Hey, Pat Yourself on the Back

You need to see how far you have come.

When it is 3 a.m. and your child’s blood sugar is just not coming down.  When you have been up through the night trying to figure out whether the pizza or the peach is why your child’s blood glucose levels are through the roof.  When you come from your Doctor’s appointment and you’re thinking, “Pretty sure not one thing I said was heard”.  When you feel like no one understands like you do, this life with diabetes and the ups and downs.

Take a deep breath.

Recently I was speaking to a mom about her child’s diagnosis just three days before.  She stated how much of a failure she felt when overwhelmed by the raging storm of their ‘new normal.’  I reminded her that just 4 days ago, she had no idea what diabetes was, much less how to think about her young child’s daily regimen and balancing pancreas.  We walked through how much they had actually learned and the way they were living now was ions past the day they were diagnosed, and diabetes moved in to stay.  She started to realize how much they actually now knew and it was a long way from their first day.

Whether newly diagnosed or an ‘old pro’ with years of dealing with diabetes, please give yourself a break and realize how much you now know.  My brother Joe had a friend, a pastor named Larry.  And if you said, “Larry, I just cannot believe how far I’ve come.”  Larry would always answer the same way with a nod and a wink of his eye, “Amen, brother, and you have so much more to go.”  That big smile reminds me that life is a journey.  An onward, fluid, journey.  But a journey and we are in it for the long haul, and when it comes to diabetes, we are thrown into that journey with little choice.

Do not be afraid while having that cup of coffee, or driving home, to take the time to remind yourself that the person you are today has changed drastically since diabetes took up residence.  Yes, know you have a long way to go, but please celebrate the milestones in your life and know how much you have made a difference.  Grasp how much more you know.  Believe how much better your child is because of your efforts.

I’m surely proud of you, and you should be proud of you also!

Now go do something nice for yourself and buy yourself root beer.  Enjoy the good times when you can because you will be right back out there doing what you do so well.

I am a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like.’