Monday, August 13, 2007

Hope Is In A Cure




I don't often talk about O and our life with diabetes. It has become so incorporated in our day-to-day existence that most of the time, I don't really think of it. Every so often, though, I'll see something like this video and it hits me like a ton of bricks - this isn't normal, all this poking and changing of pump sets and getting excited over cool medical id bracelets. It's our normal. And our normal sucks.

12 comments:

Beck said...

That really does suck. Really, really.
It's funny what can come to feel like our normal lives, isn't it?

Stepping Over the Junk said...

I'm sorry. I have a friend with diabetes and now she is preggers and is complicating things. It really has an effect on her life as well. I see her struggle.

LJ said...

disabilities suck. i get excited over new fangled wheelchairs and walkers when I should be excited at getting a 2 wheeler. i hear you.

If not a mother... said...

You know, I never loved a man before Greg. I don't know what it's like to just enjoy romantic moments without worrying about a low or a high. When I've been travelling to my family and friends without Greg, things aren't "normal". Because type 1 isn't part of the equation when I'm not with him and that isn't "normal".

It's our normal, too, and it DOES suck.

Kerri. said...

Someone once said, off-handedly, as though they were telling me what time the train was coming, that diabetes is "the only fatal disease you can live with."

Carefree? My life is more Careful.

My fingers were pricked when I was small, while I slept. They are still pricked now. When I was small, my food was measured. I measure my own meals now. The side door of my fridge has always held bottles of insulin. Empty coffee cans have always held used needles. Used test strips come with the car.

To me, this is "normal."

This is all I know.

Anonymous said...

Do you know who made this video? It is excellent and I want to send a link out with the link to give to our walk team for the JDRF walk. I think it will speak louder than my usual letter asking for donations. I forget how abnormal our 'normal' is to most people. You are so right, our normal sucks.

Major Bedhead said...

Deb - The woman who made the video posts on the CWD forums - here's the link to her thread about it:
http://forums.childrenwithdiabetes.com/
showthread.php?t=6524

Her name is Lisa and she's from Londonderry NH. I don't know her last name, but if you search on YouTube for the video, you might be able to find contact information. CWD may have it, too.

Shoot me your email address, Deb. I don't have it anymore since I'm not on the CWD mailing list. book _ ish at yahoo dot com.

moosh in indy. said...

My nephew and one of my closest friends are diabetic, I have all the respect in the world for your normal, for what it's worth.

Trina said...

I don't have diabetes. The closest I have come to the disease is my cousin who was diagnosed at age 8. She is now 25 and blood testing, insulin pumps, fear about having children before 30, and the long term impacts of fluctuating blood sugar and insulin levels are constants for her. It is a disease where everyone wants to give you their connection to it, how they can "relate", somehow finding their own experience of it, comparable to the day to day living of a person with diabetes. But the sad thing is, almost everyone knows someone touched by diabetes. I can never understand what being a diabetic means, but I know it is a cause I will always fight for. The advertising firm I work for is currently designing marketing materials for the annual Pedal to Cure Diabetes bike ride in our region, and it is a cause we love to support. thanks for this reminder of what we are fighting for. :)

Penny Ratzlaff said...

I guess it was about time I got a good cry in.

I saw this swirling around tudiabetes a little while ago. I started watching it and a few seconds into it felt myself tearing up, so I turned it off.

Today I watched the whole thing and cried all I wanted.

This disease sucks. It sucks for Riley, and Olivia, and Brendon, Emma,Daniel,Joseph..... It just sucks.

dad2tara said...

Hi, I am Tony and my wife created the video above. We have been very touched by many comments and discussions such as this one. She has never made a video or posted on the web before this one 4 weeks ago. We have been completely overwhelmed by the response and are working with JDRF and DRI to get permission to use the song that is featured in the video. Both JDRF and DRI have expressed that they would like to use the video on their websites and at upcoming walks to a cure. We want to share this video with everyone and welcome these links. We thank everyone for their support and hope that those living with Type 1 can point to this video and say "that is what I mean" both children and adults. Anyone wishing to get in touch with us can do so through the youtube channel site by sending a private message.

Anonymous said...

Touching video. Type I does suck, after 16 years with this monster I can honestly say that it dictates everything in my life. Jobs, relationships, friends etc. The JDrF was founded in 1970, and have spent over 1 Billion in research with no results. I'd say that is a pretty dismal record. I still remember the 90's as JDrF's "decade for the cure". The only thing worse than growing up with Type I, is growing OLD with Type I.