to bed and even the sleeping part. This is our lives and holidays form an important part of our lives.

So why are holidays so prized, dreamt about and planned? Think about someone on a game show, what is one of the main things they want to win? Either a holiday or money to go on one. This holiday thing is the big time when it comes to something we are all working to achieve.

My thoughts are that holidays are full of “down time”; are often spent with those we love the most; are often taken without the usual hustle and bustle of every day life; often take us away from our technological dependence (although nowadays this is not so true); allow us to go with what we feel we want to do with our time, rather than what we think we have to do; are full of happy and exciting memories; are often taken in exotic or distant places.

However there are also those holidays which are taken close to home, perhaps at the family shack or caravan park; are taken over a few short days and don’t cost the earth. In fact those types of holidays are often some of the best.

To me the important thing is the time spent savouring life. The time spent slowing down, stopping to “smell the roses”, enjoy family and friends and the world around us. Even if we have the old family arguments, stress and the predictable travel problems such as travel sickness, mess ups with arrangements, missed or delayed flights, language barriers and an array of other problems especially when overseas, the ultimate memory of a holiday is usually positive.

To me, part of the pleasure of a holiday is the planning. Working out when and where you will travel to; where you will stay and what you want to do with the time, even if this is “nothing at all”!The rest of the joy is in the doing, and then the remembering……

I have so many memories of holidays – as a toddler camping in a 2 man tent with my parents in the bush; as a child traipsing around Europe with my hippy backpacking and (crazy) parents dragging a 2 year old and 7 year old all over the world; as a teenager (grumpy but secretly thoroughly enjoying) holidays to places like New Zealand and Fiji, as well as travelling around Australia; as an adult being so lucky to go to Italy and South Africa for work with my Mum in tow (these memories are absolute gold despite fraught airport moments and robberies!); and taking my own family on so many holidays – to the beach shack a few hours away, the caravan park in my home city, interstate to forests and beaches and theme parks and road trips, and most recently to beautiful Brisbane where mum, Maxwell and I stayed in a wonderful old Queenslander and woke every morning to bird song and the warmth of the sun overlooking green in the middle of a city!

To me holidays form a major part of the threads of our lives.

I think that in life with diabetes we also need a “holiday” from it. If managing diabetes is like a job, then surely holidays and short breaks are just as vital to our continued diabetes management as holidays are to our lives?

How do we do this? We need to think about how we are travelling with our diabetes – are we ok with it, are there areas we could manage better, are there areas we are focussing on too much? Do we have problems that we need to sort out? Does the balance of where diabetes sits in our lives feel about right, or not? And how long since we have had a break?

Just like when planning your regular holidays or short breaks, even if all you do is take the occasional long weekend off work – you need to think about some regular breaks from diabetes. This does not mean stop looking after your diabetes. It just means allowing yourself premission to perhaps have a treat; not check blood glucose as often for a day or so; focus on other areas of your life for a bit; do some relaxation and self talk which helps you to put diabetes into a balanced state in your life – that there are many other parts of your life that are important.

Sometimes our health can become the focus of our lives. This can in turn make us “sick”. It is important to acknowledge that you are here, living every day – and that this is a gift. Taking a real holiday can be one way of helping you to take a break from diabetes and the stress it can bring.

Happy plannning!

New Zealand 025 — Breathe in some fresh air and take time to see the sky

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On the wire without a safety net…

April 8, 2010 by Helen-Edwards Leave a Comment

Now I was thinking when I was away on my Easter beach holiday, about the thin line we can walk when we live with diabetes. Depending on the type of diabetes, how long you have lived with it, how you choose to manage and your own personal preferences and personality, you may or may not check your blood glucose.

If you are like me, type 1 for 30 years, on an insulin pump, live with erratic swings at times due to gastroparesis and a history of anxiety about hypos – then you probably check your blood glucose quite often, some may say even obsessively! The black marks and tough pads of my fingers are testament to this. I like to know what is happening inside my body, I like to be able to wake up with a reasonable blood glucose level if I can so I can eat without stress, to get through an exercise session without a hypo, to go out and about without feeling horrid from high or low levels and to care for my family without risk of anything going wrong due to my diabetes. In short, I like to feel in control. Unlike in my younger years I don’t like that crazy, heady feeling of being out of control – another sign of this is my decision to give up alcohol about 12 years ago.

