Saturday, July 28, 2012

Adaptability

Adaptability has such a strong link to diabetes. No one imagines having to give themselves needles or wear a medical device; however, each and every day people with diabetes are lifting up their sleeves, untucking their shirts or pulling their pumps out of their pockets in order to give themselves insulin. Those with fears of needles have overcome those fears, still not being able to look at others give themselves needles, yet being able to do it to themselves.   Five, twelve, fifteen year olds are finding the courage to adapt to their circumstances. 

But that's just it.  With diabetes there are two options, live a healthy life or suffer the consequences.  In the back of the minds of everyone living with diabetes or their caregivers this message digs deep.  How important that little vial of insulin is that is kept next to the bottle of ketchup and left over pizza. As parents of children with diabetes I can only imagine how much they had to adapt when their child was diagnosed.   Learning new terms, new techniques, a new train of thought ... all of this cannot be found in a parenting book or magazines, it is a lesson that is learned quickly through experience.

I almost lived nineteen years of my life diabetes-free.  It was March of 2009 that I was told I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and at that moment I had to adapt to the changes.  Right away, changes begin, I had never been in the hospital, so that experience was new, I had to adapt as a patient when I hardly felt sick at all.  The doctor's would tell me that I shouldn't walk around in fear that my blood sugars that were already high would rise from stress, so having to stay put in a hospital bed was strange.

The next thing was the needles every four hours as the nurses would wake me up in the middle of the night to administer insulin. I hardly remember what I was thinking at those moments, but I am certain I didn't realize that this was something I was going to have to do for the rest of my life (thankfully, not every four hours!)    The hospital stay was a good way to learn adaptability.  I was given so many resources, yet had to focus on how I was going to continue my life beyond the hospital walls.

Life with diabetes is all about adapting to change, making changes, and reminding yourself that tomorrow is a new day. 

Kayla 

1 comment:

  1. Isn't it incredible the strength we demonstrate by adapting to all of this foreign stuff? It's not normal to jab ourselves with needles or make ourselves bleed.

    Yet,we wake up every single day determined to do a little bit better.

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