That title is an over used quote and cliché.

I’m sick so hopefully you’ll give me a little leeway because creativity is not on the table this morning.

Seriously the mother of all colds hit me hard Saturday morning and hasn’t let up.

Today is Day 1 of diabetes blog week.

Diabetes blog week is a week-long blogging event with daily prompts to get folks sharing their thoughts on a particular issue or experience. For many diabetes blog week is a set of jumper cables on blogs (bloggers) who have taken a much longer than intended hiatus from blogging. Or maybe that’s just me.

Today’s prompt copied from the Diabetes Blog Week FB page:

It’s Day 1 of Diabetes Blog Week!! Today we’re talking about Diabetes and The Unexpected.
Diabetes can sometimes seem to play by a rulebook that makes no sense, tossing out unexpected challenges at random. What are your best tips for being prepared when the unexpected happens? Or, take this topic another way and tell us about some good things diabetes has brought into your, or your loved one’s, life that you never could have expected?

The obvious answer is to always be prepared with extra supplies, extra meter in the car, extra carbs to treat lows, extra infusion sets in case one fails while out or gets ripped off on asshole doorknobs, and extra insulin if a traveling – like I mean 2x what one might expect to use because tile floors at condos near the beach are not forgiving to glass bottles that roll to the floor.

That’s the nuts and bolts of being prepared for the unexpected in regards to supplies, but I think there is a mental preparedness that needs to be addressed.

Diabetes is an asshat and even when one is doing everything “right” (checking blood sugars, bolusing for food, eating healthy, and exercising) blood sugars can spontaneously misbehave because Venus is in retrograde and a butterfly fluttered his damn wings in Uganda. These spontaneous highs and lows in blood sugars and the relentless care needed to stay alive and healthy can take a mental toll on a pwd. (A quick side note in case you are new to my blog. I have a fully functioning pancreas. My brain, not always so. I am a mom of 3 teens with T1D so the thoughts and experiences I share come from a place of observation and discussion regarding my kids and 10 years of living with others who live with diabetes.)

Everything in one’s life could be ideal (aside from having an organ that doesn’t do what its supposed to do) but one may still find that anxiety, frustrations, and depression can sneak in a sucker punch. Those are the days that it is harder to be prepared for.

If you are reading this you are likely already connected to the Diabetes Online community and you recognize the value of a community of people who understand ‘me too’. Even being connected some of us (caregivers of pwd/cwd included) can be too proud or too stoic to admit that we are struggling. There can be a fear of a stigma in admitting we are depressed, overwhelmed, or anxious.

I feel like the copious amounts of cold medication has caused me to wander from the topic. Stay with me.

When my youngest was diagnosed in 2007 I was not using any social media. I was not really connected to anyone else who had children with diabetes. I mostly ran into others who had an aunt or grandparent that lost a leg or died because of diabetes. Those who share stories like that don’t mean to scare us, they are simply trying to empathize but don’t know how. I spent two years without any real support or connections, although once each of those years I attended the Children With Diabetes Friends For Life conference in Orlando. An amazing experience, but still only once a year. Then my daughter was diagnosed and both kids attended diabetes camp. That allowed me to meet some local families and have some support. Still I spent another 3 years alone and afraid to admit that I was struggling physically and mentally while caring for my kids. In 2012 I found the Diabetes Online Community. That was a turning point for me. I found others who truly understood what it is to be a parent of a cwd but even better I found pwd who gave me a glimpse into what it was like to live with diabetes so I could be a better parent to my cwd.

Instead of just giving me kudos and calling me a super mom, people online gave me permission to be frustrated and sad. That was unexpected. It is great to be told what a wonderful mom I was, but it was better to be told I didn’t need to be perfect. It was great to be told how brave and strong my kids were, but it was better to be told that they were going to struggle and that it was ok.

I seriously have a foggy brain with this cold but I hope I’ve shared my thoughts in a somewhat cohesive manner.

• Have extra supplies because you never know when your friends dog will jump on you and rip your site off.
• Recognize that even when everything is coming up roses, anxiety and/or depression can take you for a ride, asking for help or simply sharing in the DOC is encouraged because their is no greater power than “me too’.

I’d give my life if it meant my kids didn’t have diabetes. Since that isn’t an option I have to recognize what diabetes has brought into our lives even if it means taking the good with the bad.

• Friendship
• Resilience
• Strength
• Empathy
• Compassion
• Courage