My Diabetic Heart

Living with Congestive Heart Failure and Type 2 Diabetes

WELCOME TO My Diabetic Heart!

Type 2 Diabetes and Congestive Heart Failure are two common conditions that people are diagnosed with every day. Living with one of these conditions at any age is hard enough; imagine living with both at the age of 27. That's what this blog is all about. It's about my life with Type 2 Diabetes and CHF, and about showing that you can live a fulfilling life with each.

29
Dec

Three Years

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Today is the 3rd anniversary of my diagnosis with Type 2 Diabetes and Congestive Heart Failure.  Wow, only three years?  It feels like so much longer.  Alas, just three years.  Three years of knowing, caring, surviving, and sharing.

Three years of knowing that I have a two invisible chronic illnesses for which there are no cures.  Three years of knowing that I’m not alone in my fight.  That there are millions of others fighting the same things.  Three years of getting to know some of the most amazing people around.  Lots of love to everyone in the Diabetes Online Community.

Three years of caring more about my well being.  Three years of doing everything I possibly could to beat the odds against me.  Three years of caring for those around me, both online and offline.  Three years of being me.

Three years of surviving the many challenges before me.  Three years of enduring the daily routines required to stay alive.  Three years of painful medical procedures and tests to monitor changes both good and bad.

Three years of sharing my story with the world.  Sharing both my victories and my defeats, showing what it’s really like to live with these conditions.  Sharing the message that it is possible to live well with both. And that there is no shame in being diagnosed with them.

You’ve surely noticed the repetition in this post by now, and you may very well be ready to leave it.  And, honestly, I really can’t blame you.  I’d love to leave it all behind too.  But I can’t.  That’s life with diabetes and congestive heart failure.

Here’s to many more years of knowing, caring, surviving, and sharing.

All the best!

  1. on December 29th at 09:29 pm
    Cherise said:

    Happy Dversary, MIKE!!!!!

  2. on December 29th at 09:34 pm
    Mike said:

    Thanks, Cherise! Lots of love, my friend! :-)

  3. on December 29th at 09:46 pm
    Lizmari said:

    Happy D’Anniversary, Mike. Glad you’re here, and a healthier you. Lessons, scrapes, and all.

  4. on December 29th at 09:58 pm
    alexis said:

    Happy Diaversary friend! While I wish none of us had to deal with these things….at the end of the day I love knowing that I have YOU in my life because of it…

    Your honesty and bravery with both dxs amazes me, and I truly admire you Mike.

    When the cure comes we will be in line side by side! Til then I guess we are SOL and JWF? Haha. Did you smile?

    Love you!

  5. on December 29th at 10:04 pm
    Mike said:

    Thank you Alexis! Love you, too.

    And yes, I may have smiled and laughed.

  6. on December 29th at 10:39 pm
    PrincessLadyBug said:

    Happy Diaversary, sweetie!!! I’m so glad to have you in my life that when I think about you I almost don’t hate diabetes. :)

    Love you!!

  7. on December 30th at 12:13 am
    Jess said:

    i hope you had a meaningful day, my friend. <3

  8. on December 30th at 02:34 pm
    Michael Hoskins said:

    Here’s to a happy diaversary, Mike, and I hope there are many more. Thanks for being a part of this community and sharing your story, the ups and downs, and being such an awesome person. Looking forward to continuing the awesomeness and seeing you more in 2012!

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My Diabetic Heart by Mike Durbin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Featured Post

A Blunt Lancet Christmas Single?
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This just in!   MDH News has received unconfirmed reports that Blunt Lancet is set to release a single of their Christmas song, The Twelve Days of Betes, just in time for the holidays.  MDH Entertainment reporter Little G is investigating and will have a full report soon.

Blunt Lancet is the popular 90′s rock band that has staged an impressive come back over the last couple of years.  And this is not the first time we’ve reported on a potential Christmas release from Blunt Lancet.

Last year, the band was rocked by the BetesLeaks scandal, in which a rogue agent of the consulting firm Dewey, Fuck’em & Howe stole the lyrics to the song and shared them on the notorious online site, BetesLeaks.

We are seeking comment from a representative of Blunt Lancet, and will have more on this story as it develops.  In the mean time, here are the lyrics available on their website.

The Twelve Days of Betes

On the first day of Betes my doctor gave to me
The results from my first A1C.

On the second day of Betes my doctor gave to me
Two old brochures and
The results from my first A1C.

On the third day of Betes my doctor gave to me
Three rusty lancets
Two old brochures and
The results from my first A1C.

