Lessons for People New to Type 2 Diabetes, Part 2

Moving from the shock and anger on the day or days following learning from the doctor that you have diabetes, you will also possible experience denial and maybe some depression or sadness, grief, or sorrow. When you accept your diagnosis, then progress happens in managing your diabetes. Just because this is the list of what most people can have, does not mean that everyone has them in the same order. I have known people that have acceptance first and later have denial. Some people do not have anger or shock because they know that diabetes runs in the family. Just remember that everyone may react differently.

Another point that many people with type 2 diabetes learn quickly is not telling people they have type 2 diabetes. Secrecy can be a good thing when out in public, but when you are around other people with type 2 diabetes or attending a support group meeting, secrecy can be bad and you need to open up and ask questions to take full advantage of the experiences of others and learn as much as possible. In our community, we presently have three diabetes support groups for type 2 diabetes. Two of the groups have mainly people on oral medications and the group I belong to has most of its members on insulin. All three groups have a few members that have been able to get off of all medications.

One thing you should do after diagnosis is ask the doctor if there are support groups available, as these can be a safe place to ask questions and receive help. This does not mean that you have to become a life-long member, but you should consider this if you live alone. Several members of our group check-in on other members that live alone. We have not had any problems, but I know from talking to these members that they are more relaxed knowing that if they don't check in with their friends, someone will be checking on them. Some of our members work and their employers know if they don't show up for work without calling in, they have telephone numbers to call so that people can check on them. There can be many other advantages associated with support groups. And though I don't like to admit it, there can be disadvantages to some support groups.

Before getting into food plans, I would like to use a few blogs to introduce some ideas for newbie's to diabetes. The first is my blog on diabetes may simplify life's choices. This is from January 2011 and shows how some opinions do change. I would now suggest ignoring the last two paragraphs as I have changed my opinion on these and have found that salt is necessary. The 2300 milligrams seems to satisfy my need for salt. 

There are two links to David Mendosa's website that should be helpful to begin with for people new to diabetes. The first one is this link which will take you to the directory for his site and also this link for newbie's. The link is a good read and gives you plenty to think about in addition to what I may write about in the blogs coming in the next few days.