Little Miss Sunshine.........for today anyway ;o)

I really do want to try and get some positives into my blog and not just concenrate on the negative things about the Big D!!  It really is SO easy for me to bang on and on about all of the bad things about living with diabetes on a day to day basis and about the awful long term complications that accompany it but I'm conscious that I've already focussed on those things quite a lot in my first few days of blogging.  So here goes, I'm going to try and think of a few good things that are going on at the moment........

Some of the good things in my life......

• I have fabulous friends and family who I can always rely on for support - Special mention to my Mom who has been there from the start and put up with me no matter what - even when I chose to totally ignore my condition!!! Love you!!! And another special mention to Kathryn - my biggest supporter and oldest and bestest friend!!!
• My other half, Gareth - Always there for me through good times and bad - he's there for me when I'm down and moaning because I'm so frustrated at not being able to get it right, he's there to celebrate with me when I do get it right, he's there to fetch the Glucotabs when I'm low and, possibly most importantly, he's always there to give me a hug when I need it
• The DOC (Diabetic Online Community), which I am still very new to - Despite only recently bothering to open my eyes and look into what's out there on t'internet to do with diabetes, I have already found some fab people, groups, blogs and forums online who know exactly what living with diabetes is like.  It really is amazing just how friendly, supportive and willing to help and offer advice people are.  I guess because I have always ignored my diabetes I have never even thought about getting in touch with fellow diabetics and as I have said before, I really do wish I had done it sooner -  Having diabetes is not quite as lonely as I thought it was!!!
• Fundraising - I have signed up for Walk the Extra Mile for Diabetes UK at the Lickey Hills Country Park in Birmingham on 12th September.  This will be the third year in a row that we have done it - we managed to go wildly off the route both times even though we have done it at a different place each time so I'm hoping it will be third time lucky this year and we won't get lost.  We don't raise massive amounts of money but it all helps and to use a cliche "it's the taking part that counts".  I also like the fact that it raises awareness about diabetes, which can only ever be a good thing.  It's also a good way for me to get a bit of exercise (me and exercise do not get on and there's not really many things that I would get off me bum for - apart from raising some money for a good cause of course).  A work colleague has also very kindly decided to raise some money for Diabetes UK this summer when he takes part in a golf tournament, which I'm really pleased about (Thanks Andy, you're a star) .  Oh, I guess I should use this opportunity for another shameless bit of begging for sponsors so go on, you know you want to.........click on the link and you can sponsor us online - it will make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, honest!!!! http://www.diabeteschallenge.org.uk/challenge/becswalktheextramilefordiabetesuk
• Good blood sugar days - Although my levels are still quite erratic I am now getting entire days of good results, like today for example (8.5, 8.6, 6.3, 5.1, 4.5, 3.3 (bit of a blip there) and 6.1).  These sort of days make me feel positive and motivated to keep going with it all - I must be doing something right after all!!!
• General improvement - As I said above my sugar levels are still quite up and down but generally my results are MUCH better and I need to focus on this when I'm having a down moment / hour / day!!!
• In control......at last - I'm not referring specifically to my blood sugar levels here (as you can see in my two previous points above - my results are still up and down a lot) - what I mean when I say I'm in control is that FINALLY, after 19 long years of ignoring diabetes and pretending it wasn't part of my life, I am now embracing it and, for the first time ever, I am determined not to let it beat me.....don't get me wrong I've still got a long way to go but I'm taking small steps every day towards taking control of it so that it doesn't control me.  I'm re-educating myself and re-learning all the basics, I'm doing plenty of research on the internet, reading as much as I can, I'm joining forums, Facebook groups, "talking" to people online, I've joined a support group (MyD - Thanks Siobhan) which I'm going to the first meeting of on 29th June and I'm blogging, which is proving to be extremely theraputic and helpful - and that's just for starters!!!
• Oh, and did I mention........I'm getting a pump!!!??!!  :o)

Be warned, I'm sure there will be plenty more negative posts to come in the future but I will always have this one to look back at to give me a kick up the bum and make me realise that I'm slowly getting to where I want to be in terms of my diabetes!!!

:o)