Incomparable - Oh, We Are Not The Same

 

Isn't it strange when we're told "We're in the same boat"? Not just in relation to Diabetes, but any given situation in life. It seems like such a lazy way to show empathy to me and it always has done. It's a phrase that is thrown around by people who I believe struggle to adequately relate to others and when a similarity happens it becomes their "go to".

Oooft! pretty harsh opening paragraph, sorry. I actually find the use of the phrase to be quite offensive and belittling of my own struggles in life. I relate to the issues Type 1 Diabetics face, of course. Many of which are indeed very similar or as near to being the same as they can be. Many are very, very different.

I think it's good to have an understanding of differences in regards to T1D, primarily because I think it's dangerous to assume we can all reach the same "goals". HbA1c, TIR, hypos per month, etc all have targets. The targets (which have been moved many times during my time with T1D) are considered the best way to live a healthy life with Diabetes. That might be right, who am I to argue? I do think the right approach to setting targets is to make them tailored to each person, taking into account personal circumstances, history, other health matters and frequently experienced problems for Diabetics such as burnout. I believe the engaged HCPs do practice that.

Should we scrap the 6.5% HbA1c and 70% TIR generalised targets and focus on individualised care? 

It's interesting to see an HCP cite an A1c as "A record" for them, on social media. Of course, such a Tweet got the attention it deserved. It did evoke memories of an appointment at Diabetes clinic, many years ago. On this rare visit, at some point in the mid 1990s, my then consultant referred to a different patient by their first name, as the person who he saw before me. Offering an "inspiration" to me, Dr X told me about the previous patient's HbA1c and how long he had been living with T1D & how I should easily achieve the same numbers if I worked harder.

Things have changed, I think. Haven't they? Perhaps not, if an HCP feels the urge to take to Twitter with such exciting news. Perhaps things are better but not entirely? Or maybe I'm being too kind? Certainly, my own experiences in clinic have been vastly improved on those of 25+ years ago.

You're probably reading this because you have Diabetes or you care for somebody with Diabetes. I could ply your eyeballs with inspiration for several paragraphs. You might even feel hopeful because of that. Instead, I'll try to keep it brief: You're never going to be a perfect diabetic. You'll have great days, days when you feel you absolutely own this condition, days when you check your blood glucose and your internal voice screams "Who's the daddy now!?". You'll also have days of despair and everything in-between. If you decide to engage others in Diabetes communities, such as GBDoc, you'll find differences in how others do things, how things work for some but not others, how we're not actually all in the same boat or sailing the same seas. We're not even facing the same storms. We're just trying to survive in our own ways, living our own lives and that's the only true identical thing which people living with Diabetes share.

Thank you so much for reading this blog. I do appreciate your visit and your support. As you might know, I LOVE COFFEE! So I've teamed up with a thing called Buy Me A Coffee. If you enjoy my content and appreciate the time it takes to create such things then you can buy me a coffee! If you leave your Twitter @ name when you buy me a coffee, I will personally thank you. If you'd rather be anonymous then that's totally cool. Thanks for the caffeine!

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