Diabetes Doesn't Define You

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