World Diabetes Day is next week and I really hope it raises awareness around the globe for what often feels like a disease people know absolutely nothing (correct) about. Even those who carry the diagnosis are often uneducated about which type they have and how to control it. When I am out with my children or running alone, I wonder if someone would know what to do if I fell over, unconscious…would I have known what to do with a diabetic before I became one myself?

I wear my blue “cure diabetes” bracelet, and I am tethered to an insulin pump 24/7, which makes what is often a silent disease announce itself to the world. I read a lot of blogs, most of which are diabetes related, and one post in particular captures the emotion, fear and anger that I feel on a daily basis. I can come to terms with the possibility of complications, and I can hope that a cure will prevent any years being unfairly subtracted from my life, but I cannot imagine how to explain any of this to a child. This doesn’t go away…you can try to forget about it for a day or two, but the blurry vision, nausea and headaches resulting from your skyrocketing blood sugars will do a good job of forcing you back to reality.

Recently I have been in a constant battle with my diabetes. I hate it. I have such resentment towards the way it has changed my life that I have stopped logging my blood sugars, and although I still test at least 8 times a day, I gave up trying to figure out why I was either really high or really low and never in between. Reading that post woke me up. I have to regain control…

Kyle is working on something to help me do just that. I think he actually wants to grow old with me so he’s doing his part to make sure that happens. This is going to be huge, and even though it won’t be finished in time, we can consider it our contribution to World Diabetes Day, so stay tuned for what’s to come…