This is my first post for the Blog Carnival (be gentle!). I don’t know yet what my answers are, so I’m interested to find out.
DSMA Blog Carnival Intro: When it comes to diabetes, whether you’re the PWD or the caregiver, I can guarantee you that you are STRONG. After all, you deal with this disease every day! And I think most of us don’t always give ourselves the credit we deserve, although we may be quick to point out when we aren’t so strong. With that in mind, it’s time to give ourselves credit for our strengths. And also to share the things we may not be so great at. This month, we want you to tell us:
What do you consider to be your Diabetes Strengths? What do you think are your Diabetes Weaknesses?
As both a PWD and a caregiver, I’m not sure if my strengths/weaknesses are the same for each role. As the pancreas (ummm, caregiver) for my daughter I think my strengths are in carb counting (lots of practice!) and being comfortable making changes to the settings on her pump. Also in making it all as normal-feeling as possible for her. My weaknesses are finding & interpreting patterns, not checking for ketones when I should (see my last post), and not doing a great job getting her to eat a really healthy diet.
As a PWD, my strengths are… well, lately I’m not feeling very strong in a lot of ways. But, my A1c is fairly consistent (and under 7), and I have made some hard changes when I have needed to. (Of course, some of those changes I have had to make more than once after I fall back into bad habits…) You should probably ask my hubby what my PWD strengths are 🙂 My weaknesses are easy! My emotional paranoia about high bgs has caused more lows than I like to admit — I’m a wicked rage-boluser and have guessed high on carbs to avoid a high rather than being conservative to avoid the low. The other big one is being forgetful about having fast-acting carbs to treat lows on me all the time. Then there is not getting enough exercise, being overweight (bmi over 25), not testing enough (though I totally blame that on the accuracy of the G4 CGM!), being irritable with the hubby about diabetes stuff sometimes, etc.
It’s all more bearable with the DOC though — we don’t have to feel alone with the weaknesses and maybe we’ll recognize some new strengths in ourselves when we read what everyone else is strong at.
“This post is my May entry in the DSMA Blog Carnival. If you’d like to participate too, you can get all of the information at http://diabetessocmed.com/2013/may-dsma-blog-carnival-3/“
Principles of Uncertainty 
I hadn’t thought about it until reading your post, but I can see how strengths and weaknesses for dealing with your daughter’s diabetes would be different than when dealing with your own. What an interesting post!
Thanks Karen! When my daughter was first diagnosed it was really easy to see how my own experiences would be so helpful (My heart really goes out to parents who have to deal with such a diagnosis with no prior knowledge – SO much to learn and so scary). It wasn’t until a bit down the road that I could see how my own experiences could also get in the way sometimes.
Sounds to me that as a PWD and being a caregiver you are pretty dang strong. I know you may not be able to see it but sometimes it takes someone from the outside looking in to encourage you on how strong you really are. I also have to agree that the DOC has been a huge help for me as well.
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