Oh Twitter, how I have missed thee!  I bought a fancy smart phone to tweet, anytime and place, yet I allowed my hectic schedule to keep me from logging in.  Oh what to do now?  I cannot even remember my password anymore! 

OK, so here is the deal. I used to be the Twitter Queen and I was able to stay in touch with my DOC buddies all the time.  I let life get in the way and at first I stopped tweeting during the day but I would tweet at night and on the weekends.  Then I got too busy at night with paperwork for my job and late night therapy sessions in homes so I stopped tweeting at night. Weekends were for catching up on chores, work, and clinical supervision so no more tweeting on the weekends  DSMA started and because I wasn’t connecting to the DOC in anyway anymore, I didn’t even know about it at first!  Cherise of DSMA is my friend so this was indication of how disconnected I had become, I wasn’t even talking to her regularly!

I have decided no more! I must reconnect with Twitter. But how should I do it?  Just jump right back in?  Let the site being announced be my catalyst?  Make a Facebook post saying I am coming back? What to do?  I have to admit, I feel embarrassed for being so connected and then just disappearing off the face of the earth.   All those connections severed and so many new people in the DOC who I haven't even met yet, I feel kind of intimidated to even try to come back.

So keep an eye out for me on Twitter, I am coming back soon!   I just need to figure out how I can reconnect in a realistic way for my life.  I can’tbe online all the time, it just won’t work for me.  I have to find a balance so I am really looking at how I spend my time, during the day at work and when I am home so I can be realistic in the way I tweet this time. 

It's all about your attitude,

Suzanne

As many of you may know from the video I did last week about packing, I went on a mini vacation over this past weekend.  I headed out to sunny California for two reasons, to go to the Behavioral Diabetes Institute Luncheon I was invited to and to meet up with my online diabetes buddies for the ultimate diabetes meetup. I had a great time meeting LeeAnn, Cherise, Jaimie, and George! When I got home I had so much material for blogs and vlogs, I didn't know where to start! Last night I posted a video Test Your Blood Sugar-Single Ladies Style and decided I was going to start working on a blog about the luncheon next. Well, LeeAnn beat me to the punch with an incredible post about the experience! So here is the begining of her post, I encourage you to read the entire post to hear the whole story and to see all the wonderful pictures. LeeAnn is an incredible blogger and a wonderful human being.

What's Right with Me? 

How awesome was the Behavioral Diabetes Institute's Celebration of Strength Luncheon for women with type 1 diabetes? Well, since last year's event was so incredible, my hopes were high for a comparably amazing luncheon this year, and I was not disappointed even a little bit.

As soon as I arrived at the sign-in table, Dr. Susan Guzman, one of the founding psychologists at BDI, greeted me with a big hug and gracious welcome. If it hadn't been for her invitation, I likely never would have gone. Once I was signed in, I entered the dining room, and sitting before me was Cherise from the heartfelt Diabetic_Iz_Me, Jaimie, admin extraordinaire from TuDiabetes, and Suzanne from 1HappyDiabetic, who very similar to me, has traveled the road of denial and is now hoping to help other diabetics as a mental health provider. I wouldn?thave hesitated to call these ladies my sisters prior to that moment,but actually meeting them in person just sealed the deal. We exchanged hugs and squeals of delight, and the picture-taking commenced,naturally!

Click HERE to read more and see pictures...

Musterbation! I bet I got your attention there!  I love this term!  Musterbation is defined as a rigid thought pattern characterized by the tendency to impose absolutist expectations ononeself.  This term was coined by Albert Ellis who was the father of Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) and was known for his often confrontational style with clients.  As I learned about this man and his theories of psychotherapy, I understood his theories in a real and personal way.  I realized that I often have been irrational in my thinking about my diabetes, my attitude towards my diabetes, and my treatment of my diabetes. 

One of my favorite quotes by Albert Ellis is "There are three musts that hold us back: I must do well. You must treat me well. And the world must be easy."  So let's look at this quote in relation to diabetes...This is a loaded statement for anyone, but especially a diabetic. What are some of the diabetic musts we tell ourselves?  Here is a list of my irrational, musturbatory beliefs that I catch myself telling myself.

I must have a good blood sugar.

I must always have perfect control, all the time.

I must do everything right with eating and exercise.

I must be a perfect diabetic.

I must be able to control all the variables in my life that affect my diabetes.

This diabetes thing should be easy to control.

I should never eat cake/cookies/candy/treats ever again, I'm diabetic.

I should know all the answers already, I've been diabetic for over 20 years!

My diabetes absolutely must behave in the way I expect it to.

Things should be easy when it comes to my diabetes!

So what am I doing when I tell myself these thoughts?  I am being rigid and I am expecting something unreasonable about myself and my diabetes. I am putting myself into a no win situation.  As we well know, diabetes is neither predictable nor constant!  I am getting better at fighting these thoughts and being reasonable with myself as time goes by.  Connecting with other diabetics online and in person helps me be more real and honest with myself.

So what are your musts, shoulds, or oughts?  What do you do to deal with them?

You can be 1happydiabetic too-it's all about your attitude,

Suzanne

Hello everyone!

