diabetties.org

I Googled myself today. I do it every once in a blue moon, and I’m glad that I did because I found this. It’s an article about me that was published in Positive Thinking Magazine in 2007.

As I mentioned in my previous post, ever since coming home from D.C. last week, my blood sugars have been all over the map. Mostly high, but I did wake up this morning with a low - which is frustrating when all you want to do is sleep in on a weekend. Instead, I dragged myself out of bed, listening to the rapid beating of my heart pounding in my ears, got my glucometer, confirmed my low (57), popped four glucose tablets in my mouth and went back to sleep.

My day hasn’t gotten much better. It has been a real drag with the constant rain, dealing with paperwork, and what seems to me the most overwhelming of all - choosing my health care team. My husband recently started a new job (which we’re both excited about!), but what I’m not excited about is changing our health insurance all over again. Navigating the health care system is so stressful to me, and although I know this will change with Obama’s Health Care Bill, I couldn’t help but smirk when I read the “pre-existing condition” clause. The fact that a clause like this could ever exist is so disheartening. It reinforces the belief to me that there’s nothing caring at all about our “health care” system.
Anyway, it’s so easy to dwell on the negative and let that bring me down, but as I revisit this article from 2007, I’m reminded of my own wise words that: “changing my attitude can change my life.”

P.S. My husband just came home and brought me flowers. There may be hope for this day after all!

A few months ago, my friend and I decided to spend an evening together creating a vision board - well in my case, a vision journal.  A vision board is a tool to help clarify and focus on life goals, and is based on the concept that if you see these visual reminders of what you want to achieve out of life, they will manifest. They keep you focused on your goals both on a conscious and subconscious level.

I wanted to share two pages with you. The first, pictured above, is the inside cover of my vision journal. I decided to make a journal so I can bring this with me and continue to add pages to it as my life evolves and new priorities emerge. I started the journal with these two pages because everything in the pages that follow is the absolute truth staring back at me.

This page illustrates my vision for better health. I have been looking at this page a lot lately, because strangely enough, after my visit to D.C., my blood sugars have been all over the map. I’ve been in a rut and it has gotten me down. I realized something though - there’s a word missing from this page:

Cure.

If the images in my journal are what I want to manifest into reality or goals that I hope to see and achieve in my lifetime, then I need to add images of a carefree life without the need for an insulin pump, syringes or test strips. I need to add images of bare bellies without insertion sets, scars, or hard fatty tissue from spots that have become resistant to insulin. I need to envision a life after a cure for diabetes.

Meet Doris. Doris is one of the 200 advocates whom I joined in Washington D.C. last week who shared our stories with members of Congress, urging them to support the American Diabetes Association’s request to increase 2012 federal funding for diabetes research and prevention programs.

It has taken me such a long time to write this post because I’ve started it over and over again, not sure how I can do the experience justice. So instead of debriefing with all of you the legislative issues, the visits, etc., I’ve decided to focus on the relationships I built and the amazing people I met.

So back to Doris. Doris is 74 years old and a real ball of fire. She came to Capitol Hill to honor the legacy of her daughter, Laurie, who died at the age of 29 from complications due to her diabetes. Laurie battled diabetes for 25 years before succumbing to this chronic disease, and her untimely passing inspired her mother to pursue a degree in nursing and become a seasoned veteran to Capitol Hill. Doris was diagnosed with type 1 herself at the age of 57, and it hasn’t hindered her in one bit. Active as ever, she takes it in stride on her quest to stop diabetes. Doris is a true Diabetty, and I was honored to meet her.

At the other end of the age spectrum is sweet Sarah. Sarah is in the middle, and her fabulous mom, Michelle is on the right. Sarah was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes a year ago, at the age of 10. Sarah bravely shared her story in our visit with Senator Feinstein’s office, and my heart went out to her when she said shyly,

“When the doctors told me I had diabetes, I thought I was going to die right then. But I didn’t…”

In a conversation later that evening, her mom told me that Sarah has been having so much fun doing all these amazing things in the diabetic community, that she kind of likes having diabetes - which of course embarrassed Sarah to no end. I told Sarah that one day, we’d find a cure, and she wouldn’t have to live with diabetes anymore, but she could keep doing this work and helping people prevent it. After all, 79 million Americans live with pre-diabetes. She smiled. Sarah is a Diabetty, and I’m so impressed by her courage and love for life.

And this is Vida, my partner in crime. Vida and I were paired to meet with members of Congress and we made an awesome team. Vida is a nurse, and she sees first hand the difficulties her patients have managing their diabetes or simply accessing the education and care they need to prevent the development of complications. Diabetes is the leading cause of preventable blindness, kidney disease, and amputations.

These are just a handful of the amazing people I met during my first Call to Congress. I know that it won’t be my last.

It’s been nearly a week since I’ve returned from Washington D.C. where I participated in my first Call to Congress with the American Diabetes Association. It was a profound, empowering, and thrilling experience, and I’m eager to share it with all of you. Bear with me, as I organize my thoughts so that I may do the experience justice.

It is the night before I leave for Washington D.C on the first of what I hope to be many Call to Congress visits on behalf of the American Diabetes Association. I have to admit - I feel a little bit like I did before the first day of school. Over 200 advocates from across the country have been selected, and I have a feeling that I will eat, drink, sleep diabetes for the next few days.
The ADA has been great in prepping us with what to expect, but I have yet to figure out exactly what I want to say. I just know that it will come from the heart. (Or maybe my pancreas!)
I look forward to sharing my story with members of Congress and with all of you.

I’ve never been very good about doing this, but I think this trip will be an especially good opportunity to “tweet”. So if you feel so inclined or are curious about what I’m up to in D.C., feel free to follow me on Twitter. Just a disclaimer - I don’t always “tweet” about diabetes, after all, it doesn’t rule my life.