The Real Complications of Diabetes #10

In this episode, we explore a comprehensive list of what the general public considers to be diabetes-related complications straight from Google, including heart disease, kidney issues, vision loss, and more. 

But hold on, there's more to the story than just medical definitions. Deborah will share insights from her own journey with Type 1 diabetes, discuss the psychological impacts, and even question the methods used to gather these statistics. 

Is the fear-based approach often taken by healthcare professionals really effective? Join her as she navigates through these complex issues, challenges common misconceptions, and encourages hope and resilience in the face of diabetes. Let's get real about diabetes and focus on living our best lives!

Chapters

• 00:00 Intro (and Disclaimer)
• 02:30 List of Complications
• 04:45 Validity of Definitions of Complications
• 10:42 People Will Judge Regardless
• 11:20 Do Your Best and Forgive Yourself

Research Links

How to Support DiabeticReal

Are you interested in becoming one of the DiabeticReal supporters?

You can find out more information at the free community site DiabeticReal.net, where we list options. We appreciate you! 🫶❤️😍

Episode Credits

Perfectly Wonderful World [Episode Music]

• 🎵 Perfectly Wonderful World 🎵 sung by Deborah E (written by Denny Martin & Jaimee Paul; mastered in Seaside Records Studio by Michael Anderson is available:
• Perfectly Wonderful World on Apple
• Perfectly Wonderful World, via the album on Spotify
• Perfectly Wonderful World, via the album on Amazon

For more information or questions, please feel free to contact us via DiabeticReal.show/contact. (Be sure to mention it if you are a DiabeticReal Community Member!)

Some of the links in our show notes may be affiliate links. This means, at no additional cost to you, we may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through those links. We only recommend products or services we believe will add value to our listeners.

Thank you for supporting the DiabeticReal Podcast! 😎 We thank you! 😎

(Hint: You can also support directly via the Tip Jar on the Community Membership page 😁 )

© 2023-2025 Social Web Cafe (Seaside Records, part of Michael T. Anderson dba Anderson Creations)

Mentioned in this episode:

DiabeticReal Community

Be a part of DiabeticReal.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to another episode ofDiabeticReal, and I'm your host, Deborah.
All right, today we're going to talkabout the real complications of diabetes.
Now, I did something that weall can do, and that is we can
Google complications of diabetes.
Yeah, according to Google.

(00:20):
I figured it was an easy wayto see what the thoughts are
out there according to Google.
Easy place to start, eh?
Well, according to Google, straightup from the top to the bottom, the way
Google and Google's AI give it to you.
And that is, the first one,heart disease along with stroke.
Another one is kidney disease, visionloss, foot problems, nerve issues,

(00:46):
digestive problems, immune systemproblems, depression, Menstrual problems,
bone diseases, and diabetic ketoacidosis.
Well, I'll definitely giveyou the diabetic ketoacidosis.
I mean, hey, that one evengives you the name, diabetic.

(01:09):
But that one deserves a whole episodetalking about that one specifically.
One of them I do want to kind of removefrom the list is depression, and that is
because that's more of a category thatgoes with mental illness or personality
assessment and how you approach life,and hey, if you have all of those

(01:31):
complications related to diabetes, that'sassuming that I agree with complications
from diabetes with that whole list,but if you had every single one of
those, Hey, if I had those, I'd be alittle bit depressed too, wouldn't you?
So, if you're depressed, Idon't think it's necessarily
depression related to diabetes.

(01:53):
It's depression because lifeis a little bit difficult.
Also, there are some people who,are more prone to depression.
They're depressed if they, forinstance, stubbed their toe or if the
flowers are not blooming properly.
I'm not faulting that.
That's, that's more in the how youapproach life and your personality

(02:13):
and in the psychology department.
And I can say that becausethat's where my degree is.
I wouldn't say that that is necessarilyrelated to diabetes, but that's my
own personal opinion and related tomy almost doctorate in psychology.
Now, I'm a little bit concerned whenpeople start, I mean, right away

(02:35):
they're like, hey, these are thecomplications of diabetes and if you
don't take great care of yourself andif you're not checking your blood sugar.
500 million times a day, then you'regoing to have this happen, this
happen, this happen, this happen.
Hey, I've had it all.
And I've been yelled at.
I mean, literally to tears by doctors.
And I got to ask myself sometimes, aredoctors doing that to pad their wallets?

(02:58):
So you'll keep coming back?
I mean, is this a way so they can makeyou come in for doctor's appointments
just so they can yell at you some moreso you can go home crying and think
your life is just over at that point?
I Is that really a way to approach thisas far as the complications to diabetes?
And the same thing I thinkhappens with type 2 diabetes.

