Is a refrain my good friend V always says whenever we talk about getting old. Even when I mention it in jest, he would immediately cut me off and would not let me proceed with my comment. What he meant was that you are as old as you feel and by letting the old man in, you are letting yourself feel older than you should and possibly could feel. You start manifesting the “old man thinking” and it will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Recently, I spent a week in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic with my family to celebrate a milestone birthday of my daughter. We started this tradition when my son turned 30 and we repeated the same. The main criterion for the vacation is either a place we visited or a place where can chill and relax. It was established that we will not be travelers but enjoy our stay simply as tourists. Our weeklong vacation has been meticulously planned to ensure we are not “packing” activities to the gill.
We stayed at an all-inclusive resort that had fairly good (variety of) food. At the time I did not have a label but my approach to this vacation came into being kind of organically. I lived those six days as if I did not have diabetes, ate like I did not have diabetes meaning I did not pay attention to carbs and sugars I was consuming albeit with one difference. My breakfast would contain fresh fruits (mainly watermelon and papaya) and fruit juice (mainly papaya). Every day I would have eat one Yoplait flavored yogurt which everyone knows is a sugar bomb. My lunch and dinner typically would be sea food based with occasional nachos added to the mix. Of course, each day would see about half a dozen or so cocktails being imbibed. Since I wear a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring) device, I would constantly check my sugar levels. I was relaxed, eating 3 full meals a day, sleeping aplenty.
To my utter delight, my CGM readings were as if I had no diabetes. Unlike what I did for the last 30 years or so since I was diagnosed, my diabetes was and is always on my mind. Constantly reminding myself that I need to exercise restraint in my diet, and make sure I have enough physical activity. The image below shows my readings at various times of the day for the entire week of vacation.
I left for Punta Cana on July 10th and returned on July 18th. Upon my return my regular routine resumed and as you can see in the image below, the pattern is similar to what it would be typically, with my attendant dark cloud of diabetes hanging over my head.
As one can see, there is a dramatic difference in my CGM, and I was pondering over the variance in how my diabetes was managed, I had an epiphany. To paraphrase my friend V’s oft quoted saying in Punta Cana I “did not let the diabetic in.” I did enjoy the dessert or two on a daily basis in Punta Cana. I would look at the same dessert as a poison typically. I was letting my diabetic take control of my emotional self.
I have previously in my articles brought up the issue of emotional struggles a diabetic would go through and for the matter anyone dealing with a long-term chronic ailment and often beseeched my readers to have empathy for us. I firmly believe that the emotional struggle of person suffering from a long-term ailment is often ignored or simply people are unaware of it.
This trip has opened my eyes to a different aspect of emotional state of mind, and a positive one. I found a label for my attitude towards diabetes in Punta Cana: “Don’t let the diabetic in.” I have micromanaged my sugar levels in that trip. I walked away from macro management or at a global level. Granted, I was breaking the “rules” of diabetes diet management albeit with a difference. I learned the rules like a pro and broke the rules like an artist.
The image below is an example of post processing an image at macro or global level. All the adjustments were made at macro level following the rules.
Here is the same image that “broke” the rules like an artist, though a self-proclaimed one, I hasten to add.
I leave it to you, the enlightened readers to draw your own inferences. Learn the rules like a pro and break the rules like an artist.
Disclaimer: Please bear in mind that I am sharing MY personal experience, and I am NOT recommending or even making a (hint of) a suggestion to change your treatment regimen based on my experience. I am not a trained medical professional and not qualified to provide any advice as such.
Epilog: If you have read this far, you would be forgiven you feel a sense of non-sequitur. I said I stopped letting the diabetic in, and I also said I micromanaged my medications, my diet and physical activity. To be honest, it is more sequitur once you separate the physical aspect of my diabetes management from the emotional aspect of my diabetes management. I will let you ponder. Interim, I fervently wish you a very happy summer.
