Espero que todos se encuentren muy bien hoy. Cada día trato de poner un pedacito de inspiración on Twitter. Usually, I wake up and post about the sun, the sky and ways to keep your head up and keep going!
Sometimes it’s hard having a chronic illness. Te digo la verdad. You can get upset since your blood sugar levels aren’t always where you want them to be. You can get sick and tired of counting carbs and sometimes, you don’t want to exercise. Es fácil caer en la depresión cuando te sientes incapacitado. Or that no one can understand where you are coming from. Trust me, yo me sentí así.
For many of us, hearing that we have to make life changes after living 40 or 50 years doing the same thing… es durísimo.
Yo no quise cambiar. Why would you? Counting carbohydrates, giving up liquor and regular soda, giving up fast food and exercising for me didn’t sound like any fun at all. I lived in denial for about two years después que me dijeron que tenía la diabetes tipo 2.
My diabetes kept getting worse. Pero, I didn’t want to face it. My A1c was up at a 12 and I was starting to lose feeling in my toes. My eye sight was getting more and more blurry and everyone kept telling me it was because of my diabetes. Mami y mis tías would give me teas and natural remedies and although they worked for a little bit of time, it didn’t in the long run. If I could be doing home remedios, I could be taking medication. Cuando pienso en ese tiempo, I see just how much time I wasted in helping myself and my body.
Cuando hay mucha azúcar en la sangre se convierte en algo como miel. Too much sugar slows down your body and sugar in your blood?! Peor!
This is what I was doing to myself. The damage, the problems that I caused just because I didn’t want to take care of myself now seems ridiculous and sad. But that’s how many of us are when we can’t accept the fact that we have diabetes.
Para mi, la decisión cambiarme la vida fue cuando me dijeron lo que me puede pasar con mi corazón. See, my papi had a heart condition which ultimately ended his life. The thought of having something like diabetes make me more susceptible to heart attacks and strokes scared me.
I became proactive. I decided to turn my life around, educarme y enseñar a mi familia también como prevenir estas enfermedades que se desarrollan dentro de nuestros cuerpos latinos.
Ahora estoy aquí. Hay muchos de nosotros que tenemos experiencias con la depresión después de oír esas noticias. Especialmente cuando dicen, “You have to make a lifestyle change.” Your lifestyle is a big thing!
Con más educación, podemos vivir una vida larga y sana. Eso es lo que todos queremos últimamente.
Hasta la próxima, amorcitos.
Cuídate,
Tía Betty
For more by Tía Betty, visit www.tutiabetty.com.