(03:19):
I mean, I'm, I'm a type 1.
I'm not type 2, but the whole list ofcomplications of diabetes and blood
sugars and A1C and the whole thing.
But do we really want to approach it?
Through fear and condemnationand making people cry and feel
hopeless, and especially thatlast one, feeling hopeless.

(03:39):
What good does it do to make someonefeel like they have no hope in life?
Now, as far as the list ofcomplications, I have to ask myself.
Now, I realize, thisis coming from Google.
I wanted to get a list where no onehas to go have a special membership
to get this list You just gofind it on google search there.
You have to ask yourself.

(04:00):
Where do people get the information?
I know someone will say medical journalsthis so forth and and there's some actual
valuable information out there But Iknow from my research to get my doctorate
that it comes a lot of that comes fromat least for phd level doctorates It
comes from surveys given to people AndI think that's how you get things like

(04:23):
depression, you're giving surveys.
So ask yourself, where is thisinformation coming from originally?
Is it coming from actual labassessments or is it coming from
opinions and from surveys from people?
That doesn't mean we fault people.
It's just, you gotta lookat it with a grain of salt.

(04:46):
The other thing too is I've found thatif anything goes wrong in my body, a
doctor is going to blame it on diabetes.
It's almost laughable and that'show I approach it with life.
I mean, I could go in there, I couldfall in love with the person next door
and if that relationship doesn't goright, it's blamed on my diabetes.

(05:07):
I'm actually, I mean, I'm joking,but I'm actually being serious.
I'll go into the doctor and if I'mjust crying a little bit because
the relationship's broken up,they'll blame it on my diabetes.
It's it's really utterly ridiculous.
Now.
I'm happily married for almost30 years, but I am giving you
an idea here It's I've seen theweirdest things blamed on diabetes.

(05:27):
It's absolutely ridiculous To me thediabetes comes down to taking care of
yourself Listen to your body Find thebalance if you're taking care of yourself
if you're listening to your body Ifyou're doing everything you can to take
care of yourself, you're going to behealthier than you would have been if you

(05:51):
had not been taking care of your health.
Let me say that again.
If you're taking care of yourself, ifyou're listening to your body, if you're
doing everything you can taking care ofyourself, you're going to be healthier
than you would have been if you hadnot been taking care of your health.

(06:12):
and look.
I've been taking care of my health.
Am I perfect?
No, I'm not.
And when I was diagnosed with diabetes,look, they didn't have all this testing.
They didn't have the technology.
They didn't have the blood tests.
They didn't know what was going on.
So that meant I didn't know what wasgoing on, but I'm still very healthy.
When I was tested for my heart, they hadto test it again because they couldn't

(06:35):
believe how healthy my heart was.
It was healthier than a normal person.
Uh, I don't have kidney disease.
I have very healthy kidneys.
Both of my kidneys.
Vision loss?
I thought I'd be blind by now.
I used to practice living being blind.
I, I was inspired by HelenKeller and I thought if she can
survive this, I can survive this.
And she didn't have hearing either.

(06:55):
So, I mean, Foot problems?
Hey, I still have all my toes.
Nerve damage?
Yeah, that's gonna happen.
Especially as I said, they didn'thave the testing when I was diagnosed.
I'm not blaming you on that.
I'm just saying circumstances happenand things are better now than
they were when I was diagnosed.
There's more technology available, moretools available to take care of yourself.

(07:17):
People are going to judge you.
People judge me.
Have always judged me.
They've judged me all my life.
Some people judge mebecause that's what they do.
They judge everyone So why notjudge you that's they're just gonna
they're gonna judge even your petFor being the wrong color fur.

(07:38):
So some people judge because it makesthem feel better and putting you down
makes them feel more powerful Andlike they are better people Are they
better people because they judge you?
Of course not.
But in their feeble mind,that helps them feel better.
So leave them to theirfeeble-mindedness because you do
not have to sink to that level.

(08:00):
Treat yourself well.
Be positive.
And cut yourself some slack.
Hope for the best, aim for the best,and when you do not have the best
day and your blood sugars are allover the place, forgive yourself and
aim for a better day the next day.
Just because other people judge youdoes not mean you need to pick up

(08:23):
that nonsense and judge yourself.
After all, what do they knowabout walking in your shoes?
But at the same time, love them forwhere they are in their ignorance
because they are just human too.
Yes.
Even doctors, they're trying to helpyou from their point of education,
but they haven't been there.
Done that.

(08:44):
Treat each day as a newopportunity to love yourself
and do the best that you can.
Realize that we are dealtthe hand, we are dealt.
And this is not a time to focus on blame,but focus on the good we can do by doing
our best and listening to our body.

(09:04):
This is Deborah from DiabeticReal.
I'm here for you, and I willsee you in the next episode.