Dear Diabetic Life

Tomorrow is my 39th  Birthday. Yes, 39 years I have existed on this earth. I have had diabetes now for 30 years, wow, hard to believe.  On my drive to work today, and after dropping my children off, I watched them stroll up to their school. I had a flash of my childhood, or more precisely my childhood prior to being "Diabetic"

I was in my back yard. Kingston Ontario, basking in the warm May sun on my birthday 33 years ago. I was 6 yrs old. I think of this memory often. Not sure why, I think because it was a fond memory. Things were simple, play, gymnastics, swimming, and nothing else.

I remember eagerly awaiting my friends to arrive for my 6th birthday party. I remember hot dogs, cake, treats, laughter, and all that good stuff. I remember biking, and feeling free. I am grateful for my childhood. I am grateful to have been loved and now to be able to love.

I am glad to be healthy still despite my life challenged with diabetes. I am grateful to be still fighting, and meeting the challenge.

I don't feel happy or sad about my birthday tomorrow, just grateful. Funny how that is, as my life progresses, and mortality presents itself, things of importance fall into place.

Family, good health, and enjoying life.


Trev

Diabetes Holding You Back?

It Shouldn`t. 

Do you feel like some days this bloody disease dictates your every move, you likely feel that no matter what you tweak, no matter how well you measure you are often left with the weird, "where`d that come from" reading. 

Well, welcome to being a PWD or a Parent managing a PWD.

It's not for the faint of heart, it's not for the weak, and its not for the lazy.  Diabetes requires determination, courage, humility, a desire to never ever give up and a whole lot of work. 

As any of my regular readers know, I am surrounded by diabetes.  Literally. No exaggeration. It did indeed almost push me to the brink, or completely off the deep end(mentally). But something strange happens when you fall.

You pause. You look around. You ask yourself some key questions that only you can answer. Like, how did I end up here, how can I get back up, who can help me, and then finally how can I improve and persevere?

Another thing happened to me. I realized that diabetes is only one aspect of my life. It's like the dreaded question you get from people at a party, so, "What do you do?" Use your imagination to answer that.

It is not what you do that defines who you are.  Seriously, Diabetes does not define me, it has certainly influenced many things in my life like;  lifestyle, job choice, interests, hobbies.  But it is a part of me, like my job. It is what I do, not who I am. I am a father, parent, son, brother, citizen, etc...

I am trying to shift my thinking, so I apologize for the philosophical discussion above and below.

I am grateful for my life. I am grateful for my family, I am grateful that diabetes has had a positive influence on me, and my life choices.  I think I value health and love the miraculous human body because at a young age something went wrong with mine.

I have to re-frame this chronic disease in a positive way in order to work with it, instead of working against it, and viewing it as a burden.  This is how I plan to manage my family's diabetes. 

I think in light of the world calamities currently taking place, it kind of puts it in perspective.

Diabetes is what it is, and you can only do the best you can. We aren`t dealing with tsunamis, or a government that wants to bombs us. When compared to these disasters it makes you appreciate what you have, which is what we need to focus on, not what we don`t have (which is a functioning pancreas)

Diabetes is what it is. A burden imposed onto us to deal with with out our consent. We either deal with it or we don`t.

I refuse to let diabetes hold my family back! 


Trev