Dear Parent,
My name is diabetes and you may have just met me or you may have known me for years. I am not welcome and I know that I’m not.
The young lady in the picture met me when she was two. On this day, April 5th, she turns 27, old enough to know things but still young enough to say her age without a problem (women understand this more than men). She is one of those young ladies I do not want to talk about because if you become like her, you make my life miserable. But I assure you that she will have a Happy Birthday today…..because she hates me more than I attack her. In as much as I have tried, I stop her…….from nothing.
Her name is Kaitlyn.
Kaitlyn created a mantra for herself. It was not given to her by her parents, she thought of it all on her own. Kaitlyn stated, “I have diabetes, diabetes is NOT who I am.” Wow, that hurts. I like to own people. I like to make people operate under fear. I like people to doubt life, others, and their own-self. If I had a middle name my name would be Diabetes Doubt……because I love havoc based upon doubt.
Kaitlyn is one of my failure stories. She has not let diabetes stop her from anything from her days growing up, to high school, to where she is today. She danced, could ski, ran track, became a class officer, was in the prom and homecoming court, was a class officer, loved and enjoyed life and excelled in all she tried. Please do not look at Kaitlyn or listen to her. She is NOT A FRIEND to me, diabetes.
She has lectured, graduated school, taught, served as a first responder, become a nurse (in the diabetes field no less—-what a pain she is to me), and even got engaged…..diabetes does not like happiness. She travels for fun and teaches many young people how to live with me; like she has. She is so resistant to me.
Sure, every now and again I have a good day with her and make her feel bad either physically, emotionally, or both. But I need to try real hard with her because she knows too much. But if you ask her, she will tell you that she does not know enough yet and she is always trying to learn more….she is such a pain.
Her parents were like that too. They even had the nerve to say, and tell others, that education is the equalizer for me. I hate people who keep trying to learn. I like people to feel sorry for themselves. I like people to give up. I like people to just learn the bare minimum and try to ‘skate by with me’…..I have a field day with those types of people. But not like Kaitlyn, nor her family. I tried so hard that I even took residence with Kaitlyn’s younger brother……..but even then…….that family does not stop. And I try really hard to ruin their lives. And even with their ups and downs, they support each other, they have each other’s backs…….and boy I wish they would stop trying to learn more. There are others like them out there and I don’t like them either…..those who say that I just will not do in their life.
She has had me for 25 of her 27 years. I hate her, I hate her family. I hate those like them. They will not let me win. Don’t be like them. Please.
Sincerely,
Diabetes.
I am a DiabetesDad.
Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.
3 replies on “Do You Doubt Your Child’s Future with T1D? Read this and Share.”
My daughter, Carol, was diagnosed at age 10. Her beloved great-aunt Danna Jean (whom Carol (and my son Gary) called Neenaw) passed away from complications of diabetes when about 8. Her first question to me was, “am I going to die like Neenaw did?” What a stab in the heart! I told her we are going to all die someday, in the meantime, it is up to us to live the life WE want to live; that having diabetes does not change WHO she is, it just changes HOW she takes care of herself. She had been diagnosed 8 months when we sent her off to diabetes camp. That was THE LONGEST hour and a half drive home I’d ever had. When I picked Carol up from camp, she was a different person. They had taught her how to do her own injections, some rudimentary math to figure corrections, and most of all, how to have fun while still being “careful”. We are now nearly 15 years into what amounts to a “life sentence” with diabetes. Diabetes does not like my Carol any better than he does your Kaitlyn. She was at diabetes camp as a camper for 3 years and as a junior counselor for probably about 5. Being a junior counselor involved her being away from home for a month. She did ALL the things she wanted, while taking along her “companion”, who tried to rain on her parade and complicate her life A LOT! After high school, she went away to college (an excrutiatingly long 256 miles from home). She stayed away at college until her junior year, when she moved back home to help save on some of the expenses. She graduated with a major in Communication and a Minor in Sociology. She was hired right out of high school by a local tree service who was looking to expand their business. She is now is “right hand man”, trusted with developing policies and procedures and running his business (alongside her boss) and helping it to grow! I am so proud of the woman she is becoming and in her ability to spit in the face of diabetes every chance she gets.
And that’s THAT!!!! Fabulous—thank you for sharing.
I was dx’d at 17 almost 43 years ago. My mom was Dx’d in her early 20’s She survived 23 years and passed of complications in 1986 at age 46. My aunt was Dx’d at 7 and passed at 10 in 1950.
We have made progress. So much so we are going to beat this, I think sooner than later.