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Kos Diabetes Group: Third Anniversary Edition [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-09-08

Hello everyone and welcome to the Kos Diabetes Group Third Anniversary Edition. It has been my pleasure (with a little help from friends) to bring you a (mostly) weekly diary somehow related to diabetes since September 6, 2020.

Celebrating three years of Kos Diabetes Group. I really wasn’t sure it would get beyond a couple months when I started.

Some of you I have gotten to know pretty well because you stop by and comment every week. Others of you I see occasionally. We’ve recently had several new people find the group and join up -- mostly folks who have said they were recently diagnosed. I’m wondering how to get the word out better on Kos that there is a diabetes group available. Most people seem to just stumble upon us and remark that they didn’t even know there was a diabetes group. If anyone knows of a way to get the word out to other diabetics on Kos, please let me know.

I’m a Type 2 diabetic and most of what I write about here is for Type 2 diabetics. There is some crossover with Type 1, but I know enough to understand that Type 1 diabetes is a whole other ball game that is related but has its own rules and problems. If there are any Type 1 diabetics out there that would like to contribute periodically on topics that are geared more to Type 1 diabetics, please let me know. I would be happy to have you write some diaries and share with others what you have learned about managing Type 1.

We can help each other get there, but we each have to decide we want to make the journey

One thing that I’ve learned since I was diagnosed is that your diabetic journey is your own. No one can take that journey for you and yours will be unique to you. Your physician, family or other support persons can help you along the way, but they can’t do it for you. It’s kind of like being a recovering alcoholic or drug addict in that respect. You need to decide for yourself that managing your diabetes is important to you (and it should be!) and take the steps necessary to learn about how your medicines and food choices will help get you to your goal of being the healthiest diabetic you can be. Although good choices become more automatic and easier over time, you need to remain vigilant and try every day to make the best choices you can. There will be times when illness, stress or other factors will play havoc with your management, but don’t beat yourself up over it and just keep trying to make the best choices you can each day. Most of the time it will only be a temporary set back and you will be able to right your course, but if it doesn’t seem to be resolving you can always talk to your physician to see if larger changes in medication types or dosages may help you get back on track.

As I said in my diary a couple of weeks ago https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/8/25/2189286/-Kos-Diabetes-Group-A-Wealth-of-Diabetic-Products there are many more diabetic friendly products available in stores now than there were three years ago. There were a few back in 2020 when I started the group but there are a lot more now. Having readily available diabetic friendly products (that taste good!) helps to make good choices easier and more convenient. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I appreciate all the low carb products that have found their way to my grocery store shelves.

Other changes in the last three years include price caps for insulin, more insurance companies covering CGMs, and new drugs to help lower your A1c.

I guess that’s about it for me. Thank you all for sticking with me these last three years. As always, I welcome comments and suggestions for how to make this group more useful to you.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/8/2191042/-Kos-Diabetes-Group-Third-Anniversary-Edition

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