My Diabetes Is Invisible....For The Most Part

Todays post is inspired by my (our) invisible illness, diabetes. This week is National Invisible Chronic Illness Week, something all of us deal with on a 24X7 basis. Bottom line, we never get a diabetes break or vacation - It's a part of us, like it or not.

Every single day, diabetes is our constant companion.~

To look at me, you’d never realize that I’m doing all sorts of carb calculations & diabetes math, as we sit discussing menu options and life at the restaurant we're dining at.

But if you took a good look at my hands, you'd see my finger tips are freckled and calloused from testing my blood sugars 10 to 15 times a day.

And at first glance, my insulin pump might be mistaken as a pedometer or newfangled cell phone.

FYI, if you think it's a beeper, you need to wake up dude - it's not 1991.

To see me walk down the street you’d never know that I haven’t had a day off from type1 diabetes in 12,410 days.

12,418 if you count the leap years.

To hear me laugh you’d never know that I spend a lot of time worrying about EVERYTHING. Including but not limited to; diabetes, blood sugars, carb calculations, family history repeating itself, complications, career, money, life and being alone.

When we first meet, it’s probably not obvious that the night before I woke myself out of a sound sleep at 4 a.m.

Why? Because my heart was pounding, my lips were numb, and my sheets were soaking wet with sweat, thanks to a blood sugar of 45.

Instead you see a woman with hazel green eyes that are indeed “1 in a million,” a winning smile, and a gregarious personality that some call feisty; many call funny, and more than a few call smart.

And if you happen to see me on my ever so rare, mid morning coffee runs, You might just think I need a cup of coffee, which is true.

But that need for a mid morning coffee was most likely caused by a nasty (and thankfully, not normal) 6:30 am blood sugar of 330.

An occurrence that leaves me feeling like I’m walking through J-E-L-L-O, making my mid morning coffee jolt a real need, not a want.

To look at me you’d never know that my pancreas is not only faulty; it’s down right broken.

When you pass me on the street I bet you don’t realize I’m an insulin whore.

My diabetes is invisible… for the most part.

But it’s always with me; in me, and by my side.

It’s the longest relationship I’ve ever had.

My diabetes might be invisible too others, but it’s my reality.

AND I OWN IT.