Tag: Let it go diabetes

Arguments.  Conflicts.

Whether with your spouse, your child, between siblings, and any other combination in between.  If you have a dollar to bet, you can bet that a conflict will arise in your home in the not-to-distant future.

When these incidents occur, it is no so easy to switch gears and go from heated discussion to loving care-take. There must be times when you are just ready to blow through the roof at something your child has done.  And what happens?  In the middle of the discussion you notice they are a bit pale, or their eyes are a bit glassy.

Uh…oh.

I actually do not know how many times we have been in that position in our 20+ years at this with one child and 5+ years of having two children with diabetes.  What I know is that we have learned a very simple formula.

Diabetes trumps everything.

When it came to taking care of the moment, obviously, taking care of a low or a high took the front seat when needed.

As I look around the world today, in so many aspects from conflicts to war, I cannot help but think how much better we would all be if something could capture everyone’s attention from the negative to someone in need.  When it is our child, we HAVE TO give the focus needed at that moment, right?

There is so much pain in so many health issues right now, don’t you think this world would be better off if some people reacted as we do when our child needs us?  “We’ll get back to the conflict in a minute, we have to tend to these 10,000 homeless.”  “Let’s place this anger on the back burner for a bit, there are 5,000 kids who have no medications and we need to help them.”

“But we will continue this later…….we can continue it later.  This is more important.”

Later will come.  And the anger/conflict will seem just a tad-less important and/or just not worth the energy to continue.  Why cannot the world see this; why cannot the world act like this at a time when it is needed?

Sometimes anger makes us see the one and only point right in front of us.  It is at these times that we must force ourselves to look to the right and the left.  All of the energy is better spent in a humanity effort elsewhere….no?

SIGH.

I am a diabetes dad.

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

I am informed that our friends at Aubrey’s Army website has a link posted to the John Lasseter video from last night’s television show on ABC; The Story of Frozen; Making a Disney Animated Classic.

On the video, Mr. Lasseter speaks of Frozen’s character of Elsa and how she, in some ways, parallels the life of his son with type 1 diabetes.

As I promised in yesterday’s article….click here for Aubrey’s Army website, and the link to the comments made by Mr. Lasseter.

I am a diabetes dad.

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

How many times have things happened where we said, “…if only….”?  If they were only a few minutes earlier or a few minutes later, the catastrophe would have been avoided?

“If Only”.

A while back I started noticing how many times, “if only in our favor”.  How many times we have the story end in our favor and ‘if only’ is really nothing to the story.  Yesterday was a story of “if only in our favor.”

Yesterday I read a post and after I read the post, I contacted the mom who wrote it and asked her if I could relay it again today because it was just so powerful.  The thought of what might have happened still sits in my gut today.

A young man with a license at the age of sixteen, diagnosed since he was nine, had an agreement with his folks that he would text his blood sugar number before driving.  In their family this works and their son does so.  Yesterday he text he was 55 to which she immediately replied and called him.

The mom (with ‘that mom’ sixth sense in absolute high gear) stated to stay there and that she would grab his father and come get him.  When they arrived his head was on the steering wheel and ‘he popped’ up and said he was 67 and ate 12 more carbs.

He got out, gave his dad his keys and said nothing to the contrary of what he was asked to do.  No arguments…….he knew the rules and he abided by them.

I commend this young man for listening.  It was just 2 miles to his house and he could have easily thought, “I will be home in a few minutes—-I’m okay.”  But he did not drive home and if he had; that could have been the biggest mistake of his young life.  My hands still shake as I read what could have been the end of this story.

But this very intelligent young man beat “if only” before it could have the need to appear.  The damage that might have happened to him or to others is now only imaginable…….and actually we don’t even need to think about it because on this day, this young man made the call.   The right call.  And now it is only a story.  What a remarkable call by this sixteen year old.

My hands are still shaking…….

I am a diabetes dad.

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

NOTE ADDED: In some postings it has Anna in the headline—it has been corrected accordingly to be Elsa; which is the correct character.
Tonight on Behind the Scenes Look at  The Story of Frozen on ABC, creator, genius John Lasseter talked candidly about the character of Elsa and how he saw similarities with her feeling alone and different from all others and it was how his son had to feel when he was diagnosed with his type one diabetes (his son was dx in 2001).

Even though the Lasseters have been very open about their son’s diagnosis for years, and have been very supportive of many diabetes organizations, I believe this is the first time he has actually stated any similarities with any Pixar Character and his son with diabetes.  Clearly someone can feel free to add a comment if they know differently.  I actually wrote about Finding Nemo over a year ago; but that was just my observation.  Mr. Lasseter clearly compares Elsa’s ‘secrets’ with those of his son and those with T1 diabetes.

Someone on FB mentioned this recently and I could not find the person who stated it; so if it was you, feel free to step forward.

He further stated that the famous song, Let it Go also had similarities to what his son with T1 must feel in dealing with so much that could be overpowering.  He, like the song, needed to let it go.

When the link from tonight’s show becomes public, I will add it to this column both in the comments and in the text of the article.  I have been informed that you can link to Aubrey’s Army website and see the video there.

I am a diabetes dad.

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