Hope through Education

I started blogging a few months ago as a way of communicating with my son and other pwd's. I wanted to share with him, and others what Type 1 has meant to me, how I manage my diet and my anonymity. It was cathartic. I feel thankful that my son has connected with the experience through my blog. Over the months since though, I have gradually weaned myself off entering other diabetes blog spots and have made very few entries of my own. When I read other blogs I get scared. Long term complications of Diabetes, the overwhelming demands and fears parent’s face when they have a child with diabetes leaves me feeling powerless.

The feeling of helplessness is dissipating though. I started a course for nurses’ (as well as Physicians, Dentist’s, Nutritionists and Nurse Practitioners). The course is called; Diabetes Management Certification and it is through The University of Southern Indiana. It is an online course for health care practitioners that wish to play a larger role in advocating for people with Diabetes in the health care setting. It has been amazing for me! I have discovered that there is a wealth of knowledge (and then some) pertaining to Diabetes . I am learning about drug therapy for both Type 1 and Type2 Diabetics, nutritional counseling, complications (short and long term) and intervention. I feel so empowered both personally and professionally. For the first time since I got this dreadful disease, I feel like I have a way out of the weak feeling, and will have an arsenal of tools to use with patient care in the Diabetes setting.

I know that there is no cure for Diabetes in sight and we are fighting an uphill battle for control over our blood sugar and our future… but I am welcoming all this new information, processing it and looking forward to working in an endocrinology setting with people who have Diabetes.

I also have a personal goal now, and that is to share my experience with low carbohydrate dieting with other fellow pwd’s in the healthcare setting. This may be the hard task; convincing the status quo that there are other ways to manage Diabetes. My A1c, and daily blood sugars inspire the challenge that is ahead of me.

All the best!

We belong to each other....

My mom has cancer. She has been fighting cancer for a year and a half.  We just learned that the pharmaceutical component of her health insurance plan is no longer going to cover a big part of the cost of the life sustaining drug that she needs to reduce tumor size and symptoms. The copay is now going to be 700$ a month. There is no generic and this drug is essential for her survival.  Like Insulin, it makes living possible, and although it is not perfect, the alternative is unthinkable.

In an effort to help her out, I told her simply not to worry about this latest challenge (what am I nuts, "don’t worry?")  and I would come up with a solution. I am working feverishly on this problem . There is a solution out there somewhere and I will find it.

This brings me to my post with the title; “Dare to reach your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light”. In this post I write about what happens to families that simply can’t afford to pay for Insulin for their children with Diabetes. It is devastating. Heart- wrenching. I saw this outcome first hand with my mom and her cancer medication. I  saw the look on her face that said; “I am a burden to my family” … “my cancer is costing my family more than they can afford" .  I understood at that moment what families face when the cost of health care becomes overwhelming, and what the patient experiences when the reality hits them that the cost of their treatment is exorbitant.

The difference for us, is that I can and will find a solution for her.  If I lived in parts of the globe without the luxury of resources (i.e. the internet, a telephone, a fax machine, monetary stability etc.) I couldn’t possibly make the inroads that I have. I would experience the despair that I witness in the International Diabetes Federation video that I have posted on my hyperlink.  I know I will solve this for my mom. She is family. I love her. I will fight with every bit of power and know-how to get her the benefits she deserves. But, how can this not be possible everywhere?

This year my husband and I made a big commitment to The International Diabetes Federation. We decided that it’s really time to reach out a hand... far and wide. I love the work and compassion of IDF. I think they stay away from the proverbial “special interest groups” and put their money to work saving kids with Type 1 Diabetes. They are paying it forward.

What happens to my mom, and my family, will always take front and center for me.  I want them  to know that I would go to the end of the earth and back because they are worth it.  Every child, every person on the planet deserves the same. We are all connected. We belong to each other...