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In February the #dsma blog carnival challenged us to write about the most awesome thing we’d done DESPITE diabetes. Today let’s put a twist on that topic and focus on the good things diabetes has brought us. What awesome thing have you (or your child) done BECAUSE of diabetes? After all, like my blog header says, life with diabetes isn’t all bad!
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Greetings all. Before I share with you some of the good things that Diabetes has brought me (which, despite the negative post below, it has), I wanted to share a recent experience with you that was really a triumphant moment for my Diabetic self. It is so awesome that I managed to do it despite Diabetes, and so I just couldn't keep the accomplishment to myself. Without further ado, here it is.
Friends, family, random readers:
I had a milkshake.
The story is this:
Last Summer Josh and I made perhaps the most brilliant discovery known to food-loving man.
In February the #dsma blog carnival challenged us to write about the most awesome thing we’d done DESPITE diabetes. Today let’s put a twist on that topic and focus on the good things diabetes has brought us. What awesome thing have you (or your child) done BECAUSE of diabetes? After all, like my blog header says, life with diabetes isn’t all bad!
---
Greetings all. Before I share with you some of the good things that Diabetes has brought me (which, despite the negative post below, it has), I wanted to share a recent experience with you that was really a triumphant moment for my Diabetic self. It is so awesome that I managed to do it despite Diabetes, and so I just couldn't keep the accomplishment to myself. Without further ado, here it is.
Friends, family, random readers:
I had a milkshake.
The story is this:
Last Summer Josh and I made perhaps the most brilliant discovery known to food-loving man.
Zaxby's Birthday Cake Milkshake, perhaps better considered as Heaven in a cup.
I don't know what it is about that milkshake, but somewhere along the way ice cream, sprinkles and chocolate frosting whipped cream come together to form a beautiful blend of milkshakey-delicious bliss.
When Zaxby's stopped serving this limited edition milkshake, I was quite devastated. But this Spring I found the pleasant surprise that they had brought it back... my milkshake was back! Literally THE week I got diagnosed, I was going to go get one but decided, "No, I can always get it another time."
Biggest regret of my life.
And hence began my mini-obsession with milkshakes (second to my Slurpee obsession, of course.)
So after my diagnoses, wracked with regret, I started seriously craving milkshakes. And it was Zaxby's milkshake that I had been coveting and salivating over most particularly.
Unfortunately there was just one little problem... the nutritional facts weren't in my favor.
At a whopping 860 calories and 111 carbs, my hopes for ever enjoying the Birthday Cake Milkshake again? Very null, seeing as I have known people to describe it as "Diabetes in a cup."
But you know what? As unhealthy as it was, I didn't care. It was a milkshake, and I wanted it!
I was prepared to tempt fate to get it.
I spent a couple of days mulling it over.
Should I eat it? No... too risky... that would be tempting fate. But it is so good! Certainly only a little wouldn't hurt? But who am I kidding, a little? What kind of person orders a milkshake with the intention - not to mention the willpower - to only drink a quarter of it? And what is life without milkshakes, anyways? I can't spend my whole life fearing milkshakes. I had to take a chance, risk it at least just this once, while my pancreas still created what little bit of insulin it had left.
Decisions, decisions...
I was prepared to tempt fate to get it.
I spent a couple of days mulling it over.
Should I eat it? No... too risky... that would be tempting fate. But it is so good! Certainly only a little wouldn't hurt? But who am I kidding, a little? What kind of person orders a milkshake with the intention - not to mention the willpower - to only drink a quarter of it? And what is life without milkshakes, anyways? I can't spend my whole life fearing milkshakes. I had to take a chance, risk it at least just this once, while my pancreas still created what little bit of insulin it had left.
Decisions, decisions...
In the end I decided I would get it.
Monday I coined as "Milkshake Day". I spent the majority of it walking around in a happy cloud of anticipation over the thought of actually getting my milkshake. I will admit, I was a little nervous. I felt a bit guilty. My blood sugar was probably going to suffer. I was seriously asking for it.
But when I had my milkshake in hand and took a sip after carefully dosing out enough insulin to cover it (and hoping for once that my math was right), it was instantly clear to me that it was all worth it. No, I didn't want my blood sugars to skyrocket, but I felt like I was truly living again! Truly enjoying food, without the constrictions or the guilt!
Probably the second best thing was that my blood sugars remained brilliant despite the mass amounts of sugar. Testing 2 hours later gave me a BG of 144, a little high but considering the circumstances, absolutely awesome. Will I be doing this again? Certainly, but it is nice to save it for special occasions.
Best milkshake I have ever had.
---
And while I would love to spend the rest of this post bragging about my amazing accomplishment of chowing down on food that even non-diabetics probably shouldn't be eating, I'll now switch over to a more serious note.
I'm sorry everyone, if I seem to complain overly much about Diabetes. But truth is, while it sucks, when something like that happens to you you really have no other choice but to take it in stride and learn to live with it like everything else. Because, y'know, life happens. My life may not be perfect, and who am I kidding? It's not even close. But this is the only life I have, the only chance I get to spend the short amount of time on Earth that I have been given. And to be honest, while Diabetes has given me a whole load of bad things to deal with, there's a spoonful of sugar in every one of those bad things.
