Of Applesauce and Advocacy

Message Monday - Monday 5/16

Lets kick off the week by talking about why we are here, in the diabetes blog space. What is the most important diabetes awareness message to you? Why is that message important for you, and what are you trying to accomplish by sharing it on your blog?

It happened the other day in the applesauce aisle of the grocery store... as all good advocacy stories do.  I was delighting in all the clearance deals on my son's favourite apple sauce. She seemed to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of flavours available.  We made some small talk about applesauce when she dropped this bit of deliciousness in my lap:

"My son told me not to buy him apple sauce because he doesn't want to get diabetes."

Um... What?

She was quick to add, "I mean, it runs in my family.  I have it.  Type 2, that is."

I told her about Elise, and as we spoke some more, I showed her how I can see Elise's BG on my watch.  It was 71.

"Kind of low," she commented.  I let her know I was in contact with the nurse and the low had been treated.

"Couldn't she, you know... stop the low before it happens?  Maybe eat a handful of nuts. Or eat a snack every two hours?"

These were honest, genuine questions.  From a person who seemed eager to dispense some (what she thought was) helpful advice.

I told her that type 1 was different, and that my daughter would have to be psychic to ward off lows.  Sometimes they come out of nowhere.  We can do the same thing day after day, and get different results. And that everything (EVERYTHING) can affect her blood sugar, right down to the colour shorts she's wearing that day.  

Kidding... I think.

The woman then commented she didn't know type 1 was so involved and thanked me for the information.

And I guess that is why I still blog.

In the beginning there was an amazing group of mom and a few dads that were part of the blogosphere.  And a lot of it was about support, and community, and same-same.  I craved it and needed it at the start.

But as we continued our journey and the number of D-'rents blogging fell off, it became less about community, and more about sharing our story.  Hoping that friends would read it, and understand more about our life.  Wanting strangers to read it and know that they're going to be okay. 

I feel like I have a tale to tell, and if it helps just one person, then that's all I need.

Here there be diabetes

The other day, the reasoning center of my brain took a vacation.  It could have been that I wasn't quite recovered from FFL.

Or that upon our return from FFL, Fred had to go out of town. And due to that, I had to take all three littles to the grocery store to buy food, and the whole experience kinda numbed me.

Whatever the reason, I decided to take the kids for sno-cones on the way home.  Elise was trending kind of low, it was hot, and I like sno-cones.  PURE SUGAR FOR EVERYBODY!

Did I mention it was only an hour or so before bedtime?

I thought that surely, the carb info would be on the bottles.  I could eyeball what they poured and make a pretty good educated guess. Except when I stepped up to order, neither Beavis, nor Butthead could figure out what I was talking about (I nicknamed them this for their uncanny inability to form a complete sentence, or talk without snickering).

I ended up calling a friend, who posted on our support group FB page (since I'm not on FB, I can't access). Within 5 minutes, she called me back with a bunch of responses.

I SWAG'd like a boss, and as happy as Elise was with her full-sugared, grape-flavoured "icy-pop" (as the kids dubbed them), I was even happier to see this a few hours later:

Gave her a small, uncovered snack to get her a little higher before she fell asleep

But the part that made my night was finding this right next to the sno-cone stand:

Finding a little "same-same" in the land of sugar and ice.  

***I forgot to add the best part of the story... when I was explaining to B & B that I needed the carb information; Elise, who was standing next to me, put her hands on her hips and said, "yeah, I have type 1 diabetes and my mom needs to know the carbs so she can bolus me!" So cute!

Finding same... 30,000 feet in the air

I don't know about you, but when when I'm in a fairly large group of people, I start to wonder if there are any PWD, or CWD in the crowd. I even look for the tell-tale signs.

A medical ID bracelet.

A meter case.

Tubing.

Am I the only one?

As we were flying from DFW to Madrid, I started to look at the other people on the plane. I remember checking out the wrist of the woman seated across the aisle from me. I saw nothing.

Then, during dinner, I heard beeping.

I thought to myself, "somebody's pump is beeping."

Then... "wait... somebody's PUMP is beeping!"

I looked across the aisle to the woman whose wrist I had checked out earlier, and there she was, bolusing at 30,000 feet up.

So we started chatting. She was dx'd at the age of 21, and her endo at that time had worked with Drs. Banting and Best. I'd say she was probably in her mid-70s.

I was so encouraged by our little chat. She has had very few complications, and told me about how she loved to travel all the time. In fact, she was flying to Madrid by herself to meet up with some friends from Germany. Living with D, loving life, and thriving.

Sweet music to this D-Mom's ears.

Thank you

Where would I be without all my wonderful D-Moms (let's not forget the Dads too!)? Thank you so much for all the prayers, hugs, and comments you left for me on my last post. It means so much to me that you guys are here (well, not HERE, here... but you now what I mean) and you get it. When you guys say "same", I know that you totally, 100% know exactly what I'm talking about.

Anyway, I have left my "blue" stage, and am really more of a turquoise now. Or maybe aqua-marine. Either way, I'm emerging from my funk. And redheads look awesome in those colours anyway.

I wish I had the time to thank every one of you that left a comment personally (and by that, I mean fly to where you live, give you a big hug and a sloppy wet kiss), but the doc has me on a travel-embargo so you're safe for now. Plus, I found out that I have a D-Mom from Norway that reads my blog. Norway! How cool is that? Now if I could only read Norwegian, I could return the love.

So thanks. And to all of you who are also feeling the blues right now, I am right here. Sending you hugs, praying for you, and saying. "same."