There is no one more believing that a cure is out there more than I. I spend my days in support of a place that I believe will get us to the finale of diabetes; and I believe it with all my heart. I know many out there are working toward a cure and if you have a place that you believe in, that’s fabulous.
Now as much as I believe in the DRI and for a whole list of reasons; my discussion today is not actually going to be about a cure.
If you, your family, and your child, are waiting for a cure to get started in life, a ship of life is going to sail without you.
You need to start now. Educate yourself.
Education is not speaking to someone and they tell you something and you say, ‘Oh, that sounds good.’ Education is looking wherever you need to find out facts on the subject you are searching.
Ask a lot of questions but if you want your child to start living and start living now, spend the time to KNOW FACTS how to manage this monster. The people I know who live life to the fullest is because this runaway horse called diabetes CAN ONLY be reigned in with education and education can only be found by searching.
I remember when Kaitlyn was very young, and I have lectured this point many times, I would come home at 1-2 in the morning from work and Jill had fallen asleep with literature all around her. While I worked 3 jobs, she took care of 3 kids. This we agreed would be how we would raise our kids and LIVE with diabetes.
Any spare moment, we would both seek knowledge, share what we had found, and that has not changed to this day. People ask how we can be so positive with two kids living with diabetes.
We get it. We’re there too. Anguish, sleepless nights, frustration, and anything else that comes along this journey. But in the end education teaches-away the fear, education allows us the comfort of understanding, and education trumps hear-say.
So while we all await a cure, and whether you chose to believe we are close or far away is your choice, there is something THAT YOU CAN DO IN THE NOW to better live a full life. Educate yourself and your child…..it is the tool to set your compass. Go beyond chatting in the DOC which is fine, but find out for yourself. Investigate. Learn.
Even a little-bit-a-day is better than none-a-day. Pick a subject: pumps, complications, 504 plans, depression, or whatever interests you….a little a day over a month would supply you with a pretty good foundation of 12 subject matters in just the first year.
Cure? absolutely, but sail the ship of living now….educate yourself.
I am a diabetes dad.
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One reply on “Do Not Let THIS SHIP Sail Without YOU!!!!!!! What Are You Waiting For????”
I can’t agree with you more! This is one of the points I always bring up to newly (and not so newly) diagnosed kids and their parents. We, too, drank in all of the information we could to become knowledgable. The single best thing we did was to take the MYD (Mastering Your Diabetes) class at the DRI. It changed our lives, and I would recommend it to anyone who can make it happen (think South Florida vacation with a little education thrown in). It gave us the knowledge, understanding and confidence to tackle anything that came our way (including leaving us open to even more knowledge). In the Diabetes world, “With knowledge comes freedom” takes on a whole new meaning. We never stop learning, seeking and processing information about Diabetes, and this knowledge has allowed my daughter to partake fully in life, not just the life of a kid with Diabetes. She has become an advocate for herself and others, and we have always encouraged her to learn and share. While we continue to strive for a cure, unfortunately, Diabetes is still with us, and that means that Megan has to own her Diabetes (as much as we’d like to take it away). As she heads off to college in the Fall, I am thankful for all of the education we have garnered (but wish we didn’t need) and the confidence it has given her and us. In the D world, education is the difference between living life and just existing…