The forth example is my Aunt (maternal side) "Bobby"

Diagnosed in her early 50's she progressed to insulin use within the first couple of years (my maternal Grandmother - her mother - died of complications in her late 60's - lots of diabetes in my family)

She may have managed ok but figured since she could just inject insulin at will that meant you could wolf down a whole chocolate cake regularly and just keep dialing up a few more units

That worked well for her, or so she thought, until her late 60's when all the "abuse" (you never get the insulin dose correct 100% of the time and if you are really pushing it you will make a lot of mistakes)

At age 69 it caught up with her and she died of Kidney Failure - no transplant for someone who is intent on destroying their kidneys - just not a good candidate

So here I am

Diagnosed at age 52

Saw how to manage but more importantly I saw "what not to do" when dealing with this disease

There are no rules - there is no "typical" progression

Why did it really mess with my Dad but not his mother or grandfather? They certainly had the same genetics, so that "probably" wasn't the reason

Does that mean anything for "Me"?

All I know is this - if you keep your A1C below 6.5 you mostly take the kidney disease, the dementia and the blindness off the table

If you keep your A1C below 6.0 you take most of the rest of the complications off the table

It's just that simple

If it advances you TREAT it - you don't run to Google to see how "dangerous" the drugs are that will KEEP YOU ALIVE WITH GOOD FUNCTION

There is no Door number 3 - you "manage" or you die a long, lingering, debilitating death

Great Grandad managed and lived with perfect function
Granny managed but got taken out by "something else unrelated"
Dad though he was smarted than the Beast and it ate him up

I KNOW the only thing that matters is "control" and if you don't have it, can't do it on your own, have tried as hard as you can and it's still not enough then you get into the Doc and get them to take out the prescription pad

And you live with the side effects because any side effect that is not deadly, that won't cause years of pain and suffering is Far Better than dying from complications

Nobody with controlled diabetes has ever died from complications and it's just that simple...

Great response @A DiabetesTeam Member, so true, we must keep in touch on all fronts when it comes to diabetes. Giving up, eating what pleases you, is going to be the death of you, not diabetes itself, but complications from it. Both of my grandmothers were diabetics, both died from something different then diabetes. I wished we all could afford to wear cgms, minute by minute readings, would be very helpful in determining what course of action should be taken. By the way @A DiabetesTeam Member my great grandfather lived to be 105, life was simpler back then, people grew and raised their own food, lived off the land, no store bought food with dyes, unhealthy fats, lots of refined sugar, we could learn something from that generation.

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A Diabete...

A Diabete...

Nobody dies of diabetes. People die of the complications..

Yes, it's very tough but as Graham points out the solution is simple - control.

I wouldn't trust most doctors as far as I could throw a diesel engine but I still take my meds. Most doctors and nutritionists are appalingly ignorant of diabetes.

Your blood glucose or continuous glucose meter is your friend. They are no way 100% accurate but will alert you to trends up and down. Ditto A1c which is a good indicator of where you might be going. Time in range is an useful addition but not many people can afford continuous blood glucose meters, myself included.

Doctors don't help with their overly pessimistic prognoses of progression. I was told I would be in a wheelchair in two years because I've got Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy. According to some medical websites on average I should be dead by now. When people are told this rubbish they lose heart and give up. My response was to drop my weight by three stone and keep it off plus lots of walking and visits to the gym.

It's understandable that diabetics give up when they are told in doom laden tones that it's "progressive". That's why I treat many doctors and experts with caution.

I say let diabetes control your life, it will guide you directly or indirectly what to eat and also exercise and meds. We have to be our own experts on our bodies and with the feedback from our glucose meters and other measurements we can map out how to keep on top of this condition. It's hard work but the rewards are a better quality of life where we die when we should die and not before due to carelessness.

Definitely diabetes is different for everyone and you need to find what works for you. What’s not different is the need to control our blood sugar. For me sugar is like crack, one taste and I will crave it and that’s why I choose to not eat it at all. Right now I’m able to do it without meds and my goal is to do it for as long as possible but if and when I can’t I will go on meds. Unfortunately the medical profession isn’t as up on what it takes to control diabetes, so it’s up to each individual to do there homework and learn all they can about diabetes and explore the various options out there. Thankfully I found this site and learned so much from it. Graham, Henry, Judith, Joyce, and our other wonderful ambassadors have been great educators.