A big thank you to all the members of this site!  We are all working together to have a fun place to visit on the web

Today I want to share my latest adventure this week, going to a diabetes meetup.  Now I have been diabetic a long time and other than a stint at diabetes camp many years ago, I have never really met other diabetics face to face.  As much as I love all my online D buddies, there is something special about meeting other diabetics face to face.

So this week an online twitter buddy told me about a local meetup and invited me to go along (if you tweet, check him out at @MarkMansheim, he is great!).  So I put my nerves aside and planned to attend the monthly JDRF meetup.  I braved rush hour traffic and made it on time to the restaurant.  I asked the hostess where I might find the JDRF group.  She pointed me over to the bar, where a gal my age was sitting.  I went over, introduced myself, and the fun began.  It turns out that many of the regulars for this monthly meetup couldn't come so it was just me and this person I just met, Melissa.  You might think "wow, only one person showed up?  How fun could this be?" but I will tell you, this was one of the best nights I had in a long time.  Melissa and I hit it off and talked on and on about ourselves and living with diabetes.

As we moved to a table for dinner, I got a bit worried.  I had checked online for nutritional info for this restaurant and found none.  Being a fairly new carb counter, I was worried about what I would order.  The last thing I wanted was crazy BGs because I can't carb count well.  When looking over the menu, Melissa suggested the fire grilled pizzas.  As much as I love pizzas, I don't eat them anymore unless they are frozen, lower in fat, and have a nutrition label!  The pump is supposed to give you freedom to eat what you want but pizza has always messed up my BGs.  I expressed my concern to Melissa about the pizzas.  She told me that the pizzas were not greasy and fatty and that she had good luck with them in the past.  Then I admitted I wasn't sure how to count the carbs (not feeling embarrassed as I usually do with a non diabetic).  She understood and said she would help me out.  So we decided to split the black fig and prosciutto pizza.  It arrived at the table and we spent a few minutes discussing carb counts, made a

decision together about the carbs and started eating.  It was the best pizza I have had in years and my BGs stayed in target both 2 hours after the meal and the rest of the night!  Sweet success!

So the moral of the story is try to attend a diabetic meetup in your area.  Not only could you find a new friend who gets what you deal with diabetes wise but you can get tips and new ideas to try.  Melissa helped me think outside of the box I was in and just enjoy a pizza once and awhile.  I needed that!  And I was able to help her with BG and exercising problems she was having so she was able to exercise and finish with a good BG.

Be Happy,

Suzanne

I spent yesterday afternoon with a friend I call "the angry diabetic."  Let me tell you a bit about this friend.  He is a smart, savvy guy with a BIG chip on his shoulder about his diabetes.  He is 40 years old and has had diabetes for about 30 years now.  He is a pumper yet does not carb count properly or test often enough.  He is always angry about anything going on in his life and usually he finds a way to blame diabetes for this anger.    Often he says it's not fair he has diabetes (I agree, it's not fair any of us have diabetes), diabetes holds him back (I disagree, he holds himself back in life), and being diabetic makes him a "loser."  In fact, he has told me more than once that all diabetics are losers.  I for one am no loser!  His negativity and anger about his diabetes colors his whole life and world.  It affects his relationships and his health (he often gets so angry at small things that his blood sugar shoots into the 300s which then makes him madder!).  

Yesterday I expressed my concerns to my friend.  I explained I wanted to be his friend but the negative attitude that he always has was wearing me down.  It bothered me to see him suffer.  He explained to me that he feels he has no control in his life because he is diabetic.  He is depressed most of the time.  He feels alone, like no one understands how he feels.  When we hang out, he gets angry if my blood sugar is in target and his is not.  He realizes that his depression is out of hand but feels hopeless, like things will never get better.  He acknowledges that his attitude about diabetes "sucks."

When I returned home, I started thinking about how much the attitude you have about your diabetes can shape how you live your life, as well as how much control you have in your diabetes care.  Diabetics are at risk for depression, just as anyone who deals with a chronic illness is.  Let's face it, having diabetes sucks.  It is not fun watching every morsel of food that you eat, logging, calculating insulin dosages, and sometimes having to stop doing something you enjoy because your blood sugar is low or high.  Even when you do everything right, sometimes your diabetes still does not cooperate!   Add depression to the day to day grind of diabetes and your attitude will do a downwards spiral!

You do have control about your attitude towards your diabetes, even if sometimes it doesn't feel that way.  A bad attitude puts you in a bad mood, setting you up for a bad day.  It becomes a vicious cycle like my friend is stuck in.  Does that mean you should be little miss/mister sunshine all the time?   No one can be super upbeat all the time, that is unrealistic!  It?s about balance and acceptance of diabetes.  If you are feeling like you have a bad attitude towards diabetes, reach out to others.  Talk to your doctor, friends, or family.  Speak to people online at social networking sites.  If you are feeling depressed, talk to your doctor immediately.  Depression can suck motivation and positive attitudes right out of you.

So what do you do to change your attitude to a more positive one?  Do you struggle with keeping a positive attitude?  What do people in your life do to help you keep a positive attitude?  I?d love to get your feedback!

Suzanne

PS-My friend is going to talk to his doctor about his antidepressant medication and he is considering going to therapy.  Let's keep our fingers crossed for him!