The diabetes motivation

I had foot surgery on May 5; it is over five weeks later and the short version of the story is that I ended up with an infected wound that has required frequent (twice a week or more) doctor visits and twice-daily IV antibiotics. It has caused limited mobility and plenty of pain and discomfort. This has all left me with a glimpse into the future.

I carry nearly all the risk factors for diabetes, not the least of which is this extra 80 pounds. Diabetes scares me but it's all been pretty abstract until now; it's been enough to be on my mind regularly but not enough to motivate me to make any changes. But now I feel a bit differently since I've had to deal with one of the most common diabetic struggles - a non-healing foot wound.

I've gotten a sliver of a taste of how disruptive this aspect of diabetes can be (I'm not saying that my little foot wound is in any way as bad as having a devastating illness). The deadliness of diabetes is still pretty abstract to me, you know, the fact that it kills people.  But the quality of life changes this simple foot wound has caused has resonated with me. Does this mean I'm more afraid of inconvenience than I am of dying? No, of course not. But the inconvenience has been made real to me, and if that's enough to help motivate me to get healthier, then I'm just fine with that.