While we may not tell our doctors all the tricks that we have up our sleeves to hoodwink them, our families and our healthcare teams; it remains to be the case that I (for one) had quite an arsenal of cunning activities to at worst hide and at best improve (or perhaps vice versa) my results when the doctor asks, “so how are you going?”.

While none of us can claim a ‘clean record’, I think I may have been worse than most. It’s not a list that I would EVER put to use at the moment but I’m telling you about it because I realised today every single last one of us has been there to varying degrees. A bad day for me now is a BG at 13.7mmol/L when I wake (like this morning) or a mis-calculation on carbs – it seems that everything is relative!

So, here we go…

“Ahem”:

1. Testing when I KNOW my levels are fine
2. Having two testers which are presented to medical professionals for review strategically depending on their content
3. BIG boluses for the pile of whatever it was that I just inhaled while no-one looks – this has included lollies, icecream, golden syrup, coke, alcohol and false teeth lollies dipped condensed milk among a LOT else. Yes, false teeth dipped in condensed milk and I was old enough to know better.
4. Testing several times in a row when I have good BG to lower to average shown on the machine
5. Delaying hypo treatment for 10 minutes or so in the hope that it will lower my overall HbA1c
6. Failing to mention at all when directly asked if I’m a diabetic that yes, I am (turns out that you can’t SCUBA dive if you’re a 17 year old diabetic in Tahiti on your first holiday and my 17 year old self wasn’t having that)
7. Waiting for my liver to fix a hypo cos I can’t be bothered
8. Avoiding carb like the plague so I didn’t have to have an injection
9. The good old SAG or ’stab and guess’

And the list continues.

Thank goodness I’m not like that anymore because to be honest – it was killing me and it isn’t a sustainable way of living and actually living which is the whole point right. I often find myself saying to people and I quote, “it doesn’t stop me from doing what I want” but there are two ways of looking at this I reckon. Literally, you can do whatever you want, eat whatever you want and ignore the diabetes – and end up with no legs and a distinct lack of eyesight or, you can not let it stop you by being healthy, doing the right thing and truly, not letting it stop you.

It took me about 15 years but I’ve gotten there so if you’re in the middle of it being a nightmare then stick at it cos there are heaps of resources out there and piles of people that will willingly give their time to give you a hand.

- Aaron