Diabetes Blog Week, Day 5: Freaky-Deaky Diabetes Friday

Today is Day 5 of Diabetes Blog Week - And it's all about getting all types of Freaky Friday and swapping out our Diabetes DX with another disease - which is an interesting subject - And a difficult one. 
For a list of other peoples Swapping posts, click HERE  -And make sure to follow the Diabetes Blog Week hashtag of #dblogWeek on twitter!
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Swapping out my Diabetes for another chronic illness A 'la "Freaky-Deaky Diabetes Friday??   Hmmm, that's a toughie!

 Yeah.... here's the thing: I know what living with Type 1 Diabetes is like, and even though I may not be the perfect patient with diabetes ( there's not such thing - and you're delusional if you think there is,) and diabetes is always changing the rules (just because it can,) I know my disease  - The good, the bad and the Diabetesalicious of it all. 

And while I may battle  Diabetes Burnout from time to time I still know my enemy/constant companion - Intimately and in all complicated (and complications) dimensions.

I don't want to swap diseases  with anyone else. 

And for the record, I believe that STUPIDITY and ASSHATTERY are indeed very real diseases - I'll take Diabetes any day!

This blog topic led me to Googling the term: "Diseases that sound fake, but are real," because that's just how my brain works. And there were some interesting articles written on the subject  - And some really interesting sounding diseases, that were indeed very real -Too many to blog about it in one post.  So I picked the following three diseases that are real but don't sound like they are,to talk about - But not swap my Diabetes out for! 

There's Medical Students' Syndrome: Medical students' syndrome is a temporary, hypochondria-like mental condition that strikes medical students, causing them to believe that they are suffering from the diseases that they're studying. By some reports, up to 80% of medical students experience it at some point as a result of studying such frightening diseases in such a highly suggestible environment.

Not so terrible... at first glance - But the more I thought about the worse that sounded. 

Here's the thing:  I start to itch and scratch if someone even mentions bed bugs, so forget about it! 

Living with diabetes is enough, but imagining temporarily suffering from every disease you studied in Med School?! 

Lets say I was a medical student and I was studying Irritable Bowel syndrome, and then all of a sudden IB symptoms would kick in - And probably at the most inopportune of times. And then If I was reading about Multiple Personalities disorders, all of a sudden I'd be having arguments with me and my multiple personalities, and with my luck at least one of them would suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome - NO THANK YOU. And I'm not making fun of IB or MPD in any way, shape or form. 

And there's something called Jerusalem Syndrome, which might be interesting to experience for about 5 minutes - Just because of the accessories and the dramatics involved. 

Basically, "Jerusalem syndrome is a form of religious mania resulting from, or leading to, a visit to the city of Jerusalem. Typically, a sufferer (of Christian or Jewish background) experiences a sudden religious fervor upon visiting the city, leading them to the belief that they are on a religiously significant mission and quite possibly that they are a specific biblical figure.

People experiencing Jerusalem syndrome often end up dressing in a white robe and delivering a sermon at a religiously significant site in the city. Since 1980, there have been an average of close to 100 cases per year reported. It's debatable whether or not sufferers had previous mental problems before visiting Jerusalem."

 But then I though about the mental toll Jerusalem Syndrome takes on the psyche of those who suffer from it. Imagine visiting The Wailing Wall in Israel, or The Dali Lama in Tibet, or Lordes France, and all of a sudden thinking you're some sort of Saint or on a mission from God, and the next thing you know, you snap out of it and are in the middle of a crowd who thinks you're crazy because you thought you were Joan of Arc, the son of God  or the next reincarnation of the Dali Lama. 

Not to mention the fact that I've been known to genuflect at various cupcake display counters across the country - Don't even get me started!

So yeah, white robe and theatrics aside, it's not worth it. 

Also, having a low blood sugars already makes me speak in diabetes tongues - So NO THANK YOU. 

The disease known as Synesthesia sounds sort of romantic and all types of artsy....at first.  

People with synesthesia ("synesthetes") associate a stimulus with one of the five senses not typically related to it. For instance, they may describe a certain sound as having a color. There are several different types of synesthesia, mixing sight, sound, taste and other sensory elements, and by some estimates, as much as 5% of the population has some level of incidence. It's a harmless condition and is often genetic, although some people have reported experiencing it as a result of a stroke or loss of sight or hearing. Perhaps because of its sensory nature, synesthesia is frequently reported amongst artists and musicians.

But the more I thought about Synthesthesia,the worse that sounded - Living with  diabetes, a disease that has the ability to affect your eyes, heart, arteries and kidneys is bad enough. 

But I love and find great joy & comfort in the Arts, and while I could deal with sounds having color (and words for that matter - I totally get that. For instance, the word "magnificent" always seems to me like it has an 18K gold shimmer to it,) the thought of having a stroke or losing my vision and or  hearing because I was seeing or hearing art in all its many wonderful forms but not in it's usual forms.. and then some, doesn't sound appealing at all - it sounds scary  - And it made me feel so sad for people who have been afflicted with Synesthesia. 

Living with Diabetes, may not be a walk in the park, but at least it's a terrain that I'm familiar with - And D is a part of who I am. 
And Diabetes has given me compassion, empathy and hope for others in spades - So I'll keep my busted pancreas,(and not wish a busted pancreati on anyone else, ever) and have heaps of compassion, empathy and hope for those who are living with their diseases - Those that are real, and those that are very real and sound fake.

 Everybody has something - And while the grass might look green on the other side, it doesn't mean that it is.