Education and information are not scare mongering. We can take that information and use it or not as we choose, but we need to know what the consequences of uncontrolled diabetes can be before we can make decisions about how to care for ourselves. This is a 24/7 disease and we are our own best advocates.

What a wonderful group we are.
I am nonplussed by people who claim to not know the possible consequences of their disease. The info is readily available on your phone or at you library or on the newsstand! Girst thing I did when my kids , husband frind or myself was diagnosed with any condition or disease is read up on it. I have no patience with those that chose ignorance and than blame their doctor . I agree its his or her job but we are not asking the right questions. Be your own advocate!

Thanks for these thought provoking questions questions its a socratic method of teaching for sure!

I agree a more gentle balance would be best

However, it's almost like Doctors don't want to alarm or upset anyone

There is not a diabetic out there that should never have heard "this is what WILL HAPPEN if you don't control this" yet I work with dozens (initially) that don't even have an idea about what they should be doing or that bad things can happen

I hear comments like "my doctor is disappointed and I'm working hard" yet when you ask what they are doing (or trying to do) or why they have no idea

I was working with one woman, diabetic for almost 10 years who had no idea what a "carb" was. She developed Frozen Shoulder and (that Doc) told her outright "it was your uncontrolled diabetes that caused that"

She then asked a valid question - "why didn't anyone tell me something like this could happen"?

Valid question - why?

The Doc didn't want to upset or scare her?

Are we that fragile that things must be kept from us?

Are we incapable of being given a series of possible outcomes and told how to avoid them?

I realize I do go with the more "scared straight" approach but I just have gotten really tired of someone developing a "now non-reversible" complication and the only reason it happened is because "nobody" told them of the consequences of their attitude towards diabetes

It WILL GET YOU and somebody needs to say it...

Walter, do have calming methods for yourself? For me especially at work and I'm a toddler teacher of students ages 20-24 months. So I take breaks as needed, sit down with my students for activities before getting tired, drinking water and eating my berries 🍒 helps my energy to keep moving until my students take a nap at noon. I take a short break in my classroom before cleaning up their toys and we as staff takes turns cleaning the table, sweeping the floor and washing mouthed toys and their sippy cups. We daily reports to complete for the parents which doesn't take much time and we both have to put in observations for our 4 students although we have 8 children. This helps us to plan the children learning activities. I take a lunch break of eating and taking a 15 minutes walk outside of the building and listening to my gospel music. We also have a relaxation room for naps (30 minutes) and it helps me. We have walkie talkies for assistance for support and my supervisor is great with stepping in to help and our FEF person is great with our families and she supports us too as much as needed. I keep my motivation by being positive and avoiding negative communication.

Jennifer- I think that too many need to wake up. I read about so many diabetics knowing they've have had diabetes and either not caring, ignoring the problem, not paying attention or thinking they're completely alone or that's it's no big deal.
I'd rather know and face it. That's my way.
Both Hkc and Graham have different approaches and there's room for both of them and others. Better to know and do something about it in my opinion for what it's worth.
Peace.