Many of us with diabetes were hit by COVID-19 when warnings came out from health experts about being a part of a population known as “high risk.†Information was pouring out about people with autoimmune conditions considered to be …
Back in October of 2017 I went to get my eleventh tattoo. It’s been awhile since my last one. Walking into the tattoo shop immediately sent a reminder of the similar experiences of having needles dipped in ink punctured into …
Tattoos, Surgery & Diabetes: Adapting to the Familiar and Uncomfortable Read more »
20 years living with type one diabetes. Just going to let them sink in for a moment. 20 years ago I nearly lost my life due to this disease when it pushed my blood sugar level to 1,500 and hospitalized …
20 Years Later – Still Struggling, Still Learning, and Still Finding Meaning Read more »
Type 1 Diabetes is a painful disease. The event of being first diagnosed was filled with discomfort, agony, and pain. At first, the symptoms were mostly flu like – in which I was throwing up quite often from ingesting any …
Where have I been? It has been quite a while since last posting a blog. Let’s get the excuses out of the way: busy schedule, other priorities, events, trips, work, second work, other free work, and doing other projects. While …
I was never really a fan of roller coasters. To practice brutal honesty, they scared the crap out of me as a child. As children, my family frequented Walt Disney World and I was scared to go on some of …
One of the quickest ways to unintentionally shame a type one diabetic is to verbally tell them, “You can’t eat that because it has sugar!” That is a shoot from the hip approach I’m using to get to the seriousness …
An “invisible disease” is defined as a disease that is not immediately apparent. Although the disease creates a challenge for the person who has it, the reality of it can be difficult for others to recognize or even acknowledge the …
There has not been a recent blog post lately – – and it comes to no surprise when you read about the month of April I recently experienced. After going through all of it I came to the important realization …
Celebrating the “Diaversary” For those of you who are not a type one diabetic the concept of “diaversary” is a simple concept based on celebrating the day we were diagnosed with type one diabetes. The first time I heard someone congratulate me when that date arrived it was often met with frustration, anger, hate, shame, and hopelessness. Reaching another year of a diaversary was often a moment of hitting reality and the fact that a cure has not been found. In our minds we think, “another year and no cure” or “why would I want to celebrating this disease that has brought nothing but darkness and pain into life?” Over the years the experience changes and grows as each “diaversary” passes. At first, it was mostly anger and sadness. Then, it became more of trying to pull away from old memories and negative experiences and focus on today, this moment and where I was in my life. For awhile it became an event to try and focus less on and let it pass as another day. As the years continued to pile on it transitioned into more reflection as how I have grown over the years. There was still some sadness and memory recall; but the hate and anger was no longer present. I was able to look back ask, “what did I accomplish over this past year?” or “What did I learn about diabetes this year that I was unaware of before?” You would think with 19 years of living with this disease I would pretty much know everything there is. But, when you live with a chronic condition that requires daily maintenance the learning process is continuous. Lately, I have learned to recognize over the years what diabetes means to me and how I identify more and more with where I am today in life because of it. So, to conclude with this blog on celebrating my nineteen year “diaversary” I will leave a list of blessings I am grateful for that diabetes has given me over the years. I am thankful that type one diabetes… … has shown me gratitude and appreciation for medicine; because without it I would not be alive today. … has taught me to fight every single day to live. … has proven to me over and over again to never give up. … has opened my eyes to what it truly means to be healthy; and that living with a chronic condition is not something to be viewed as unhealthy. … has taught me the important lesson of control; because I had no control over being diagnosed with this disease, yet I have the power to make choices and decisions to manage it. … has shown me an appreciation for life every single day; because when death came knocking a few times I almost answered. … did not kill me when doctors said it should have; and by the grace of God, support of my family, and the amazing medical team was able to keep me on this Earth. … has given me strength to overcome something I felt powerless over. … taught me how to practice discipline multiple times through a single day; because diabetes management requires it. … while at first pushed me away from family and friends has actually helped me grow closer to them in ways that fostered greater love for one another. … to teach myself the importance of self-care and recognizing that if I cannot take care of myself I will not be able to help others. … opened the door for me to learn how to cope in multiple ways, including the use of writing. … gave me the opportunity to become a published author and share my history. …
There are plenty of people out there who love sleep. Whether it’s sleeping in on a day off, taking a nap when you can squeeze in some time, or just enjoying the comfort of your own bed… it’s not hard …
To say that living with type one diabetes is like having a full-time job would be a complete understatement. Having a disease that requires daily blood sugar monitoring and insulin maintenance is basically having a job that never stops and …
How Diabetes and Addiction Counseling Crossed Paths Read more »