14 years ago today my world turned upside down. It was not a fork in the road. It was not a minor blip on the radar of life. A bomb exploded and it forever changed the landscape of my life.
14 years ago this morning, I was looking at a sick little boy in my arms and was waiting to be able to take him in to see our doctor. I was ignorant of what was to come.
14 years later, my son is a young man making his own decisions and stretching his wings...who just happens to live with Type 1 diabetes. I am stumbling to come to terms with my new role of no longer being a hands on mom and often find myself looking back to see what I have done in hopes of figuring out where I will go next.
14 years have brought many changes. Insulin pumps are more readily available and continuous glucose monitors are no longer things found in hospitals that are blinded for 7 days. They are real tools that families and individuals are using in real-time to help fine tune their care.
14 years ago, diabetes threatened to take the life of my son. Today he is strong, vibrant and learning how to handle his disease. Diabetes does not control him. Its just his "thing" to live with.
We have not always seen smooth sailing. We have had our moments. He has driven me crazy at times--failing to test or change infusion sets. He still can drive me nuts. I have yelled at him because of my own failings and frustrations. We are not perfect but we are living. As the commercial says, we are living with diabetes. It stops him from little.
Diabetes has brought me the most incredible friendships. I have friends throughout the world who have reached out at various times in my life to help me up or shove me forward. I hope I have done the same for them.
14 years seems like such a long time and yet I can see us back in that ICU just like it was yesterday. Some things you never forget...my son has but I haven't. Instead, on days like today, I look back and say thank you! Thank you to the doctors and specialists that kept him alive and have taught us through the years. Thank you to the Higher Power that has been with us through it all. Thank you to the friends and family who have joined us on this journey. Thank you for 14 years of good health and improved technology!
Diabetes sucks but life after diabetes...well its still life and that is pretty amazing!
No comments:
Post a Comment