Thursday, June 19, 2014

Five years a'blogging.


Five years ago today, I started this blog.  I have a lot of sappy things to say, but I already posted a sappy post today...so I will fall back onto the past and re-post a post (I'm keeping that sentence, I don't care,) that I think sums up exactly why I started this blog in the first place.  To find "same."

From 2010...
There are a few things I want you to know.

I want you to know, when your daughters pump ran out of insulin within the first hour of school last week…I have felt that very same anger and embarrassment that you did.

I want you to know, when your baby wets his bed at night from a high blood sugar…I have felt the same sadness, guilt, and love for my son that you do.

I want you to know, when you forget to bolus your child for dinner, and their bedtime number is 508. I have felt the very same shame and intense regret.

I want you to know, when you take out your daughters set and there is a bleeder, I have felt the same horror and sheer panic that you are experiencing at that same moment.

I want you to know, when your son goes to a friends for a sleep over…I know you have to actively push the worry and anxiety away or you would be camped out in your car outside the house…because I have had to do that too.

I want you to know, when you have had a long night and you see the mountain of bloody test strips and apple juice containers…I have felt that deep sadness you had in your heart. I didn’t want this for my children either.

I want you to know when your child has high blood sugars for DAYS…I know the pure frustration of it all. I know the anger and the helplessness that you are feeling.

I’m tired too.

I want you to know, when there is an extreme low, and your child is sitting with a blank look in front of you, barely able to speak…I have been there. I have felt the confusion, the panic and the deep worry that you have in your heart.

I want you to know that I stand in the doorway to watch my children breath in the morning too.

I want you to know that I worry about my oldest being diagnosed. I know you worry about your children who don't have diabetes too.

I want you to know that I wonder if my children will hate me one day for all I have put them through. And even though they say they don’t blame me…I still worry about it. I know you do too sometimes.

I want you to know; when your child hasn’t been invited to anyone’s house to play…I know it isn’t fair either.

I want you to know, when your child put her set in for the first time on her own, and you thought you would burst from pride…I have felt the exhilaration of that pride too.

I don’t recognize myself in the mirror either.

I want you to know, that even though I have been to too many endo appts to count…I still get a stomach ache days before. I want you to know I am hard on myself too.

I want you to know, when your child calls you from school, and asks to eat a “surprise” birthday cupcake, and you say yes…I have held my breath too, hoping I have guessed the carbs correctly also.

I want you to know I check my sugar whenever I have to pee twice in a two hour period. I wonder if you do that too?

When I see a person in the store with a pump, I want to run up and talk to that person too. Okay…I want to hug them too.

I want you to know, when your alarm goes off in the middle of the night and you want to throw your alarm clock out the window…I have been there. I have SO felt that.

I want you to know that when I hear of another child diagnosed, I feel anger towards this disease. It brings back too many memories, and makes my heart completely break in half for this newly diagnosed family. I know you feel that way too.

Remember when you walked around like a zombie with dry food on your shirt, and no makeup on for two days? I did that too!

I want you to know, when my child expresses any anger towards this disease, I feel guilty…almost like it is my fault. Even though I know there is nothing I could have done to stop all this…I wish I could take it away too.

I want you to know that I feel conflicted about all of this too. I hate diabetes. I am bizarrely thankful for diabetes. I know it has brought good into our life…but at the same time, diabetes can still suck it.

I want you to know that I secretly wish for a cure too. And even though I tell everyone I don’t expect one…I do.

I want you to know…when you think you can’t go one more day. When you think you can’t check one more sugar, or give one more shot, or tell your child “no” one more time…I have been in that place. I have had days just like that.

I want you to know that I cry in the shower too sometimes. I cry to sad songs on the radio and spend too many days with cry headaches too.

I want you to know that when I read that a child has passed away from Type 1…my breath is taken away too. I want to scream too. I hold my children closer too.

Our pharmacy is a nightmare too.

I want you to know, that the mom at your son’s school...the one who judges everyone and makes you feel awful because she will never even try to empathize with you…she goes to my boys’ school too.

When emotions run high, or low…or upside down...I want you to know I have felt all the craziness too.

I want you to know after the third diagnosis I went through a deep depression for 8 months. But now I’m on the other side of that. If you are depressed, you will come out on the other side too.

I want you to know, that I started this blog for me…and now I want you to know I write it now just as much for you.

Because more than anything, I want you to know that you are not alone.

I want you to know, that even though we are very different, and even though we may not have been friends otherwise…I worry for you. I care about you. I will always support you.

I want you to know that I will always be here for you.

When you feel alone and like no one understands? I understand. We understand. The Mothers and Fathers and the PWD of the DOC are here for you.

If you think you are alone on this roller coaster of numbers…look at that obscenely long blog list I have under the button that says "More Sweet Peeps." We are there too…puking, screaming, crying, laughing and holding on for dear life.

We may be so different, but our hearts are the same.

You are a parent of a child with diabetes…and I am too.

Thanks for taking the ride with me!

13 comments:

  1. I know this wasn't suppose to be a sappy post but this one made me cry too. Its a double edge sword knowing that there are others dealing with the as same things we go through gets me through most days. But at the same time knowing that there are so many others dealing with this life breaks my heart!

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  2. While my kids have never experienced a bleeder and I have no more non-D kids left to worry over I can say Ive been there and honestly you being there has helped me more times than I can count long before I made my way to twitter or found you on FB or met you in person - you being HERE has made diabetes suck a bit less and you are most certainly part of my bizarre.

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  3. Thank you, Meri, for this post! You write, what I feel!
    Silke, a D-mom from Germany

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  4. So so glad that I found your blog, you have helped me so many times, Thanks for letting me know I am not alone in this!
    Happy Blogaversary! :)

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  5. Thank you...I admire your ability to open up and share with the world. I want to be like that. I find myself to be a bit of an oxymoron. Half the time I try so hard to show everyone how "fine" we are, how my girls can still do anything the other kids do...and the other half of the time I am so frustrated by people's ignorance and how they don't get what a serious disease this is. I wonder if anyone else is like this?

    I've thought about blogging myself....but am wary of putting myself and my family out there. I try so hard to be a positive person and fear my d-blog would become a bit of a pity party. But you have seemed to find a balance between the harsh truth of diabetes and the love and humor that comes from being a family.

    Happy Blogiversary! And thanks again....

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  6. love this. Thank you Meri !

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  7. Today is the anniversary of my son's diagnosis. It has been an emotional day. I just wanted to thank you for this post. Reading your words is always somehow comforting. However, this post was especially helpful for me today. I needed that reminder that I am not alone in how I feel... Not just today, but every day of this journey.

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  8. I have read this many times before, and still it makes me cry. Thank you for this, thank you for blogging so I will always know we are not alone. You mean so much to me and my family. Thank you.

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  9. FIVE!!! WOW, thats so hard to believe. Thankful that I have you to keep me sane :) SCL MTW!

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  10. Thank you Meri! For this post. For this blog. Congrats on five years!

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  11. happy blogiversary!! looking forward to seeing you this week! <3

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  12. Happy belated blogoversary! I love you, I love your words and what they teach me.
    And I love you and value your friendship immensely!
    See you soon!
    Xoxo
    Kelly K

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  13. I'm so happy to have stumbled upon your blog. We are approaching our 3rd Dia-birthday this week. It's been one horrible roller coaster ride. I'm thankful to find blogs that share our journey. Thanks for posting!

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