Tag Archives: Guest Post

Guest Post: Fear

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Sarah – Persistence Within

Today’s post is coming from a different Sarah… it’s Sarah from www.PersistenceWithin.com. She is an awesome d-woman rocking her 30-week pregnancy. She is one of the few that have volunteered to blog for me while I’m studying to catch up my CE hours for my job. If you wanna know more about Sarah, just click the link above and it will take you to her About page (and you can also see her awesome tattoo on her wrist!). Take it away, Sarah!

 

Another day at work, same old routine…
I unload my bag of all my work day “essentials” and put my snacks in the fridge.
Essentials… the black pouch with my blood sugar meter, a pen, lip gloss, and my water bottle.
All plopped down on the lunch table.
A coworker that I don’t normally work with looks at me in my maternity uniform and asks “You have gestational?”
I smile at her politely. She didn’t even say the “D-Word”, she must know the black pouch.
Nope, I reply. I have Type 1, since I was a little kid.
She looks shocked. She goes on to say that her daughter has T1… since she was 4, she’s now 14.
She continues to ask me how everything is going with my pregnancy… Everything is perfectly fine. Blood sugars are good, baby is growing normally… and I have the typical pregnancy pains and complaints for being 30 weeks pregnant and still working a very physically intensive job.
We discuss A1cs. We discuss pumps and how to make the sites stick during this hot summer.
We discuss fear…
She was so fearful of the “what ifs”… including the possibility of children for her daughter.
I smiled. I knew that fear all too well, hell, I still have moments of fear when it comes down to the future and my diabetes.
“Everything is going to be okay. Remind her that if she wants something bad enough, she can do it… be it pregnancy, college, being a government officer…”
We both laughed… and let out a big sigh as our shift started, another day protecting lives.
Fear is a normal response to the unknown. The daily life of a diabetic is unknown… the lows, the highs, site changes, bloody fingers, ketones, the list goes on. How we live our lives on a daily basis with that fear pushed aside is beyond what most people can imagine. Sometimes I believe it is the fear associated with the complications of this disease that challenges me to move forward, as if to tell me that I could let the fear get to me and perhaps hinder me from reaching my goals… or I can anticipate the fear and use that to power me to help me reach my goals. Yes, I fear eye complications and cardiovascular complications.. so I use that fear to be more careful of blood sugar fluctuations and I hit the gym more often and I eat right. I told my coworker to encourage her daughter to do whatever she wants to do, don’t let the fear stop her… if she wants something badly enough, she’ll work hard for it. Little baby Leo, who is currently growing inside me and dancing and kicking the laptop that’s sitting on my stomach, is proof of that… not letting fear get to me and working hard to accomplish a life goal of having at least one child. It can be done. Anything can be done with the right amount of determination. Fear should never ever stop anyone from reaching their goals.

Now if only I didn’t let my fear of spiders get to me… but that is a whole other story!

Impromptu meet-ups are always awesome! And, yes, fear is one of those things that never leave you when you, your spouse, or your child is a diabetic. It’s how you handle that fear that makes the biggest difference in the world. You did a great job giving helpful encouragement to her. And thank you, Sarah, for volunteering for me.

I Challenge That!

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untitledToday’s post comes from Alexis. She’s mom to Justice – an awesome 7 year old Type 1 diabetic. She has been a wonderful D-mom for Justice from Day 1. She is a tell-it-like-it-is fighter, a 110% go-getter, and advocate for diabetes. She blogs at Justice’s Misbehaving Pancreas and tweets under Suga_Nova.

Thank you SO MUCH, Alexis, for writing for me today!!!

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First I feel so honored to be guest blogging on Sugabetic.com.  Not only because I adore Ms. Sarah and we are such good friends but because her site is amazing. She is an inspiration to me and I feel so grateful to know and be part of her site today!

I wasn’t sure what topic to delve into. I sat on my couch watching CNN getting more and more upset about one of their stories ”Diabetes In America” which claimed low income areas have a higher Diabetes rate than most. Didn’t mention which type or any other facts just that and how its the highest costing disease in America. Need I say more ?

The next subject was ” Death by Social Networking” asking or claiming really that social media such as Twitter and Facebook have caused people to become anti social . And that we should rely on real interaction not web based communication.

Hmmmm….I beg to differ. I am not disputing that people can get caught up in social networking and neglect real life issues. And that sometimes I too can get consumed in it and need my husband to say put the phone down and step away.  But the good outweighs the bad. Such as the
DOC? We are dealing with real life issues. Realer than most will see in a lifetime we see everyday. We try to include our friends and families in our D life, in our frustrating days ,our fundraising, our overall struggles. But not only do some not get it some don’t care. Some cant understand why staying up all night testing these things called basals. Why we run in panic for a juice box at 4 in the morning. I could go on and on but lets just say they don’t get it. My DOC does. They understand why I do what I do and how much work it takes. They understand the fears I live with and how hard it is to take over the job of an internal organ. They hold me up. They support me. They help me when I feel helpless or when I encounter a D variable that’s brand new.

I have said this before but I am going to say it again for those who have never read my blog. I have always been a hardworking, devoted and focused mom and pancreas. But the DOC has taught me more than all the endos and CDE’s combined. The first few weeks of pumping was hell. My DOC especially Sugabetic herself came to my rescue. No they are not doctors or nurses but they are real people living diabetes and with children with diabetes who get it. Get me. And not only can help but want to help. Sometimes it can be overwhelming knowing more than before because now we worry more than before but we can also prevent and handle better than before. I have grown. I am empowered. I see that I am not alone and others do care. I have found family and friends.

THINGS I LEARNED FROM THE DOC NOT MY DOC:
Blood ketones strips exist.
MM is not my only pump choice.
Skin tac helps sites stay on.
What Dead In Bed Syndrome is.
The juice works better than milk.
Smarties are cheaper and works the same as glucose tabs.
How to use Glucagon by syring even if J is not unconscious.
That HFCS is evil.
That Pumping Insulin and Think Like  a Pancreas
are D bibles and have made me not only confident in pumping J but pretty kick ass.

The list goes on but you get it. I KNOW you do.

So I challenge you CNN. You say death by social networking….. I say life.