The power of words creating their Ripple Affect.

The power of words creating their Ripple Affect.

The ripple affect that followed through to my family in my search for answers about diabetes was enormous. I became wrapped in fear and anxiety, to the point of depression.

After being told I had diabetes it was time to find out what diabetes is, and how will it affect the quality of my life. If you or some one you know has diabetes, you would have probably gone through a similar research expedition as I, trying to establish what exactly is diabetes and how are you going to survive with this. In the beginning I thought it could not be so bad, as when I phoned the doctor telling him I just got diabetes and was advised that I must see him, he said that late the following week would be fine. Also trying to make an appointment with the diabetes clinic I had the same results, a date was made nearly two weeks into the future. Neither the doctor nor the clinic was in a hurry to see me, a newly diagnosed diabetic! No one in the medical profession was in a hurry to see me; in that case maybe, I would probably not even need any type of medication. This gave me a reasonably safe feeling of security that this diabetes was not too much to worry about.

The appointment to see the professionals was some time away, I decided to go to our local library and borrow some books on the subject so that when I do see them I may be a bit better informed. Most books stated that diabetes is a chronic disease; I looked up the meaning for disease, what really is a disease and what did I do to catch this disease. The Encyclopedia Britannica states that a disease is a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning. This totally blew me away, how was I going to be impaired from being able to function normally. Was it going to impair my brain, I had not long ago been accepted as a mature-aged student at university, and enjoyed doing my course with reasonably good results, so the quest for answers continued, as the words impairs normal functioning stayed planted in my long-term memory bank.

I read that what we eat impacts on the safety levels of blood readings, also that regular exercise would be necessary to enhance the quality of life and help adjust further blood readings, and that it would be necessary not only to rethink, but alter the life style that most likely assisted the onset of diabetes. This advice did not seem to drastic, I could do that, eat to a new set of menus and do regular exercise.

The next step I did, which on looking back was totally wrong for my cognitive and emotional stability, this step was to go public with my news of having diabetes. I decided to tell my friends and associates, hoping to get some advice and support. The reactions and comments did not vary that much, you poor thing! How do you feel? You will have to make so many adjustments to your life now! How are you coping? The worst comments that I received were in relation to the possible loss of my legs, eyesight and kidney damage without conclusive reasons given to these statements. We do not realize what power words have and the ripple affect they create, being at the receiving end has made me more seriously conscious that care must be taken on how one responds to a person that has just been dealt a blow. Telling someone you poor thing without any follow up may be said out of sympathy, empathy and possibly even to show concern But does it make the recipient cope better emotionally? No, this made me question why am I a poor thing, what do they know that I do not, and made matters only worse for me. After all I only have diabetes and not contracted a plague, I was looking for support not sympathy. I did not look for hero status by saying, hey, here I have been given something (diabetes) that you have not but I must deal with it, so feel sorry for me. No, I needed support and not sympathy, and say it mildly I actually got rather angry to the point that I could not tell whether I was angry, frustrated or just depressed.