Caution – I am not done typing but currently my word count is 683, if you would like to skip all the blah blah blah – go HERE, do what you know to be right and go on with your life.
Tomorrow is Valentines Day. Some of you may have a special Valentine; a spouse, a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Some may have children you share Valentines with and of course friends too. A few generous folks might bake heart-shaped cookies or Rice Krispy treats (hint hint Danielle) and leave them with neighbors. Maybe your Valentine has four legs and unlike some significant others that come and go will love you unconditionally, unless the four legs are on a cat because then it is a crapshoot.
Many of you will purchase boxes of chocolates or perhaps chocolate covered strawberries, bottles of bubbly, tacky stuffed bears and monkeys, and some may even give/receive jewelry – lucky ducks – I mean if you like jewelry.
The most popular item purchased today and tomorrow – Roses. Ah the sweet perfume of roses. I walked through the floral dept of our local grocery store yesterday on my way to the produce. I may have lingered and allowed the sweet aroma to penetrate deep into my psyche before continuing on to the blue berries (which I may have opened and consumed unwashed while shopping). I detoured back through the floral department two more times to allow myself to be engulfed in the sea of olfactory blissfulness.
I must admit I was tempted to purchase a bouquet. Truly I was. I considered it. But no. Not this year. Not for 3 years now. I haven’t purchased or received roses because I’d rather save a life.
Pssst – We are almost to the diabetes part.
I know for many of us it may be easy to forget there are kids and adults around the globe that do not have access to the life saving tools and medications we have in the more developed nations.
Last week I woke up to a warm refrigerator. It wasn’t just ‘not cold’ it was warm. The warmest part was at the very top near the butter compartment. So, you may ask, (not really because if you are reading this blog you are likely part of the diabetes world and know full well what is kept in the butter compartment of a refrigerator in the home of a person(s) with diabetes – typed in one breath) why does it matter that the butter compartment was the warmest? We keep our insulin in the butter compartment of the refrigerator. Insulin should be kept at a constant temperature. Different brands of insulin vary in what they say is the ideal storage temperature is but it usually isn’t 82 degrees fahrenheit, which is what the thermometer in my fridge told me was the temperature inside the fridge.
Well @#*!$%@*!
I wasn’t sure if the fridge was fully closed when I opened the door. It sometimes doesn’t close completely – it will be just a smidgen ajar sometimes. My middle child was the last one in the fridge the night prior and he may have left it slightly ajar allowing the light to heat the interior of the fridge all night long and basically cook our insulin.
9 vials. We had 9 vials in the fridge. I had just ordered a 3 month supply for all 3 kids and 9 vials of the order fit into the compartment. The remainder is stored in the garage fridge. We lost 9 vials of insulin. I shared my frustrations on my personal Facebook page. Within minutes I had friends from around the USA offering to send insulin. I had received no less than 4 texts in the next 30 minutes as well offering the same. Those generous folks didn’t know I still had plenty of insulin in my spare fridge.
My problem – losing 9 vials of insulin as well as a couple hundred dollars worth of food (of course I had just gone shopping the day prior) is what we in the developed world call a ‘First World Problem’. Many of us recognize some of our complaints are only things we would experience in our developed nation….
“The post Super Bowl commentary caused my DVR not to record all of Blacklist” #firstworldproblem
“Starbucks was out of my favorite syrup!” #noideawhattodrink #firstworldproblem
You are likely wondering what the hell my fridge, the floral department and saving a life all have to do with each other. To help clarify my convoluted blog post – here was my FB post: (at this point you are wishing you skipped all this and just clicked the link above)
“Not sure if it’s broke or if the door was left ajar all night (I didn’t pay attention when I opened it) but the refrigerator is a balmy 82 degrees. Everything cooked including 9 new vials of insulin.”
Edited: Since people are trying to be generous and commenting here or texting me after I shared this please note: I had just placed a 90 day order. only 1/3 of our insulin was in the kitchen fridge. We still have insulin enough for 60-70 days for 3 kids. We are fine – you do not need to send insulin.
Thank you for your generosity. BTW since everyone is feeling so generous maybe consider a donation to Spare A Rose, Save A Child IDF. I’m sharing Kerri’s link since I had it open and who doesn’t love seeing that smiling face. My kids will be fine despite losing 9 vials of life saving insulin, but there are kids around the globe who don’t have a stash in a garage fridge. Please consider skipping the roses this year – they die anyway and kids don’t need to. (PS. I did not break my refrigerator to set up a plea for donations – it kinda just worked out that way.)
For the cost of a single rose you can extend the life of a child with diabetes. (When I say the cost of a rose, I mean the cost a rose the couple of weeks before Valentines when distributors quadruple the cost due to demand)
Right now a dozen roses would cost you about $60. If you were considering purchasing roses this year it would be great if you could skip the roses all together and instead donate that $60 to the Spare A Rose, Save A Child program. Weren’t gonna spend that kind of cash on your Valentine? It’s all good all I really ask for is $5. Just $5 the cost of a single rose. The cost of a single rose can save the life of a child with diabetes.
Please click the following link and share some Valentines love across the globe.
Thank you in advance for your generosity, kindness, compassion and support.
Stick With It Sugar 