Diabetes Week 2014: #ICan.

In case you didn't know, this week is Diabetes Week 2014, and the theme this year is full of positivity and empowerment: I Can (#ICan on Twitter).

 

I'm going to be honest and say that, initially, I wasn't too sure about the theme, because I can do the same as what non-pancreatically challenged folk can do. There's just diabetes-related stuff going on in the background. For me, it's a small part of a bigger whole. But then I starting reading the #ICan tweets and my mind was changed completely! If you haven't already checked them out, please do so! They are so full of happy, varying from athletic achievements to supporting loved ones with diabetes, having a blood sugar within [your personal] target range to acknowledging the fact that you can correct a high blood sugar thanks to things like insulin pens and pumps. Yes, we're all living with diabetes, but the things we're all doing with it...in spite of it...because of it...AMAZING!

 

I spend a lot of time worrying about my diabetes, and how it will come into play in my future. I know that the numbers my glucose meter throws at me are just that - numbers - but I still feel the stab of guilt when my blood sugar is high, wondering where I went wrong, or I immediately regret whatever it was I let myself indulge in earlier in the day. When my Hba1c comes back, again, I know it's just a number, one that tells me where I'm currently at so I can make changes to get to where I want to be, but I still get upset when it's gone up. I worry about how my health care appointments may be viewed by future employers now that I'm finished with university; meeting someone and having to explain diabetes, and, thinking even further ahead, what if I decide I want to do the whole kid thing? How will my diabetes impact that?

 

This is where the #ICan tweets come in, along with the DOC as a whole: proof that we can live normal lives with diabetes. We can work to bring our hba1c's down, fall in love, have careers, start families, climb mountains, run marathons, go out with our friends, support others living with diabetes. 

 

So, now it's my turn:

 
#ICan acknowledge that, in actual fact, I have no idea what I'm doing, but (fairly) good control and other dreams are what I am pursuing. And when diabetes makes me want to admit defeat, #ICan rely on you, the DOC, to help me back on my feet.  (Unintentional rhyming going on there!)

 

Because, as far as I'm concerned, you guys are awesome, my proof that a life lived well with diabetes is possible. So for that, I raise my glass to you, and say thanks. 

Happy Diabetes Week, everyone!