Going through some stuff today and I got to thinking about the word 'chronic', for years I used that word to mean something bad, but in truth it means something long term, usually an illness, an illness like diabetes in all its forms and neuropathy.
But the way i've been feeling the last few months I really think diabetes and neuropathy deserve the 'bad' link.
If i think too much about chronic in its literal sense, as in 'length of time' it gets me very down, at the minute anyway, maybe its my upcoming 'zero' birthday that has me thinking this way, i've had diabetes nearly 24 years now and neuropathy confirmed only this last 4 months, but you get to thinking, this is for life now, how much longer could that really be - does this mean I have another 20, 30, 40...more years with these conditions?
Can I cope with that length of time? In a way that's not even a question I should ask, its not a case of Can I?, its more a case of I HAVE to!
Diabetes in itself throws many things your way, and many will wish for a cure for it, the cure may come, but diabetes will have done its damage for some, I will be stuck with neuropathy for life, other with kidney damage, some left blind, others without limbs.
For the first time recently I had to ask myself what would I want first, a cure for diabetes or a cure for neuropathy. Maybe its my time with diabetes compared to my time with neuropathy that had an impact on my answer, but I like to think it had more to do with the impact on the quality of my life, my answer was neuropathy.
Chronic conditions leave you having to ask yourself many difficult questions, I hope for many they get the answers they deserve.
