Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Coffee and Choices, & Kelly's Big D Soap Box




Behold the power of coffee. I need a cup of that magic elixir in order to start my day.

I prefer a nice Costa Rican or good ol Dunkin Donuts, but either one, I HAVE to HAVE my morning cup of Joe.

I take it with cream and 2 teaspoons of sugar. Light and sardonically sweet, kinda like me.

Why no artificial sweetener? Well, after 30 years with the big D, I've had my fill of the stuff.
I've said it b4 in Diabetesaliciousness Land and I'll say it again, I have so much artificial preservatives running through my veins, that my family will get a discount from the mortician when I die!

I consider my cup of coffee to have about 12 to 15 grams of carbs and bolus for it accordingly.
It's how I start my day and is my drug of choice. Insulin is my must have drug, there is choice regarding it.
My Endo is OK with my coffee Du jour, as long as I don't have a juice in the morning (actually,I rarely drink the stuff) he actually prefers that I drink the coffee w/cream and sugar over the juice .
I only have 1 to 1.5 cups of it in the morning. For the rest of the day it's water, maybe a cup of herb tea, & if I'm really tired, I go for a cup of green or a dejaarling (Sp) in the afternoon.

It's all about CHOICES. I choose my coffee in the a.m and forgo juice. That works for me.
When I talk with newly diagnosed diabetics, food choices are the number one complaint I hear.
"I can't give up chocolate," or "I'm addicted to bread," or the good old "but I already drink diet soda!"

I spoke to a woman at the dentists office on December 5th ( I remember the date because that was when I got my teeth cleaned and was in pain for two daysafterwards. I think my dentist was punishing me for my "hot topic" talk in the waiting room) who was diabetic (she said pre diabetic, but all signs pointed to type 2) and she told me she never even looks at labels when buying food. I couldn't believe it! She had the choice to actually stop her diabetes clock from ticking and she just decided to ignore it entirely. I asked her how many times a day she took her blood sugars. "Not that many," she said somewhat embarrassed. "Look, you need to take them at least 7 times a day to get a grip on what's going on in your body." SHE LOOKED AT ME LIKE I WAS NUTS. "That's 35 seconds a day, I know you've got 35 seconds to spare. If you did 10 times a day it would be under a minute." SHE STILL LOOKED AT ME LIKE I WAS CRAZY. Finally I told her, "look you have the opportunity that many of us don't and your wasting it. This is your health, be proactive. You can ignore your diabetes and it won't go away, but it will hurt you in the end. Your an adult and your choosing to let diabetes own you, instead of you owning it." "Yeah I know, but I'm waiting till the New Year and then I'll start fresh."
That really didn't sit well with me. "Start making choices now, even if their small. You live in the United States, you have the freedom to pick and choose what you put in you body. In some other countries, consumers don't have that choice. Go see a diabetes educator, read books on the subject, visit websites and blogs and don't buy anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup in the first 5 ingredients, own your disease woman! Cancer patients don't have the give to chose like diabetics have. Actually, WE ARE VERY LUCKY."


Once again, Kelly K was on her Diabetes soap box and telling it like it was, and probably offending someone in the process. But I so wanted this lady to embrace and own her life, which included diabetes. To think I started this blog about coffee and went off in a direction about choices, GO FIGURE?

As diabetics we are lucky, we have the gifts of choice, options, technology and education. And we need to use all of those gifts to succeed.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Kelly.

Some people don't understand that there are lots of choices in life. It usually comes down to the question of how much a person is willing to sacrifice for any particular decision.

That woman you met chooses to do something else with those 35-55 seconds each day, rather than monitor her blood sugars.

She must be doing something very, very important with those few moments of time, given that she willingly sacrifices the opportunity to lower her chances of blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, etc, etc.

Oh, almost forgot. I choose 7 to 12 tests per day, low fat creamer, and one Splenda in my morning java.

k2 said...

Jeff:

You are correct sir!
Whatever she was doing, it wasn't lowering her chances of complications.

I also test 7 to 12 times a day, it does get addicting.

As far as your coffee choice - your a better man than me my friend!

FYI - I've actually tried using the Raw lowfat milk at a friends and I really liked it in my coffee, however I can't find a place near by that sells it!

Eventually Jeff, we need to meet for a cup of coffee!
k2

Cara said...

It makes me sad to see thoes who are type 2 diabetic and chose to not take control. We don't have a choice about our diabetes. But we do have a choice about how we handle it. I think that those who can delay or preven their diabetes should do everything in their power to do so.
Even some type 1 diabetics look at me like I'm crazy when I say I test between 8 and 10 times per day.

Shannon said...

OMG, you say the things that I think.

I find it CRAZY that people are willing to risk all sorts of health problems because they don't want to take 10 seconds to test themselves.

Someone's got to start a Scared Straight program for people who don't want to take care of themselves:

"Hey, this is what it's like to sit in dialysis for 6 hours, 3 days a week....and you didn't want to take the time to test yourself which takes about 35 seconds of your day, everyday....."

"You find it inconvenient to read food labels? Sit in this wheelchair because your feet or leg is amputated, or maybe you might want crutches....which is more convenient now?"

No one thinks about the future or really puts themselves in the place of the worst possible scenario.

I put myself in those places which is what helps keep me taking care of my son when I just want to take a break from it. I know he can't, so I shouldn't be able to either.

Anonymous said...

I have an expensive morning addiction... STARBUCKS

Either a Grande Skinny Latte w/ SF Flavor = 19 carbs OR a Grande Iced Latte w/ SF Flavor = 13 carbs

My fav SF flavors are Mocha and Hazelnut.

DELICIOUS : )

Naomi said...

I hope you woke that woman up from her stupor. It would be so sad if she looked back on your conversation a few years from now and thought, "I wish I had really listened to that crazy lady!!"

k2 said...

Cara -
Being proactive is not craZy, it's a necessity.

Shannon -
Yeha- sometimes I open my mouth regardless if the other person wants to hear it!
A Scared Straight program might just work!
Choices are a good thing. You give your son choices regarding his food and I know that he appreciates it!

Stacey -
Your morning addiction is illegal and as long as u can afford it, I SAY ENJOY IT!

Naomi -
So what your saying is sometimes "crazy" is a good & wise thing!

k2

jules said...

I love how you tell it like it is! No one else probably had the guts to tell her anything and I'm so proud of you for doing that
Preach it sister!!

jules said...

oh and ps. i was talking to a nurse friend of mine and he asked me how many times a day i check i said 'well sometimes 10 it all depends on the day i guess' and he was SHOCKED he's was like are you really that out of control that you need to test that frequently!? woah. made me fall over in my chair! i couldn't believe that coming from a nurse. i guess it just goes to show how little people know about D. scary.

k2 said...

Jules -

I guess I thought she just needed to be told.
Sorry to hear that your friend the nurse doesn't understand that in order to stay in control, we gotta test. I'm sure talking to you is like having a living, breathing "How to" users guide on the Big D!

Keep preaching and teaching sister!
k2