Friday, November 14, 2014

Being Aware

Today is World Diabetes Day.  Sixteen years ago, I did not even know there was more than one kind of diabetes.  It was a word I had only heard associated with my 100 year old great-grandma.  Then, life took a turn.

The first time I became really AWARE of  T1 Diabetes was on January 25, 2000 at roughly 9:36 am.  It is one of those moments, frozen in time that you would like to slowly rewind and then replay with a new ending.  At that moment, I was numb with questions and fear of the unknown.  Ironically, I had no idea then how much really was unknown- as evidenced by my question, "When will she outgrow it?"  Within 24 hours, my baby was on an IV and I had added words like beta cells, pancreas, insulin, ketones, carbohydrates, and autoimmune to my daily vocabulary.  We should have gotten college credit for the four days she was in the hospital and the amount of new information we were required to absorb!  After a period of time we settled into the added parenting role of pancreas, and our days took on a new normal.  This first time around, the biggest lesson I learned can be summed up by the quotation, "Be kind, everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."  Diabetes is sneaky, mean,  and invisible to the naked eye.  Sadly, people say some really stupid things!

The second time I became really AWARE of  T1D, was about 18 months later.  It was July 26, 2001.  It was before noon when I got the message from Troy that he thought something was wrong with Taya.  I was in grad school, and I remember that I was driving back from class and telling him she had to be fine; the doctor had told us having a sibling with T1 only increased the other kids' chances by 4-7%- that translated to slim chance in my mind!   In one of the few incidents I had to concede that my husband was right, we took her for a blood draw and left with a glucose meter and another prescription for insulin.  I was even more numb than the first time around and Troy was furious.  This time, finding a new normal was even more difficult.  Troy had also recently been diagnosed with his own kidney ailment, was coaching two sports, and teaching.   I had just gone back to work full time and was finishing up grad school.   As if that wasn't enough, we had a 1 year old and two girls under the age of 6 who required daily insulin shots and frequent fingerpokes to check blood sugar.  I have said this before, God Bless my dear friend and daycare provider, Traci!   The lesson I learned from this second time around was that it really does take a village.  We have connected with some beautiful souls because of T1 in our lives and we have been blessed with a truly amazing support system.  This doesn't take away all the pain, but it makes the worst days bearable.

The third time I became really AWARE of T1D- as if I needed more reminders- was January 8, 2010 at 7:05 pm.   This was the moment I checked TJ's blood sugar and found it a whopping 536.  Diabetes definitely does not play fair!  If Tessa had not been home with me, I am not sure what I would have done.  With the wisdom of a soon to be 10 year old, she advised me that she would watch TJ a second because I needed to call grandma.  In her mind, grandma fixed everything.  I knew in my heart what was happening, but my head just would not accept it.   Tessa was right, I did need to call grandma.  I needed someone to tell me what to do, because how- HOW- could this be happening again?  Even as I type this,  I can feel the hysteria rising in my throat.  So I called Troy's mom. She said she would go to Taya's hockey game so she wouldn't be alone and that I needed to take TJ to the hospital and she would come up later to get Tessa.  Somewhere in the midst of this, my mood went from numb to really, really angry but two funny things happened that night:  1.) Taya got two penalties in her hockey game.  If you know Taya at all, you know that this is proof the stars were not in our favor that evening.  She HATES the penalty box - her dad can't even pay her with ice cream to get penalties! Her only other experience in the box was when he made her serve his bench minor.    2.) After hearing our family history, the admitting doctor asked me if I had married my cousin!   This still makes me giggle!   The lesson I took away from this go round was you have to find the humor because if you can't laugh, you will always be crying!

The fourth time I became really AWARE of T1D was early August, 2011.  We were driving to Minneapolis and I received a text from Taya's Godmother saying Addison was in the hospital and they were pretty sure it was T1D.  My heart broke.  T1D was now a 'normal' part of our lives, but I surely did not want this for my friend.  That was when I learned the lesson that we should not keep hiding the battle - we needed to live it out loud.  If we minimized it, no one would be aware and no one would fight for a cure or even care.  This is why I have been posting a fact a day about what it is really like to have T1D, this is why I advocate with JDRF, this is why we walk and raise money- because the more people that are AWARE, the greater chance we have for change and ultimately, for a cure!

Haley, Addison, and Taya at camp! 
Taya, TJ and Tylie advocating on the Hill! 
           These kids inspire me each and everyday!