Shownotes
In this episode, we explore a comprehensive list of what the general public considers to be diabetes-related complications straight from Google, including heart disease, kidney issues, vision loss, and more.
But hold on, there's more to the story than just medical definitions. Deborah will share insights from her own journey with Type 1 diabetes, discuss the psychological impacts, and even question the methods used to gather these statistics.
Is the fear-based approach often taken by healthcare professionals really effective? Join her as she navigates through these complex issues, challenges common misconceptions, and encourages hope and resilience in the face of diabetes. Let's get real about diabetes and focus on living our best lives!
Chapters
- 00:00 Intro (and Disclaimer)
- 02:30 List of Complications
- 04:45 Validity of Definitions of Complications
- 10:42 People Will Judge Regardless
- 11:20 Do Your Best and Forgive Yourself
Research Links
Community
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Episode Credits
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- sung by Deborah E, Jazz Singer
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Transcripts
Welcome to another episode of DiabeticReal, and I'm your host, Deborah.
Speaker:All right, today we're going to talk about the real complications of diabetes.
Speaker:Now, I did something that we all can do, and that is we can
Speaker:Google complications of diabetes.
Speaker:Yeah, according to Google.
Speaker:I figured it was an easy way to see what the thoughts are
Speaker:out there according to Google.
Speaker:Easy place to start, eh?
Speaker:Well, according to Google, straight up from the top to the bottom, the way
Speaker:Google and Google's AI give it to you.
Speaker:And that is, the first one, heart disease along with stroke.
Speaker:Another one is kidney disease, vision loss, foot problems, nerve issues,
Speaker:digestive problems, immune system problems, depression, Menstrual problems,
Speaker:bone diseases, and diabetic ketoacidosis.
Speaker:Well, I'll definitely give you the diabetic ketoacidosis.
Speaker:I mean, hey, that one even gives you the name, diabetic.
Speaker:But that one deserves a whole episode talking about that one specifically.
Speaker:One of them I do want to kind of remove from the list is depression, and that is
Speaker:because that's more of a category that goes with mental illness or personality
Speaker:assessment and how you approach life, and hey, if you have all of those
Speaker:complications related to diabetes, that's assuming that I agree with complications
Speaker:from diabetes with that whole list, but if you had every single one of
Speaker:those, Hey, if I had those, I'd be a little bit depressed too, wouldn't you?
Speaker:So, if you're depressed, I don't think it's necessarily
Speaker:depression related to diabetes.
Speaker:It's depression because life is a little bit difficult.
Speaker:Also, there are some people who, are more prone to depression.
Speaker:They're depressed if they, for instance, stubbed their toe or if the
Speaker:flowers are not blooming properly.
Speaker:I'm not faulting that.
Speaker:That's, that's more in the how you approach life and your personality
Speaker:and in the psychology department.
Speaker:And I can say that because that's where my degree is.
Speaker:I wouldn't say that that is necessarily related to diabetes, but that's my
Speaker:own personal opinion and related to my almost doctorate in psychology.
Speaker:Now, I'm a little bit concerned when people start, I mean, right away
Speaker:they're like, hey, these are the complications of diabetes and if you
Speaker:don't take great care of yourself and if you're not checking your blood sugar.
Speaker:500 million times a day, then you're going to have this happen, this
Speaker:happen, this happen, this happen.
Speaker:Hey, I've had it all.
Speaker:And I've been yelled at.
Speaker:I mean, literally to tears by doctors.
Speaker:And I got to ask myself sometimes, are doctors doing that to pad their wallets?
Speaker:So you'll keep coming back?
Speaker:I mean, is this a way so they can make you come in for doctor's appointments
Speaker:just so they can yell at you some more so you can go home crying and think
Speaker:your life is just over at that point?
Speaker:I Is that really a way to approach this as far as the complications to diabetes?
Speaker:And the same thing I think happens with type 2 diabetes.
Speaker:I mean, I'm, I'm a type 1.
Speaker:I'm not type 2, but the whole list of complications of diabetes and blood
Speaker:sugars and A1C and the whole thing.
Speaker:But do we really want to approach it?
Speaker:Through fear and condemnation and making people cry and feel
Speaker:hopeless, and especially that last one, feeling hopeless.
Speaker:What good does it do to make someone feel like they have no hope in life?
Speaker:Now, as far as the list of complications, I have to ask myself.
Speaker:Now, I realize, this is coming from Google.
Speaker:I wanted to get a list where no one has to go have a special membership
Speaker:to get this list You just go find it on google search there.
Speaker:You have to ask yourself.
Speaker:Where do people get the information?
Speaker:I know someone will say medical journals this so forth and and there's some actual
Speaker:valuable information out there But I know from my research to get my doctorate
Speaker:that it comes a lot of that comes from at least for phd level doctorates It
Speaker:comes from surveys given to people And I think that's how you get things like
Speaker:depression, you're giving surveys.
