How I spent World Diabetes Day

Since World Diabetes Day fell on a Monday, it is not surprising that I spent most of the day on a tennis court. Monday is currently my busiest teaching day on the court: a total of seven hours. Hope everyone had a great World Diabetes Day. I, of course, was wearing blue to commemorate the day. Here is my Facebook status for the end of the day:

How did I spend World Diabetes Day?...On the tennis court my feet found the way...Hit lots of tennis balls...was at one point called an "invincible wall"...thanks to Frederick Banting and Charles Best for discovering insulin because otherwise I would be dead...And on that matter no more need be said...diabetes is not that bad...I still get up out of bed everday and of that I am glad...So stay strong... and to steal from a friend may India Arie's A Beuatiful Day be our song. D

Blue Fridays

There is a very simple way to show your love and support for someone with diabetes, yes it is true...In the month of November on Fridays wear the color blue...Doesn't matter if they have type one or two...You can wear something old or something new...Just wear something blue.

T1 Day

T1 Day is here...Balanced blood sugar levels is what we try to steer...Have had T1 for nearly 30 years...Along the way there certainly have been some tears...But this life is a good quest...And for it there is still plenty of zest...So poke me with a needle if you must...I can still run like a wind gust. D

Life is Good

Those three words put together describe my life with diabetes.

Life certainly is not perfect: Indeed far from it. But even without diabetes life would not be perfect.

Yes, life with diabetes has its really bad days. Waking up in a hospital bed – or with paramedics hovering over you – does not make for a very good time. Sticking needles into my body everyday, twice a day and sometimes more, is not my idea of fun – nor it poking my fingers full of holes everyday to check blood sugars. And there are certainly many other diabetes-related stressors.

But, again, even without diabetes, I can have a bad day. Even without diabetes, I have issues in my life. So life certainly is not perfect.

Here is the flip side, however, there are so many great things to counter-balance those negatives. Here are just a few.

Everyday I get out of bed is another day to live and to learn, to figure out better ways to control my diabetes.

Everyday I get out of bed is another day to go out and explore. I can go climb a mountain or descend into a cave – or maybe smell a flower or eat a delicious maple cookie.

Everyday I get out of bed is another chance to hit a backhand winner on the tennis court; to fly down the field like the wind on the soccer pitch; or to make a fabulous glove save in a hockey game.

Everyday I get out of bed is another chance to make someone smile with a hand-made birthday card or CD mix; with a cute little rhyme or a kind word; with a hand-crafted gift or a great big hug.

Diabetes does not stop me from doing any of those things. And so plain and simple everyday I get out of bed with diabetes, life is good.  

Diabetes Poem

Just three more days to Diabetes Awareness month starting Tuesday. Wanted to share my Diabetes poem:

Diabetes

A lethargy crept over my body. The drowsiness was deep.

Busy summer of sports, but when not on the playing fields all I could do was sleep.

‘Cept when I was waking up in the middle of the night going to the bathroom.

Doctors were slow to catch I was falling into a sugary doom.

Early on a Monday morning I sat in the doctor’s office my eyes wide shut.

For the next few days it was off to the hospital, my ailment we finally knew what.

Gave me a sugar baby with needles to practice sticking.

Had something called diabetes: certainly not something I would have gone picking.

Insulin shot into my body is not a cure.

Just a sometimes painful reality that’s really better than dying, that’s for sure.

Kind of hated doing blood tests at first,

Later the technology improved so with fright I was no longer cursed.

My blood sugar levels for a while were way too high.

Not good when over 12  your hemoglobin A1C does fly.

Over time the control got way better.

Philadelphia Flyers legend Bobby Clarke one time for encouragement sent me a letter.

Quest to achieve a delicate balance: that is the goal.

Reaching glucose levels too high or too low really takes a toll.

Stability through exercise and diet is what we are after, but

Taking many missteps we must accept with laughter.

Understanding of carbohydrates, proteins, fat, and sugar we gain.

Visions of bananas, Sobes, and ice cream when sugar levels are drained.

When will a cure be found?

Xylophones are ready to ring a celebratory sound.

Year number 29 with diabetes is underway.

Zest for life the disease will not cause me to stray.  

Diabetes Awareness Month In On Deck Circle

Just as the World Series is coming to a climax this week, a big event for all diabetics and their family, friends, and supporters, is moving into the on deck circle. Next Tuesday, November 1, kicks off Diabetes Awareness Month. The first big event -- T1 Day for Type 1 awareness -- takes center stage on that day which just happens to be 11-1-11 on the calendar. As part of Diabetes Awareness month I plan to take part in the Juvenation Blog Carnival Challenge -- answering a question about diabetes for all 30 days of the month of November. Meanwhile, I will also be taking part in the Blue Fridays as I plan to wear blue in support of diabetes awareness every Friday in November -- as well as on World Diabetes Day November 14.

Meanwhile, as I wrap up this Tuesday October 25 I leave you with a little rhyme to commemorate a notable duo in diabetes research:

"On this day in 1923 Canadians Frederick Banting and J. J. R. Macleod won the Nobel Prize for their discovery of insulin...from me today for them I offer up a very huge grin."

Still in the Game

Diabetes should never be considered an excuse.

In the years immediately following my diagnosis when I was 11 years old, my playing time on the soccer field went down considerably. While I loved my soccer coach and thought he was great for the sport in our community, to this day I believe he did not understand my diabetes. He thought in some way he needed to treat me with kid gloves: that he needed to be careful of my playing time because of it.

It seemed to me diabetes was an excuse not to play me more. Now, I could be wrong about what my coach was thinking, but that does not really matter here. The important thing is that I don’t want anyone to think of my diabetes as an excuse.

And here we are almost 30 years after my diagnosis with diabetes and the disease still has not slowed me down yet. I’m as active as ever: In fact, maybe more. I have never felt diabetes should get in my way. Instead, I live by the reality that diabetes has never stopped me from doing anything.

It did not stop me as a teenager. I was the goalie on a team that won a Vermont state hockey title in Pee Wee hockey. I was a member of a Vermont Pee Wee all-star team that won co-championships in two tournaments. In high school, I played on both the hockey and tennis teams.

It did not stop me in my 20s. I became a full-time tennis instructor and competed in numerous tennis tournaments – and played weekly floor hockey.

It did not stop me in my 30s. I won 5 Vermont Tournament of Champions titles in tennis, including 2 in singles and 3 in doubles – and finished in second on 6 occasions, including 5 in singles.

And it is still not stopping me in my 40s. I continue to teach tennis full-time, compete in numerous tennis tournaments, play soccer every week, and hike up mountains as often as I can.

I will reach 30 years of living with diabetes in July 2012 – and as my friend Ginger Vieira said: “I’m still in the game.”

I play sports with energy, passion, and vigor. I may not be the best, but very few work harder – and that hard work sometimes helps me win when I probably shouldn’t.

Of course, my greatest victory is simply staying active and healthy. Not only has diabetes not stopped me from my active pursuits, but because of those active pursuits it helps my diabetes stay under very good control.

That is not to say diabetes does not make for bumps in the road: low blood sugars that impair my thinking and concentration, high blood sugars that make me groggy, or even a little more serious when a build up of sugar in my eyes played havoc with my depth perception. But those are all things I can correct.

And then I just get right back on my horse and get right back out there again. Ultimately, I’m sure some day I will start to slow down a little bit, but I’m sure I’ll still be in the game – or perhaps on a mountain top somewhere.