On the fourth day of Betes my doctor gave to me
Four insulin vials
Three rusty lancets
Two old brochures and
The results from my first A1C.

On the fifth day of Betes my doctor gave to me
Five loads of Bullshit!
Four insulin vials
Three rusty lancets
Two old brochures and
The results from my first A1C.

On the sixth day of Betes my doctor gave to me
Six bills for paying
Five loads of Bullshit!
Four insulin vials
Three rusty lancets
Two old brochures and
The results from my first A1C.

On the seventh day of Betes my doctor gave to me
Seven ways of cheating
Six bills for paying
Five loads of Bullshit!
Four insulin vials
Three rusty lancets
Two old brochures and
The results from my first A1C.

On the eighth day of Betes my doctor gave to me
Eight goals for meeting
Seven ways of cheating
Six bills for paying
Five loads of Bullshit!
Four insulin vials
Three rusty lancets
Two old brochures and
The results from my first A1C.

On the nineth day of Betes my doctor gave to me
Nine pumpers pumping
Eight goals for meeting
Seven ways of cheating
Six bills for paying
Five loads of Bullshit!
Four insulin vials
Three rusty lancets
Two old brochures and
The results from my first A1C.

On the tenth day of Betes my doctor gave to me
Ten fingers bleeding
Nine pumpers pumping
Eight goals for meeting
Seven ways of cheating
Six bills for paying
Five loads of Bullshit!
Four insulin vials
Three rusty lancets
Two old brochures and
The results from my first A1C.

On the eleventh day of Betes my doctor gave to me
Eleven lancers lancing
Ten fingers bleeding
Nine pumpers pumping
Eight goals for meeting
Seven ways of cheating
Six bills for paying
Five loads of Bullshit!
Four insulin vials
Three rusty lancets
Two old brochures and
The results from my first A1C.

On the twelfth day of Betes my doctor gave to me
Twelve Dexcoms beeping
Eleven lancers lancing
Ten fingers bleeding
Nine pumpers pumping
Eight goals for meeting
Seven ways of cheating
Six bills for paying
Five loads of Bullshit!
Four insulin vials
Three rusty lancets
Two old brochures and
The results from my first A1C.

Popular Post

It’s OK to Need Help
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In previous blog posts and conversations over the last two years, I’ve made no bones about the fact that I’ve battled with bouts of depression and anxiety since I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and type 2 diabetes.

The daily routines of medications, blood sugar testing, meal planning, and other related bullshit, combined with the constant worry of trying to figure out how to pay for all of those medications and testing supplies, are simply overwhelming at times.

Add to that all of the typical stuff that goes along with every day life, you know… work, bills, chores, relationships, etc… and you’ve got yourself a great big barrel of fun.

Then top that off with dealing with a loved one being diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and going through all of the activities and emotions that go along with that, and being forced to put a near 9 year relationship on hold while your best friend becomes the primary caregiver for that loved one, and that great big barrel of fun transforms into the biggest clusterf*#K you’ve ever seen.

It’s all enough to destroy someone mentally. And the extreme mental hurt quickly manifests into extreme physical hurt. And you eventually reach a point where you just can’t take it anymore, and feel like throwing the towel in.

As difficult as it is for me to admit, I reached that point in the early part of February.

And the hard part is that I know it didn’t have to happen. I had a little bottle of “happy” pills in my possession that my doctor had given me the month before. I just wasn’t able to take them immediately, because I was starting a new blood sugar medication and had to get through the side effects of it before starting the other medicine.

And then when it was time to start the Celexa, I kept putting it off and putting it off, because of the fear that I’d have the same problems with it that I had with similar drugs years before. When you’ve had a bad experience with medications, or anything for that matter, you tend to shy away from them. It’s perfectly normal to have those feelings.

Things finally reached a point in early February where I knew I needed help, and knew that I had to take the plunge into the world of anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications again. And so, on the 21st of last month, I broke the seal on the prescription bottle, cut the little pill in half as the doctor had instructed, and jumped.

Tomorrow, March 21st, will mark a month since I started the medication, and I can honestly say that I’m glad I did. I’m not nearly as edgy as I had been, and feel quite mellow most of the time. And mellow is a good thing.

The moral of this story is this: It’s OK to need help; You just have to ask for it!

Recent Comments

Scott S

I love the fact that Starbucks is one of the nation's largest purveyors of bit-sized cupcakes!!

Debra

That's great news Mike!!!

kerri

Hooray cupcakes! :]

Mike

HAHAHA