Diabetes gives me lots of interesting things to blog about. It inspires me to eat healthy, exercise and take care of myself more than ever before - not just for my the size of my body, but so that I will live long and hopefully complication-free. Diabetes has introduced me to a wonderful online community of loving, understanding people just like me, whose support, advice and testimonies help me to become a stronger person despite this chronic disease. It fills me with excitement at the prospect of being able to meet other Type 1's like me, to see how they live life and cope with Diabetes. I eagerly anticipate the future and all of the new, exciting adventures that Diabetes will allow me to experience - both the good and the bad, which together make life such a wonderful thing to live. Diabetes has strengthened my relationship with God in a crash course that made my re-realize yet again how dependent I am upon him. I know that I am safe and protected because I am God's and that he has a very special plan made just for me. I'm so excited to find out what that plan is! Diabetes has helped me to better relate to people, to sympathize with their sufferings and truly listen to others. Diabetes has granted me better patience, courage and strength. Diabetes has taught me to never take even the most simple things for granted, whether something as simple as a milkshake or as precious as the breaths that I take and the heart that, despite the odds of living with a dangerous chronic disease, continues to beat within my chest. I've learned to slow down, take things in stride, live in the moment and simply be thankful that I am alive and healthy today. Come what may, this is me now, and I can't spend every waking moment worrying about all the bad things the future may hold.
My Father once told me that happiness is not contingent upon what happens to you in life, but on what your outlook towards what happens to you is. Happiness is a choice; you can't control life and all that it throws at you, but what you can control is how you choose to deal with it. I made the choice then to have a positive outlook on life. Of course I am human, and I have my moments where I just want to shut the world out, be alone and wallow in self pity and negativity. But in the end I always remember that for every bad thing, deep down there is still something to be positive about, you just have to find it, hold onto it, and never forget it. Diabetes has its negatives, but more importantly, it has its positives, too. And it is the positives that I have chosen to embrace.
But when I had my milkshake in hand and took a sip after carefully dosing out enough insulin to cover it (and hoping for once that my math was right), it was instantly clear to me that it was all worth it. No, I didn't want my blood sugars to skyrocket, but I felt like I was truly living again! Truly enjoying food, without the constrictions or the guilt!
Probably the second best thing was that my blood sugars remained brilliant despite the mass amounts of sugar. Testing 2 hours later gave me a BG of 144, a little high but considering the circumstances, absolutely awesome. Will I be doing this again? Certainly, but it is nice to save it for special occasions.
Best milkshake I have ever had.
---
And while I would love to spend the rest of this post bragging about my amazing accomplishment of chowing down on food that even non-diabetics probably shouldn't be eating, I'll now switch over to a more serious note.
I'm sorry everyone, if I seem to complain overly much about Diabetes. But truth is, while it sucks, when something like that happens to you you really have no other choice but to take it in stride and learn to live with it like everything else. Because, y'know, life happens. My life may not be perfect, and who am I kidding? It's not even close. But this is the only life I have, the only chance I get to spend the short amount of time on Earth that I have been given. And to be honest, while Diabetes has given me a whole load of bad things to deal with, there's a spoonful of sugar in every one of those bad things.
Diabetes gives me lots of interesting things to blog about. It inspires me to eat healthy, exercise and take care of myself more than ever before - not just for my the size of my body, but so that I will live long and hopefully complication-free. Diabetes has introduced me to a wonderful online community of loving, understanding people just like me, whose support, advice and testimonies help me to become a stronger person despite this chronic disease. It fills me with excitement at the prospect of being able to meet other Type 1's like me, to see how they live life and cope with Diabetes. I eagerly anticipate the future and all of the new, exciting adventures that Diabetes will allow me to experience - both the good and the bad, which together make life such a wonderful thing to live. Diabetes has strengthened my relationship with God in a crash course that made my re-realize yet again how dependent I am upon him. I know that I am safe and protected because I am God's and that he has a very special plan made just for me. I'm so excited to find out what that plan is! Diabetes has helped me to better relate to people, to sympathize with their sufferings and truly listen to others. Diabetes has granted me better patience, courage and strength. Diabetes has taught me to never take even the most simple things for granted, whether something as simple as a milkshake or as precious as the breaths that I take and the heart that, despite the odds of living with a dangerous chronic disease, continues to beat within my chest. I've learned to slow down, take things in stride, live in the moment and simply be thankful that I am alive and healthy today. Come what may, this is me now, and I can't spend every waking moment worrying about all the bad things the future may hold.
My Father once told me that happiness is not contingent upon what happens to you in life, but on what your outlook towards what happens to you is. Happiness is a choice; you can't control life and all that it throws at you, but what you can control is how you choose to deal with it. I made the choice then to have a positive outlook on life. Of course I am human, and I have my moments where I just want to shut the world out, be alone and wallow in self pity and negativity. But in the end I always remember that for every bad thing, deep down there is still something to be positive about, you just have to find it, hold onto it, and never forget it. Diabetes has its negatives, but more importantly, it has its positives, too. And it is the positives that I have chosen to embrace.
I. Love. This!!!! I love that you mastered the milkshake. I love that it made you feel alive again. I think it's a BIG deal and I love that you shared it with us. You Rock!!
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