Diabetes: First impressions...

Growing up, my dad was the only Type 1 diabetic I knew. By the time I noticed him taking injections, he had been insulin dependent for more than 15 years. He was athletic, hard-working, family-oriented, and smart. Diabetes was a quirky aspect of his personality. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, he'd eat the piece of cake we brought home from a birthday party. "Low blood sugar" was the explanation for strange things like that. It was similar to his use of contact lenses. Sometimes one fell out and everyone tried to help find it, usually when he was doing a handstand or something fun like that. He liked adventurous things like wilderness backpacking, riding motorcycles, and we talked about going skydiving someday. He was my first introduction to diabetes, and he didn't hate it or fear it. Overall, I didn't see diabetes as something to fear. The idea of becoming like him, in any way, seemed just fine.


When I was diagnosed, as a 12 year old, it was something that Dad and I had in common. It was a pain, but at least I wasn't in it alone, and it wasn't unfamiliar. We learned how to use a glucometer together in the 80s. Now, we were both responsible for cookies that went missing during the night. I suppose that seeing my dad as a fit, rather normal diabetic made it never seem like diabetes was trying to kill us. It was part of who we are. It's us. It's how we are uniquely created.


I think of my diabetes as a physical attribute that makes me different, stronger, and interesting. When I look at it that way, I'm always ready to hone my understanding of myself (and diabetes) further. It's not just so I can live longer (although that's a great motivator), but because it's part of me that I want/ need to understand even better. It's something to be mastered.


If I were ever 'cured' of diabetes, I think I would spend the rest of my life in awe of how precisely, and with what perfect control, the normal metabolism performs its functions. 


I would have a hard time giving up that part of myself, that has defined me in positive ways for the past 26 years. It has taught me that:

1. discipline pays off, 
2. progress can be slow, 
3. results speak for themselves, 
4. and that you can always learn more. 

And, for that, diabetes has become a strange friend, and mentor.