
Becoming a P.R.O
4 parties, an extra hour of work every day, finalizing the details about my move and working on new products for Beat the Betes; needless to say this week is going to drive me CRAZY!! I barely had enough time to write this post, lol. With all these important items on my "to-do" list, yes the parties are important, it can be kind of easy to put my diabetic needs on the back burner. We've all been there before, so busy and distracted that we would lose our own heads if they weren't attached to our bodies. However, being diabetic those distractions could cost us big time and I know all too well about that.
My scariest diabetic moment came from when I was admitted to the Intensive Care unit with DKA(Diabetic ketoacidosis). I won't get too into the details as I'll save that post for a later time but it was a situation that could've been totally avoided. I had just gotten back from a great weekend of hanging out with friends at a concert in Philly and was rushing to get to work. My weekend of long nights, drinking, traveling, and some added stress coupled with the fact that I was not taking my insulin the way I should have landed me a first class ticket to the emergency room. Now in no way am I trying to scare any one but I'm just putting it out there that if you don't do what you are supposed to the consequences can be severe. Looking back on it now there were so many different/ better choices I should've made; from my diet, to my travel plans and most importantly keeping up with my medications. I felt so embarrassed. I pride myself on constantly knowing what actions are "best for me" and here I couldn't even keep up with a system to keep myself healthy and out of the hospital. After that terrible ordeal I decided it had to take some serious action.
I realized I could never be too busy for my diabetes. I could be too busy to get my hair done, to busy to go shopping, or even too busy to make time for that special someone but I had to make sure no matter how hectic things got I was going to take proper care of myself. I had to come up with a way to make sure my diabetes was centerfold in my life. What I came up with was quite simple, in order to keep my health in tact I was going to have to become a P.R.O.
P is for Plan- I needed to plan out my events and decide how they were going to affect me. If I was going out was I sure I was going to be able to eat something that wouldn't cause my sugar levels to rise or fall, would I have somewhere safe to give myself medication, was I going to be in a situation where I could be easily irritated/stressed? Questions like these and plenty more needed to become a staple in my mind.
R is for Responsibility- What ever actions I participated in I needed to become full aware that whatever resulted from them were my responsibility. The answers that came from my questions in the plan phase need to be addressed here. Whether I went out drinking, stayed up until 4 in the morning or ate a Krispy Kreme donut, I needed to make sure I took the right steps to counter these actions so they wouldn't have a damaging effect on me. At the end of the day, it's my life and my body so I had to make sure I was responsible enough to do right by it. There will be times where you slip up and do or eat something your technically not suppose to, but how you handle it is what demonstrates your level of responsibility to yourself.
O is for Organize- As with any facet of life the more organized you are the easier things will be. If you know where everything is you won't have to waste time looking for it and it'll make it that much easier for you to do what you're suppose to. I suck at organization! I've made the great mistake of thinking I can properly function in chaos. I had to finally be honest with myself and come to the true realization that while operating in chaos might yield some positive effects, being organized was the ultimate game changer. Organization helped keep me on a schedule which added some much needed disciple, something I'm sure we can all benefit from. It allowed me to better track my health and its progress while making the best decisions for me.
I'm urging all you diabetics out there to become P.R.O.s Take these tips and make your crazy events in life memorable due to all the positive outcomes, not the negative ones. Go out and create some great memories to share!