Writing the next chapter

His day began as normal, just another day with diabetes. Another fingerstick, another injection, breakfast and then in the car and off to work. There was an eerie sense of déjà-vu he hadn’t been able to shake ever since his diagnosis. It was the same routine just a different day.

She had commenced her afternoon in the usual fashion. It was an unremarkable subway ride home in The Big City. She had food on her mind, an unflinching high blood glucose, some bills to pay and hopefully at the end of the chaos, some time to post on her blog.

His lunch break came around all too slowly. Diabetes hadn’t really changed his eating habits but it was taking its toll in other ways. With every meal he faced the usual dilemma over how much to bolus and how to go on fighting “his war”- for that is what it had become to him, a private war...a lonely war, just him, his insulin and a three monthly endo. visit..

She arrived home to a quiet house. Her husband was away on business, so she had some time to herself. Almost unconsciously she turned on her computer and headed to the kitchen to open the fridge. Despite many years of experience she never considered herself a master at selecting insulin doses. She was still shaken from last nights low so she decided to proceed cautiously with dinner

His work day ended much as it had every day for the past five years. He locked up the shop and headed home. He had never thought he needed people but something about diabetes, found him withdrawing from his usual circle of friends. He felt misunderstood. He was alone. He wanted sympathy but most of all he just wanted someone to understand...to understand the war, to speak his unspoken words and validate his feelings of confusion and loss.

By the time she sat down at her computer it was nearly midnight. Her blog was essentially a journal of her life. She talked about her day at work and the inconvenience of living with diabetes. It was a part of her routine but it had never ceased to be tiresome. She chronicled her anger at yesterdays misjudged bolus, her fears of an upcoming endo visit and plans for the week ahead. It had seemed a fairly unremarkable entry to her but she posted it and headed off to bed. It had been a long night and she had another hectic day ahead.

As a last resort and in desperation he headed on-line in an attempt to make sense of things. His family hadn’t been interested, his local doctor knew only A1Cs, lipids and insulin but he knew the mental toll diabetes was taking. He was skeptical to begin with. He browsed through so many listings about wonder cures, healthy living with diabetes, diabetes this and diabetes that, until he stumbled upon her blog As he read he felt the tears running down his face. Page after page he read, seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours as he found his experiences retold in her words.

They lived on opposite sides of the planet yet somehow he had felt an overwhelming connection. It was well after midnight when he went to bed but that night he had a spring in his step. That night he was understood. That night someone had put words to his thoughts, had described his low blood sugar, his confusion and his anger. The next day the routine would be no different but he had found himself understood and with that, in a strange way renewed.

This is my personal account. My version of how I came to find a home in the DOC. Your stories are writing the next chapter. Somewhere out there, the next me is looking for you. The irreplaceable “diabetic” you. They want to hear your story as only you can tell it. You might hear their muted cries in the form of a blog response or tweet. You may unknowingly pass them by in cyberspace as you read the same stories but they are there…. and they are looking.

The battle to find a cure goes on in laboratories around the world but the real life stories of people affected by diabetes are yours and they are mine. Within and without the DOC are people longing for connection and understanding. You may not have the power to find a cure but you have your story. It is a story of heartache, of defeat and of triumph at the same time. It is played out in the events of everyday life and it, like you, is so valuable.

You may well be writing the next chapter in someone elses life.

Right at this moment

Right at this moment a mothers heart is broken. She has just received the news that her beloved child has diabetes. She is cut to the quick...scared, confused, apprehensive and terrified all at the same time. Questions flood her mind, unanswered questions and unspoken fears.

Right at this moment a young woman’s confidence has been shattered. Looking down at her glucometer she is shocked by the number staring back at her.. She is confused, a little shaken and on the verge of burn-out. Questions flood her mind, unanswered questions and unspoken fears.

Right at this moment a business man has come to a stop in the middle of his working day. The symptoms of low blood sugars have hit hard. He has a big presentation to make. He has clients to see and his boss is on his tail about performance issues. Questions flood his mind, unanswered questions and unspoken fears.

Right at this moment a child is in pain. His fingers have been battered and bruised from endless fingersticks. He is sick of enduring the endless requirement of needle after needle. He is sick of being different from all of his classmates. He longs to fit in, to be accepted. Questions flood his mind, unanswered questions and unspoken fears.

Right at this moment a café worker is struggling with diabetes “burn-out”. She can’t bear another day of routine, she can’t be bothered thinking about the illness that will kill her if left untreated. She reaches for her insulin but in a moment of rage throws it away. She is at a crossroad. Questions flood her mind, unanswered questions and unspoken fears.

Right at this moment a young man has received his best A1C since diagnosis. Months of hard work, discipline and attention to detail have brought him to this point. He wants to shout out in excitement. He wants nothing more than someone who can understand the joy he feels. He looks to his non-diabetic friends and they are not interested. Questions flood his mind, unanswered questions and unspoken fears.

Right at this moment a young lady has received the news that she has developed severe retinopathy. The diabetic complications that she had heard so much about have arrived at her door. She feels that her future is gone, that life will no longer be worth living. Questions flood her mind, unanswered questions and unspoken fears..

At some point in our lives each of us have been that person. Some days we are winners, some days we are losers. Some days we fight with all that is in us, others we raise the white flag at the first hint of trouble. These are just moments in time, snapshots of our lives with diabetes.

From that low point we have rebuilt and made tomorrow a better day. From that bad news at the eye clinic we have found a fresh hope for the future. Conversely we have each thrown our hands up confused and bewildered by a blood sugar reading. We have given up the fight and prepared to just lie down in defeat.

In all of these moments we are just ordinary people, people living with diabetes. It is from these moments that we can be of greatest help. Somewhere in the DOC or in your community, someone is looking for you. They need to hear your experience, they need to know of your pain. They are not looking for long complex medical discourse, they are not even necessarily looking for the answers they are just looking for validation, the knowledge that at that moment in time someone is living their pain, riding the crest of the same wave or trapsing along the valley floor, defeated and broken.

You may think that you have nothing to offer. That you are just plain old ordinary you, but you are so much more. You are the person in whom I identified and found the strength to fight on. Your comment on my post made me feel a part of something bigger, connected, even worthwhile. Your tweet so brief touched base with me so deeply and brought a smile to my face.

Right at this moment you can be the greatest diabetes advocate by just being you.