5 ways to cope with Diabetes

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog. Please don’t say it oo. I know it has taken me forever to post. Chale, it’s well paaaaa. Life has been busy but I promised something for the month of November (Diabetes Awareness Month) and I intend to keep that promise.
It has been such a hectic time but hey, we mooooove!

Today, I share with you five easy ways to cope with the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus(DM).

1. Acceptance: There are so many patients who though diagnosed many months or years ago, have refused to accept the diagnosis. They persist in doing all the wrong things as far as diabetes is concerned and therefore keep getting one diabetic crisis or the other.
   My brother, my sister, it’s time to accept that you have a health challenge and work with your doctor or health team to manage the situation. If it’s too hard for you, kindly get help from a clinical psychologist. Ask your healthcare provider for a referral if need be. The inputs from your psychologist will complement that of the rest of the health team and set you on the path to better health.

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2. Adherence: Adhere to your medications in whatever form they are. Be it, tablets or injections, please adhere. This point cannot be overemphasized.
   Some patients refuse to take their medications and only start taking them 2 or 3 days before they are due to see the Doctor so that they can get good fasting sugars. After seeing the Doctor, they return to their status quo. In effect, they mainly take the medicine to please the Doctors. Guess what, you are doing yourself a disservice because your cells have suffered damage that can’t be undone by taking medicine for only 3 days. Your health provider is your accountability partner. The first accountability, however, is to you!
3. Eat well: By this, I am not talking about finishing a full chicken or tilapia but rather, ensuring that you eat from all the classes of food. DM is not a life/death sentence.
   There is life after the diagnosis. Don’t get caught in the web of eating only “apem” (unripened plantain). There is a whole range of food you can and should eat. Visit a dietician or nutritionist to help you plan your meals according to what is available to you.

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4. Exercise: If you’ve followed my blog from the inception, you should have an established exercise routine by now. Need I say more? Exercise will help to control your sugars and as well as improve your energy levels for the day. You don’t need any fancy clothing or equipment or space. Your body is enough. Your house is enough. Walk around the house. Go up and down the 2 or 3 steps in front of your door. The muscles require you to move them to help push floating sugars into them to work well. Click here for more details https://hectoriaawekeya.com/keep-moving/
5. Get a support system: In today’s fast-paced and sometimes crazy world, it’s easy to forget to check on friends and family. Find people who are living with DM and connect with them. It helps if you share your experience and fears and thus, lightens the burden. Open up to the family, let them know what is happening, don’t bottle it all up alone.

Until I come your way again next time, be a friend to someone living with diabetes.
Stay safe guys and let’s prevent the possibility of a second wave in Ghana by masking up and washing our hands regularly.