Know it, Learn it, and——Do Your Job!!!!

I do my job.

When it came to diabetes and our kids, we did our job.  We did it with all due diligence, we did it with education, we did it with all we had.  We did not beat ourselves up over a high A1C and we did not dance in the streets when the A1C improved or was below 7—-because we did our job. The number was a gauge, nothing more, nothing less.  When we had a great day, we enjoyed it but we also knew that tomorrow could be different, and many times it was, but we usually stayed the course because we did our job.

We tried to avoid our personal emotional roller coaster because when you do your job, you can only do the best you can and after that, brace yourself or enjoy the ride because it will always be one way or the other and to be candid, if you rely on how diabetes ‘behaves’ to dictate your day, you are in for a long, rough ride.

When a storm comes, and they will, you have to be ready.  If you ask yourself, “…why/how does XYZ cope better than I do? or ….they know so much more than I….” there is only ONE REASON for that, they went out and learned.  I have stated this many times before; Kaitlyn (and Rob) had/have the best mother in the world when it came to their diabetes (she is a great mom all around but in keeping with this article we’ll say diabetes).  I cannot tell you how many times I came home at 1:00 a.m. from work and had to clear the bed from literature that she fell asleep reading.  She was given no time, SHE FOUND IT.

She was given no time……she found it.

I tell you that because if you do not know something you must make it your priority to find out; no one is going to spoon-feed diabetes information to you.  Whether you have it, or you are the care-taker–what you know is 1000% up to you.  Busy???? You bet.  Difficult???? You bet.  But if you want to get ahead of this, you have to make the investment in finding out.

Many people have taken issue with me when I say if you do not own diabetes it will surely own you.  The better statement is probably, diabetes will surely do all it can to take control of your life and how much you let it………is up to you.  Because at the end of the day it’s up to each and everyone individually to take care of diabetes or take care of your child with diabetes.

From experience and experience only, I have also shared the best equalizer is knowledge.  The more you know, the better you will be—-DO NOT rely on ANYONE to give you the truth…….go out and find it for yourself.  Not because I said it or because someone else ‘who is soooooooo knowledgeable’ said it, but because you found out for yourself. The philosopher Goethe states, “Whatever you cannot understand, you cannot possess.”  Amen.

No one will do it for you, it will not happen over night; but seek to learn and the pathway of success with this insidious disease will right itself more than wrong…..but the choice is squarely on our own shoulders.  You can look to everyone else for instructions, blame, and advice; but true knowledge to build something can only be learned by doing.
I am a diabetes dad.

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