Very Light, No Sugar

I currently work full time in Veterans benefits.  At the end of this month I will have my Master of Science in Healthcare Administration degree from Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. I have been blogging for a little over a year now, and it has been exciting to learn from various perspectives in the healthcare field. I look forward to putting my degree to good use.

How do I live my “lyfe” with diabetes?

Each day with diabetes is different. Diabetes is always there. Some days it roars loudly and persistently. Other times, it is reduced to a quiet lull in the background.

Diabetes is like the pesky younger sibling who wants to hang out with the cool older kids on the playground. The situation is tolerable; yet sometimes it is a nuisance; yet sometimes you still love it for opening up your heart to the goodness in the world. For me, type 1 diabetes is all of the above, all of the emotions, the ever-present giver-of-perspective.

I live my lyfe with diabetes because this is the life that I was given. Everyone has a cross to bear. Diabetes is mine. I refuse to lose hope of attaining a cure for diabetes in my lifetime because we have a moral obligation to leave this earth better than we found it. Our accomplishments already prove that anything is possible with diabetes. Why not make the journey a bit easier for future generations by advocating for and obtaining a real cure?

The best advocacy we can provide is to live well despite diabetes. Recently on my way to graduate class, my continuous glucose monitor sensor (a device that alerts me to my blood sugar range) was acting funky. I stopped my car in a grocery store parking lot so that I could change the sensor site before class. Admittedly, I was a bit grumpy about the inconvenience. But I only flinched for a millisecond as the needle shot into my abdomen. Afterwards, I drove to class and greeted my friends, who never would have guessed what I had just done in order to maintain my health while we studied.

This example illustrates how the everyday moments with the disease are often unseen, our strength humble as we show up for our jobs or our classes after tending to our health. These unspoken moments where diabetes strives to interrupt lives are frequent; yet in order to live, we have to keep going.

Being transparent about my lyfe with diabetes has allowed me to foster genuine connections with others. Professors and classmates have trusted me with their own stories of adversity. Online communities with worldwide membership are linked through the common thread of advancing healthcare. Diabetes is often the conversation-starter. Human connection and resilience are the morals of the tale.

There is still lyfe to be enjoyed despite diabetes, or whatever cross one bears. All of these brave people have showed me this is so. I challenge you to be that example for someone else.

Thank you