THE STORY OF ONE FAMILY'S JOURNEY WITH TYPE 1 DIABETES AND CELIAC DISEASE.
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Thursday, July 14, 2011

Coming To You Live...

From my handy dandy new laptop.


(Thankyouverymuch, to Hubby's-affordable-computer-purchase-program-through-work-that-allows-low-monthly-payments!)

So here we are.

HO HUM.

MOST of our pictures are sitting on the crashed hard drive.  SOME were backed up before it died.  A FEW have painstakingly made it onto the slowest freaking old faithful laptop that has now saved the day more times than I can count.

Anyhoo...I went to "real work" today.  Like...I had to get up to an alarm, get dressed, and drive downtown in traffic for our annual staff meeting.  It's actually a lot of fun.  I never SEE the people I work with, so it's nice to put a name with a face, and chat about life a little.

But there was one face I missed.

You see, while I was on vacation, I got an email from a co-worker.  Her 6 year old daughter had just been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

*thud*

I remember.

I remember feeling like a robot.  Putting life on auto pilot while I figured out how in the world I was supposed to learn everything I would need to know to keep my daughter alive.  I remember being frustrated by labels, overwhelmed by correction factors, and maddened by numbers.

Numbers, numbers everywhere.
Over here and over there.
Numbers, numbers everywhere.
Makes me want to pull my hair!


Honestly, I didn't expect her to be there.  But that didn't change the fact that I knew why.

I mean, really, who do you entrust your child's life to for a random half day?  breakfast? snacks?  lunch?  carb counting?  insulin calculating?  shot administering?  signs of lows? signs of highs?  testing?  acting on a test result?

"Here ya go.  Here's my newly diagnosed diabetic child.  Have fun with that."

No way.

Her absence felt profound to me.

To anyone else, she was just a colleague that couldn't make it.

But I knew.

I found myself thinking about the journey of steps I've been traveling.  I wonder if her steps are anything like mine were?  And I wonder if my steps are anything like the millions of D Mamas who have gone before me.

One foot in front of the other, my friends.

Just keep putting one foot in front of the other.
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10 comments:

  1. Congrats on the new laptop! Sorry to hear your coworker has "joined the club". I'm sure that you're a great encouragement to her, just as you have been for the rest of the DOC.

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  2. You will be a wonderful support to her Wendy. AND...that post about Steps is one of my favorites circulating in the DOC.

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  3. It's funny how to some it's just a diagnosis, and to us it a series of strong memories. Good thing we remember, because the new T1 families need that early support. Glad she knows you.

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  4. I heart my laptop. Can't live without it. I remember when J was diagnosed I took two weeks off, couldn't take much more since I was pregnant and needed at least 8 weeks for mat. leave. Those two weeks were spent trying to teach her babysitter how to manage D when I barely knew myself! It was SO hard to leave her. But luckily we were blessed with a sitter who was willing and more than able to deal with it.

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  5. Prayers to your friend! Congrats to you my dear! Sorry I haven't been around so much, I've been so busy I have just been blog "stalking". You're always in my thoughts! Hope you are having an awesome summer! <3 You!

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  6. My heart goes out to the newly diagnosed family. Thankfully, you can guide them to the amazing support online. I can't tell you how many times I find myself wishing I'd had all this support when I was diagnosed (I just discovered you all this year!!!). It makes all the difference.

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  7. And because you were the one that 'felt' her absence, who understood why it wasn't a simple 'just couldn't make it,' you will be a rock for her when she's ready to reach out to grab it.

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  8. Ugh HATE to hear of another child dx!!!
    Yay for the new laptop though!

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  9. aw man, sorry to hear about your coworker's daughter, but it's great that she'll have you as a resource when she's ready.

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  10. You are the BEST one for her to know! Glad she has you, even though you hate to welcome someone new to the "club". : ( Congrats on the new laptop, I hope you get all your pictures back!! : ) Hugs!

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While I'm happy to share our experiences with what works, and what doesn't work, for the management of Type 1 Diabetes and Celiac Disease in our house, please do not mistake anything you read here for medical advice. Decisions regarding your/your child's health care should be made only with the assistance of your medical care team. Use any information from this blog at your own risk.