Don’t get me wrong, this has not always been the case. When I got diabetes home blood glucose monitoring was not even happening. It came in shortly afterwards and the machine was huge by todays standards and required a squillion steps, washing and drying the testing strip and waiting for what seemed like an eternity. In my teen years and young adulthood I can not say I checked my blood glucose that often, I really don’t remember, but it was certainly not central to my life like it is now.

Is that a good thing, bad thing or bit of both, this checking often??? I think it is a bit of both for me. I do think that feeling compelled to check often can result in over correcting if you are not careful and also puts your blood glucose in front and centre all the time. But for me, this is usually not a bad thing.

So here is a little story about this reliance on a piece of machinery, how important it can become in your life and how scared you can become if it disappears…On the weekend I had planned to go to the local seaside markets about 10 minutes away from our beack shack. We were all very excited about this adventure. We bundled all the kids and granny into the car and arrived with high expectations about treasure hunting and finding local goodies. My blood glucose had of course been high that morning (it’s like it just knows) and I wanted to keep a close eye on it as I had given a bolus of insulin prior to leaving.

After about 30 minutes of wandering about I decided to check and see if I could have a snack or two…..(the smell of BBQ and donuts was overwhelming). A blanket of dread came over me, (not because my bag is such a mess), but as I looked I realised my blood glucose monitor was not in my bag – horror! I looked and looked, you know when you think something should be there and it isn’t? How you go over and over the same ground?

To add to this feeling of falling from a great height with no safety net, I could not see my hubby and kids, or my mum, so decided to head back to check the car, it had to be there. Finding mum along the way I told her to look for the others and I hiked back up the hill to the car praying it was there. Of course when I go there, no machine. I searched and searched, then called Dad at the shack to see if he could find it. I headed back down the hill by this time little tears were starting – tears of frustration that even after 30 years diabetes can bite me any time it likes.

I still could not see my family and was getting pretty upset by this stage. Logically I knew I was not in too much trouble but at times I find it hard to pick up a hypo after all these years so this was at the back of my mind despite rationalising with myself. Asking around the stalls to no avail, I found Mum and she headed off to look for my family.

I too walked up and down and finally we all found each other, but still no machine. Of course we decided to head back. Everyone had had enough in any case but the wet blanket of my diabetes was very present. Luckily I had a back up machine at the shack – always a good idea to have more than one, especially when you go away. And as mum also has diabetes there are usually plenty to go around!

So, back at the shack, still no machine. We did wonder about my toddler jhiding it as he has a history of this – once deciding to hide Mummy’s machine under the skirt of a soft toy mouse standing at Grandma’s front door – it was just the genius of my ever toddler thinking dad who looked under her skirt and discovered it!

So I decided it was just lost and that was that. Mum however wanted to crack the case and she went back later and yes, some lovely person had found it and handed it in to the local tourist office. Everyone she spoke to knew all about diabetes as most of them had it! I was glad to have it back and wondered what adventure it had been on while away from me, had some random person used it to check their blood? Had it seen anything interesting on the market stalls, as I sure had not had time to look! Perhaps it had found a treasure and tried to tell me but I had been too busy to notice…

Looking back on this couple of hours of my life it may seem strange to some people, to feel so stressed by this experience. I know lots of people who would go out for the day and not check their blood glucose at all. The thing for me is that I would have lost the control that is so important to me, if I could not check to see the trends of my blood glucose.

And that is the moral of this story – it is your diabetes, you are the person most affected by it so stand up for the ways you want to do this and don’t judge yourself or other people who choose to do it differently.

Oh and bring on the artifical pancreas and let’s hope you can padlock it to your body so it is not possible to lose it at a seaside fair!

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