Speaker:So ask yourself, where is this information coming from originally?
Speaker:Is it coming from actual lab assessments or is it coming from
Speaker:opinions and from surveys from people?
Speaker:That doesn't mean we fault people.
Speaker:It's just, you gotta look at it with a grain of salt.
Speaker:The other thing too is I've found that if anything goes wrong in my body, a
Speaker:doctor is going to blame it on diabetes.
Speaker:It's almost laughable and that's how I approach it with life.
Speaker:I mean, I could go in there, I could fall in love with the person next door
Speaker:and if that relationship doesn't go right, it's blamed on my diabetes.
Speaker:I'm actually, I mean, I'm joking, but I'm actually being serious.
Speaker:I'll go into the doctor and if I'm just crying a little bit because
Speaker:the relationship's broken up, they'll blame it on my diabetes.
Speaker:It's it's really utterly ridiculous.
Speaker:Now.
Speaker:I'm happily married for almost 30 years, but I am giving you
Speaker:an idea here It's I've seen the weirdest things blamed on diabetes.
Speaker:It's absolutely ridiculous To me the diabetes comes down to taking care of
Speaker:yourself Listen to your body Find the balance if you're taking care of yourself
Speaker:if you're listening to your body If you're doing everything you can to take
Speaker:care of yourself, you're going to be healthier than you would have been if you
Speaker:had not been taking care of your health.
Speaker:Let me say that again.
Speaker:If you're taking care of yourself, if you're listening to your body, if you're
Speaker:doing everything you can taking care of yourself, you're going to be healthier
Speaker:than you would have been if you had not been taking care of your health.
Speaker:and look.
Speaker:I've been taking care of my health.
Speaker:Am I perfect?
Speaker:No, I'm not.
Speaker:And when I was diagnosed with diabetes, look, they didn't have all this testing.
Speaker:They didn't have the technology.
Speaker:They didn't have the blood tests.
Speaker:They didn't know what was going on.
Speaker:So that meant I didn't know what was going on, but I'm still very healthy.
Speaker:When I was tested for my heart, they had to test it again because they couldn't
Speaker:believe how healthy my heart was.
Speaker:It was healthier than a normal person.
Speaker:Uh, I don't have kidney disease.
Speaker:I have very healthy kidneys.
Speaker:Both of my kidneys.
Speaker:Vision loss?
Speaker:I thought I'd be blind by now.
Speaker:I used to practice living being blind.
Speaker:I, I was inspired by Helen Keller and I thought if she can
Speaker:survive this, I can survive this.
Speaker:And she didn't have hearing either.
Speaker:So, I mean, Foot problems?
Speaker:Hey, I still have all my toes.
Speaker:Nerve damage?
Speaker:Yeah, that's gonna happen.
Speaker:Especially as I said, they didn't have the testing when I was diagnosed.
Speaker:I'm not blaming you on that.
Speaker:I'm just saying circumstances happen and things are better now than
Speaker:they were when I was diagnosed.
Speaker:There's more technology available, more tools available to take care of yourself.
Speaker:People are going to judge you.
Speaker:People judge me.
Speaker:Have always judged me.
Speaker:They've judged me all my life.
Speaker:Some people judge me because that's what they do.
Speaker:They judge everyone So why not judge you that's they're just gonna
Speaker:they're gonna judge even your pet For being the wrong color fur.
Speaker:So some people judge because it makes them feel better and putting you down
Speaker:makes them feel more powerful And like they are better people Are they
Speaker:better people because they judge you?
Speaker:Of course not.
Speaker:But in their feeble mind, that helps them feel better.
Speaker:So leave them to their feeble-mindedness because you do
Speaker:not have to sink to that level.
Speaker:Treat yourself well.
Speaker:Be positive.
Speaker:And cut yourself some slack.
Speaker:Hope for the best, aim for the best, and when you do not have the best
Speaker:day and your blood sugars are all over the place, forgive yourself and
Speaker:aim for a better day the next day.
Speaker:Just because other people judge you does not mean you need to pick up
Speaker:that nonsense and judge yourself.
Speaker:After all, what do they know about walking in your shoes?
Speaker:But at the same time, love them for where they are in their ignorance
Speaker:because they are just human too.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Even doctors, they're trying to help you from their point of education,
Speaker:but they haven't been there.
Speaker:Done that.
Speaker:Treat each day as a new opportunity to love yourself
Speaker:and do the best that you can.
Speaker:Realize that we are dealt the hand, we are dealt.
Speaker:And this is not a time to focus on blame, but focus on the good we can do by doing
Speaker:our best and listening to our body.
Speaker:This is Deborah from DiabeticReal.
Speaker:I'm here for you, and I will see you in the next episode.
