Thursday, August 28, 2008

Lucky

I have diabetes . . . and I'm lucky.

I count and weight and measure . . . and I'm lucky.

I prick and jab and bleed . . . and I'm lucky.

I inject and pump and bolus . . . and I'm lucky.

I walk and dance and (occasionally) lift some weights . . . and I'm lucky.

I'm lucky because I have options. I have choices. Yes, sometimes I slip. Other times, I make all the best choices and the numbers are still off. But that's okay. I can correct . . . adjust . . . make my next choice a better one.

My uncle has been battling cancer. He's had multiple surgeries, chemo, treatments and procedures. Last week the doctors said it still isn't working. He is out of options. There are no more choices. There is nothing left to try. No reason left to fight.

So today, I know I am lucky. I'll go to my endo appointment tomorrow. If my A1C doesn't meet my secret expectation of well under 6.5, I won't let myself get upset this time. I'll be thankful for my choices and thankful for my options. I'll remember how lucky I am . . . and fight some more.

4 comments:

  1. Oh Karen.
    And I am lucky too.

    While my Aunt received great news (no more active cancer) and my friend is back in the hospital from illness after his last round of chemo...

    I Am Lucky.

    My friend has had to test his blood sugar and with all the dextrose based liquids he is pumping into himself his post bt is 123. He may have a functioning pancreas but he says "I could never be a Diabetic. I cannot do all of that testing all of the time."
    To which I reply "Dude, seriously, take it over Cancer, ok." ;-)

    We are lucky. Very Lucky.
    In that, we are Blessed.

    And I am lucky and blessed to have you too.

    Take care, hang tough and good luck tomorrow. Keep us posted. Prayers with you and your family at this time.

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  2. It can be hard to get perspective when we're buried in mountains of used test strips, used infusion sets, test strip bottles, insulin bottles... well you get the picture. If we can climb out from under all that every once in a while, it's easier to see that we are indeed lucky.

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  3. I agree, and I'll add a couple more:
    1) I'm lucky that despite many years of neglect, I'm still here, in reasonable heatlh.
    2) I'm lucky that I found the entire db online community 3 years ago.
    3) I'm lucky that I still have hypoglycemic awareness.
    4) I'm lucky that people across the country are more focused on health - caring for db doesn't seem like as much of a chore when my nondb neighbor is on the Southbeach diet and goes running every morning.
    5) I'm lucky that somebody came across the brilliant idea of carb counting and we could chuck that old exchange system out the window.
    6) I'm lucky that I have enough money to afford a home computer; to spend a bit extra on shoes that are truly comfortable and good for my feet; to order a new book on some aspect of db from Amazon.com; to buy a fancy food scale and home blood pressure monitor........and........to have enough left over for a couple skeins of Euroflax!
    My best to you.

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  4. Karen,

    I'm sorry to hear about your Uncle, I hope he is getting second, third and fourth opinions. My little brother has his major surgery tomorrow to remove the mass of cancer plus a large portion of his leg. I would never want him to give up and just live with whatever the Dr. says. It's at least worth a shot.

    Good luck!

    Mike

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Thanks for your comment!