My Six-Month Dia-versary

Hey guys! This is my first blog, I'm not going to lie. When I started thinking about my what my first

post was going to be about, I was kind of overwhelmed. But then I realized that I have something in

common with you, my readers, that I'm not used to having in common with anyone else. I have

diabetes, and so do you. 

We already have a connection, which, at least in my mind, puts us on a team who's members are bound together, working as one to keep out the enemy. But we're getting a little off topic, back to the point! When I was choosing my topic for this week's blog, I wanted you to get to know me better through it. So, I'm going to be sharing a story. 

I was diagnosed with diabetes on January 31 of this year. I was a little shocked, but I adjusted to my new lifestyle quickly. I subscribed to some diabetic Youtube channels, and the time would come when the Youtuber would discuss celebrating your dia-versary. It hadn't occurred to me that I also had a dia-versary to celebrate. So I waited and waited. When July 31 came, I waited to see if any of my family would notice my six-month dia-versary. No one did. I wondered if they had grown so accustomed to me having diabetes that it was just the new normal, and not worth acknowledging. 

I brought it up to my mother a couple of days later. I said, "Did you guys forget about my dia-versary? It's kind of a big deal." And my mother answered, "Well, I just didn't think that you'd want to celebrate having diabetes, because well... it's diabetes. It kind of sucks." I replied, "The reason that I wanted to celebrate was not because I have made the accomplishment of 'having diabetes for six months'. I wanted to celebrate the fact that I made it through these past six months." "Oh," she said. "I never thought about it like that."

I've heard some really sad stories about recently diagnosed children and how they struggled for a long time and lost themselves after diagnosis, but that didn't happen to me. I made it! And, believe it or not, it's helped shape me into the person that I've become now. Maybe even a better version of myself, with a new-found independence and bravery.  

I'm not saying that I'm happy about having diabetes. Doing MDI (multiple daily injections) and counting carbs is not something that I enjoy doing. When a cure is invented, I'll take it in a heartbeat. But what I am saying is that in my opinion, you should celebrate your dia-versary. Not because you are celebrating the fact that 'you have diabetes.' That's not it at all. You are celebrating the fact that you had a very steep path to walk and instead of choosing to sulk and wallow in self-pity the whole way up, you chose to stand tall and march up that path, with a smile on your face, up to the mountain tops where you are standing today. 

We do so many things every day that would be really hard for most people. We deserve to be celebrated! And we will walk that steep path until we reach the mountain top where a cure will be waiting. Then, after waiting, hoping and praying for a normal life, we'll be able to say, "I used to have diabetes." And it will be the greatest feeling in the world.