I've been thinking how different diabetes would be if I only worried about the actual work of managing it. “All” doesn't sound right, because I know there is still a lot of work. The work of diabetes is many, and it's constant. But how much easier would it be if the noise went away, and all the other things that make diabetes so difficult went away?
Wouldn’t it be easier if gatekeeping disappeared and we could access what we need without having to struggle to prove our worth?
Wouldn't it be easier if we had access to the best technology and medicines when we needed them, and could make changes as needed?
Wouldn’t it be easier if there was no judgement and we didn’t have to worry about how others would perceive our efforts?
I think we would feel a lot better if the stigma disappeared and we no longer cared about what other people thought about diabetes in general, or felt that they had the right to comment on our diabetes.
Wouldn't it be easier if there was no shame or blame, if people were never criticized for having diabetes or for the consequences of diabetes?
Wouldn't it be easier if scare tactics were no longer used, if we weren't constantly warned that bad things might happen and that if they did, it would be our fault?
Wouldn't it be easier if the fear disappeared, along with all the alarming statistics about how diabetes increases your chances of getting every other nasty disease in the world, and how much of a burden it places on the healthcare system?
Wouldn’t it be easier if the disbelief disappeared, if they no longer felt like they were begging us to listen, to believe, to respect, and even to provide basic care?
Maybe we would feel better if we stopped minimizing what we are feeling and experiencing.
if, A1C Grading Now that it's gone, I think you'll feel better when you're no longer being told that you've failed diabetes, or that you've succeeded at diabetes, or that you're vacillating between the two.
Wouldn't it be easier if mental health care was diabetes care, and diabetes care always included mental health care?
Perhaps it would be easier if the idea that someone needs to speak for us and be “our voice” was replaced with giving people with diabetes a platform and amplifying their voices, rather than silencing them.
Wouldn't it be easier if peer support was routinely encouraged and peer-led education was the norm?
Wouldn't it be easier if the language around diabetes fostered attitudes of compassion and support rather than stigma and conflict?
Wouldn’t it be easier if claims of community involvement were real and not just pretense?
Perhaps things would be easier if we had hope instead of despair, and didn't view diabetes as a battle, a never-ending, exhausting struggle.
As it stands, diabetes is hard enough, but everything else that goes on makes it even harder, but the good news is that these problems are easy to deal with, easy to improve, and easy to change.
If only these things were kept in mind when strategies are developed, campaigns are designed and policies are changed. This is actually the easy part: if people with diabetes drive the diabetes agenda, everything is better. And it's easier for us.
So, ask yourself: Are you preventing us from making things easier for you?