Hi Wanda

Denial is the diabetic's biggest enemy.

Its all to easy to take the meds and pretend nothing has changed, ie. pass the problem, and responsibility over to the Doctor.

Here is what helped for me.

* The Doctor, however professional, does not care about me as much as I care about me. I wouldn't trust him with sole access to my life savings, so I shouldn't trust him with sole responsibility for understanding and treating my condition.
* Being in denial also means not trying to 'understand' your diabetes - if we don't try to understand it, then we are not well placed to minimise its effects.
* The more effort we put into controlling our blood sugar levels, the lower the risk of diabetic complications.
* There is some good work being done into a cure for diabetes. I want to be well placed to take advantage of this when it arrives.

When I was first diagnosed as diabetic I was overweight, unfit, smoked, ate the wrong foods and drank too much.
My first thought was 'agghhhh, this diagnosis means long term problems and a shorter lifespan'
My second thought was 'oh no, I am going to have to give up smoking, do exercise, cut down my drinking and lose weight'

Then it dawned on me.
The smoking, drinking, bad food, weight, no exercise were ALL reducing my lifespan significantly.
The diabetes was a wake up call - if I got all these things under control the overall effect might actually be a longer life span even allowing for the diabetes.

Its a battle, the smoking has gone, the drinking alcohol is now minimal, the food intake is lower and healthier and my blood sugar is pretty much under control.
The weight loss and exercise is still a problem - I am working on it though.

Hope that helps.

Exercise is even more important than they say, IMO

Before Xmas, I started walking my dogs for 3 mile each day after my mid day meal, walking at a brisk pace - more of a march than a walk.
After about a week or so, I started to notice my blood sugar dropping alarmingly after the walk.

I tried eating my meal without injecting my insulin and then doing the walk - on my return, less than an hour later, my blood sugar was as low as if I HAD injected insulin.

For reasons related to work, I have not been able to continue with the regime, but part of me now believes that if I could start up again I might be able to drop the insulin completely. I have done a lot of research on the effect of excercise on diabetes, and the plain fact appears to be that everyone agrees that help, but nobody seems to understand the actual mechanism of 'why'.

One day soon, I will start up my one-man diabetes exercise research team again and report the findings.

Important Disclaimer:
Obviously, what works for me might not work for everyone, and if you do increase your exercise, monitoring your blood regularly is crucial.