Go figure: Friday came along, I blinked, and Diabetes Blog Week was over. I want to thank Karen Graffeo of www.bittersweetdiabetes.com for organizing this and bringing me back to blogging. It really is something that I enjoy and I hope those of you who read Cut the BS…I mean Blood Sugar can tell.
I was in the process of writing this post and I still would love to share it with you, so here it is:
Today’s post was supposed to be about food. I’ve posted about food before and I will post about food again so I decided to write about one of the wildcard topics. It asks me to personify my diabetes.
As much as I’d like to call my Diabetes every horrible name in the book, I recall referring to myself as a D-Toddler at the Diabetes unConference in Las Vegas this year. The more I think about it the more I find that is a better personification of my Diabetes. For me, it’s like having an additional child.
I’m a mother of two young women, both under the age of ten, and I find that in being a parent, my husband and I have to take the lead and make decisions for them. I can’t expect my diabetes to take care of itself. I have to keep a watchful eye on my diabetes, just like my girls. It is my responsiblity if my girls hurt themselves because I did not set boudaries or check in with them soon enough. It is my responsibility if one of my girls end up with her head between the stair railings or my blood sugars get too high and it is my responsibilty to get her head out of there or get my blood sugar back to a healthy range. Luckily, no one’s ever gotten her head stuck between the railings at our house.
Similarly to having a child, having diabetes takes some getting used to. With time, I’ve gotten the hang of it and can roll with the punches. Diabetes has it’s routines just like babies and toddlers have their routines and by the time I get used to the routines, the children and the diabetes change on me and I have to adapt. There are fears and frustrations upon being a parent, but there are also little joys and victories like the first time all of us slept through the night or the times I make changes in my treatment and it happens to work. Both have resulted in funky victory dance.
Differences?
The difference is my children will eventually grow up and make decisions of thier own based on their experiences in life. My diabetes will always depend on me to make decisions to keep both of us in line. I know that there are devices and surgical procedures in the works that might make decisions for me in the future, but my body will never correct itself or appologize when we are not in agreement. My daughters and I have already corrected ourselvs and appologized to each other countless times in my tenure as a mother. Diabetes will always be a part of me just like my girls are, but I will probably never love my Diabetes and I doubt that I will ever be proud of my Diabetes. Needless to say, but I will, I very much love my girls and my husband and am very proud of every accomplishment they make along the way.
My relationship with my diabetes has evolved, just like my relationship with my girls. And through the years, it will continue to evolve. But some things will always remain: I will always be Mom and I will always be a Person with Diabetes.
Click for the Diabetes Personified Wildcard Link List.
If you could personify your diabetes or that of your loved one, what would it be like? What would it look like, what would it say, what kind of personality would it have? Use your imagination and feel free to use images, drawings, words, music, etc. to describe it. (Thank you Reva of Type ONEderful for this topic suggestion.)
Cut the B.S. 