Invisible Illness Meme

1. The illness I live with is: ooh, tough one. I'm a diabetic. But I also live with chronic abdominal pain, dementia, and other stuff.
2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: I was diagnosed with diabetes in 2006. I was diagnosed with gallstones in 2008. I was diagnosed with thyroiditis in 2008.
3. But I had symptoms since: I started having symptoms of diabetes in the 2001-2002 schoolyear. I don't remember which year it was. I started having acute abdominal pain in early 1999. I first showed signs of autism within a month or so of my birth, in 1988. I was first tested because of signs of thyroid disease in 1998.
4. The biggest adjustment I've had to make is: For diabetes, dealing with electronics on the sabbath, staying inside the boundries on the sabbath. For the memory problems, writing everything down because I don't remember them, accepting that I don't remember things. For the pain... learning to live with pain, I guess.
5. Most people assume: That how I'm functioning today is a good indication of how I will function tomorrow.
6. The hardest part about mornings are: Most of my mornings are not hard.
7. My favorite medical TV show is: I am terrified of TVs and have never watched a medical show on TV.
8. A gadget I couldn't live without is: I could survive without gadgets, I think. Unless a needle counts as a gadget.
9. The hardest part about nights are: losing sleep to night terrors, hypoglycemia, and hyperglycemia.
10. Each day I take _ pills & vitamins: I take no pills and no vitamins. I take 2-12 shots of insulin, 0-1 shots of testosterone, 0-1 new sensors, 2-12 blood sugar checks, and okay, some glucose.
11. Regarding alternative treatments: The placebo effect is powerful.
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: When my differences are too invisible, and people tell me I don't look like I have them, I seethe. And when I tell people, and they've already guessed, I also seethe. I wish I could come out when I want to and have people always believe me... and diabetes is the only one of my issues for which that usually is how it happens.
13. Regarding working and career: My illnesses make it hard to plan, and my memory and energy problems have made it hard, too. I had real difficulties student teaching because I got overwhelmed, my visual processing stopped working, and I couldn't see anything at all for minutes at a time during class. But I'm currently working numerous part time jobs and have high hopes for a career.
14. People would be surprised to know: that I don't really mind this.
15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: that I have no memory of the "old" reality. (Quote from Kerri but true for me too)
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: I never thought it would certainly stop me from anything.
17. The commercials about my illness: usually are for things I don't need.
18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: Taking long sabbath walks.
19. It was really hard to have to give up: My desire for total self sufficiency.
20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: Searching pubmed.
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: I think I do have days of feeling normal, lots of them.
22. My illness has taught me: To let go.
23. One thing people say that gets under my skin is: "I could never do that." Like I have a choice! Like I should choose to die! I also hate, "I know how you feel." No, you don't. Not even if you had all of my diagnoses, you wouldn't.
24. But I love it when people: Ask good questions.
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is: Psalm 23, verse 4: Gam ki elech, b'gai szalmavet, lo eera ra, ki ata imadi / And though I pass in the valley of death's shade, I will not fear bad, for you are with me.
26. When someone is diagnosed I'd like to tell them: You got questions, I got pubmed.
27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: That it's really not a one-per-customer kind of deal. I kind of thought once I had diabetes, diabetes was gonna be the main illness in my life, for life. Not so.
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn't feeling well was: Visit me in the hospital.
29. I'm involved with Invisible Illness Week because: I wanted to blog something and Kerri of sixuntilme posted this meme
30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: A little exposed.