How to Accept a New Type 1 Diabetes Diagnosis
Being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes last summer in the ICU was not the first struggle I had with accepting a life-changing event, but it was the first time I needed to accept a major change to my health that wasn’t going to go away.
Acceptance cannot be forced. Even with the support of friends and family, in the best case, it takes time and it is only yours to face. Acceptance is the first step in cultivating deep peace. It clears the way for growing into the person you are meant to become. You cannot get to your highest level if you haven’t accepted where you are today.
My autoimmune diagnosis was a river of white-water rapids flowing over a cliff – a waterfall – landing into a cool, still pool through acceptance. Here are the stages of the river that guided me to accept my new reality and allowed me to feel truly at peace; open to the opportunities that await.
1. Give Yourself Permission to Grieve
Your life changed. It’s invisible to everyone else and it may even feel invisible to you. Even after a year, there are days I forget my body lost control of my blood sugar. I sometimes forget I need to bring a snack when I go running or take insulin before bed and with meals. Your life as you knew it is over. You don’t get to turn off your diagnosis. A level of freedom is gone. You were driving on the road of life and slammed into a brick wall. A piece of you died – literally – and you are searching your way through the dark to get your foot back on the gas. It is ok to take extra time to feel the loss. Sadness, anger, fear, isolation. Feeling your grief is a reminder you are alive. Your feelings are an expression of where you are now.
2. Learn About Type 1 Diabetes & Autoimmune Conditions
Education about diabetes seems like it is everywhere from doctors to nurses to diabetes educators. However, most of the literature or classes your doctors may recommend are focused on the clinical knowledge. There is so much more that isn’t discussed in diabetes education. It’s important to understand there is more to a new Type 1 diabetes diagnosis than adjusting to new health routines, learning to count carbs, and injecting insulin every day.
Read, watch or listen to information about autoimmune conditions. The relationship between mental health and metabolic health. Learn about hormones in the body and their effect on triggering chronic health conditions, such as the stress hormone cortisol and what it does if you’re stuck in “fight or flight” overtime. There is research out there about the links between trauma and health conditions such as in the book, The Body Keeps Score. Realize there is more in the underworld of your health that you will never hear from a clinician.
3. Find Community
One of the first things I knew I needed was to connect with other people with Type 1 diabetes. I found out about one of the largest research organizations, JDRF, and saw they had a Young Leadership Committee (YLC) in the Bay Area (and all over the country) with happy hours and a large fundraising event in San Francisco. I drove to Palo Alto one evening and met ten other people my age with T1D who were active in the community. I signed up to help with the October 2019 JDRF One Walk in San Francisco and the YLC “Oktoberfest” fundraiser. I love floral design and donated floral arrangement for the auction, selling raffle tickets while sipping on low carb White Claw and Bootchcraft in Fort Mason.
I joined Type 1 diabetes support groups on Facebook. There are dozens of them. With thousands of people. After being part of 4-5 of these groups for almost a year I can tell you so many people respond to comments and give genuine love and support. There are Type 1 running groups like Type One Run. There are people out there who relate to what you are going through. It’s a great time to find support for a new Type 1 diabetes diagnosis with many social networks and advocacy groups with an online presence.
4. Curate Your Social Circle
Along the lines of community, take stock of who in your immediate circle you can count on for support. Put them into categories. Who will be there checking on you regularly? Who may really care but isn’t able to be regular support? Who would be there for you in an instant if you had a blood sugar crisis? Who isn’t going to be there for you? This might seem harsh, but it will save you time, energy, and possibly resentment if you can accept others in your life for where they are in relation to your health and caring about your diabetes as a new journey.
5. Take Stock of Where Your Energy Goes
Your energy is valuable. If it isn’t enough that you have to deal with an energy roller coaster when your blood sugar goes high and low, you may also have to re-prioritize where the rest of your energy goes. Managing your new diabetes diagnosis is going to take a lot of energy and require a certain level of Zen when dealing with doctors’ appointments, endocrinologists, nutritionists, the pharmacy, and your insurance company.
Your health is now the top priority. You must protect your strength for your diabetes management. What level of energy do you exert at work? In your relationships? Where is your energy being zapped? What changes might you need to make? For example, I decided to leave a work environment that required me to be in the office every day for a career that is 100% remote. It allowed me flexibility such as tracking what I eat and managing my insulin routine more easily.
6. Tell Your Story; and Retell
Your new Type 1 diabetes diagnosis is a chapter in your story. You first get to decide how to tell the story to yourself and retell it overtime. You get to edit the story as you learn more about yourself, your body, the chapters in your life unfolding alongside your diagnosis, and other events that are intertwined with how you create your story going forward.
Not everyone is comfortable sharing about their diabetes journey, injecting insulin in public, or discussing openly with friends, family, or coworkers the fact they might need accommodations for their diabetes. However, it’s so important on the path to acceptance to take the time to decide what your story is and how to share it.
For me, I wanted to know what caused my diabetes diagnosis. There is no history of diabetes or autoimmune conditions in my family. There isn’t a way to know what caused it or when – the general causes are vague and clinical, lacking depth of the interconnectedness of our past, stressors, trauma, hormones, metabolic health, mental health, and more – but there is a story I tell myself. I edit and retell it as I learn more on my journey.
If you are comfortable, share your story with the T1D community. Blog about it, post about it, connect with it. Connection to your new diabetes diagnosis story is healing and powerful.
7. Create a Diabetes Mindset Ritual
Managing your Type 1 diabetes is a daily ritual. It's a powerful one if you cultivate the right mindset. You are taking the time to test your blood sugar, inject insulin, and set up your diabetes supply space at home or at work. What other rituals can you attach to it to bring mindfulness into your day? Daily affirmations, journaling, gratitude, and celebrations are examples of daily rituals proven to form new connections in the brain and release serotonin that opens us to creativity, possibility, and love. Love is healing. Creativity is healing. Connect to your inner world and spirit. Reprogram your subconscious.
For me, one of my favorite small rituals is pulling an Animal Spirit card. It takes 5 minutes or less and connects me to parts of myself that may be dormant or could use a reminder there is energy there to tap into.
Acceptance takes time and it’s a journey, a practice. Your acceptance of where you are today may change. You will undoubtedly encounter different levels of acceptance required as you move along in your life and come across new challenges. The river is constantly flowing, building, releasing over new cliffs of all sizes. Acceptance is when you land in the cool, still pools that flow over you, allowing you the peace, growth and strength to move forward toward the person you are meant to become.