I started crying in the car thinking about my birthday. I know it’s still two weeks away, but I never thought I’d live to see 40. I was sure I’d be dead by now, and I don’t know how I’m not, but here I am.
Lee Ann Thill wrote this on her FB page this week.
My heart broke. My eyes teared up also. It reminded me once again that, even as a parent, we have no clue what goes through the minds of people we know and love who battle diabetes. We really do not know.
Now let’s be clear: Lee Ann is a powerhouse in the online community and for that matter in the diabetes community as a whole. She is not a woman who snivels in the corner about how crappy her life is and Diabetes Art Day is a brilliant example of a woman who just will not let diabetes win.
How many people with diabetes feel the way Lee Ann did this week?
I still remember years ago when Kaitlyn was about 6 (and with diabetes for 4 years already); I was with a Doctor (not her regular ped-endo, to be clear) who, as we walked down the hall of the hospital he placed is arm on my shoulders and said, “Now you need to know that it is best to take one day at a time. Don’t think college or marriage, and I am not saying they won’t happen but take each day as it comes. Diabetes is a devastating disease. It’s best not to plan.”
As Kaitlyn received her degree last Spring, I looked up, closed my eyes, and cursed at that doctor wherever he is. Best not to plan. Really?
I recently heard Jeff Hitchcock give a presentation, and he noted a study that stated kids today live as long a life as those without diabetes (of course tragic exceptions are in this equation as well). That really hit home with me. The dial has certainly changed.
There are too many who have touched my life that I would be so empty had I not known. Let us know if you also felt as Lee Ann did?
Lee Ann, I look forward to hearing about your 80th birthday party bash—-I’m glad you are still here also; ….and so is the world.
I am a diabetes dad.
Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.
