“It’s always interesting to meet adults with diabetes because they look like a window into what my daughter’s life will be one day. And to see you guys all living so well with it, it’s not just hopeful, it’s heart-warming.” -Scott Benner (@ArdensDay), from Just Talking #147
Even more than two weeks after I first recorded this little portion of the podcast at Roche’s Social Media Summit, Scott’s comment is still rumbling around in my head.
For the most part the purpose of this blog is to share my experiences living with type 1 diabetes. I’ve written about the numerous ups and downs of this disease and done my best to chronicle my emotions and thoughts about all of this. I know that most of the people who come to this blog have a connection to diabetes – most of that most are living with diabetes. But it’s not just the people living with diabetes that are reading this blog, or any of the countless other diabetes blogs – we can’t forget about the parents.
I don’t often consider the long-term impact of the things I write. A majority of these posts are thoughts of the moment captured and composed because I want to maintain this digital journey. But even the hastily typed posts can connect with someone or speak to similar emotions experienced. I don’t think that this blog grants me or anyone else a great deal of authority when it comes to living with diabetes but it provides a first-person perspective that can be a brief indication of what someone’s son or daughter can come to expect. I joke around about not always acting in a mature manner, but I do have a decent grasp of my emotional state and my ability to describe what I’m thinking or feeling (hopefully) outpaces the typical child with diabetes.
So I write about my experiences and a parent of a child with diabetes can take this (albeit with a grain of salt) as a sign of things to come? That’s kind of cool. Connecting with other people with diabetes has been a tremendous blessing that has come from this blog. If contributing to the hope a parent has for their child is another benefit, I’ll take it.
I’m not sure if it’s fair to call it a responsibility, but whatever this is, I don’t take it lightly. I’m not a role model or anything like that, but if this blog can help just one other person, I will happily consider that my good deed for the day.
A Consequence of Hypoglycemia. 
When I was thinking about getting a pump, I took a class at my endo’s to get some questions answered. In the class with me was the mother of a newly-diagnosed 5yo little girl. She asked why I wanted to go on the pump, and I told her “So I can get pregnant!” with a big grin on my face. The woman dissolved into tears and said “So she can still have children?!”
I think about that moment a lot. I’m a happy, fully-functioning mom in my 30s – a T1 veteran with more than 18 years of diabetes under my belt. Parents of CWD see that their kid has a future when they see me, and that’s huge. I’m glad I can be that for them, and only wish my mom had had it when I was a diagnosed.
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That window is very real and very important. It helps me, and I am sure others, chill and not to over react more than would without it.
I see it not as a responsibility of anyone to write but as a privilege for those of use who connect and get a glance through that window.
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