Crazy Mike and Sarah Jane at Roche Social Media Summit, June 2010
I have been reading Michael Hoskins’ blog since early on in my blog-reading career. Mike is a 32 year old journalist living in Indiana who has been living with type 1 diabetes for almost 27 years. I met Mike at the Roche Social Media Summit last summer and we got along really well. I am honored to have him guest posting for me today as I begin my (hopefully not snowy) journey back to Missouri. Take it away, Mike!
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First, I must say thanks to Sarah Jane for offering the chance to do a guest-post over here in her online spot in the world. Very much an honor.
This post appears just as we’re getting some fun news here in Indiana (and much of the middle part of the country) about an Icepocalypse where we’d get massive ice and snow in a historic winter storm. Some places were on tap to get a foot or more of snow, and the Weather Channel as I am writing this says that some people should be ready to spend a few days in their home and declare “states of emergency.”
Since this comes just as we’re entering February and Wednesday welcomes another Groundhog Day, my mind wandered off into the possibility of being stuck in the same day, reliving the same routine day in and day out for as long as you might be able to live.
Would this really be much different for a Person With Diabetes?
We’d still go through our routine tests at all hours of the day and night. Navigate our pumps. Chase our CGM numbers. Carb counting. Walk around the house, knowing that certain doorknobs or wall-corners might suddenly jump out at us and rip a pump set from our body. Avoid those “Ned Ryerson” D-Police members nearby, who’d we would have to flee from and try not to step in puddles or punch them in the nose while trying to get away.
All the Highs and Lows of each and every day, but not predictable or certain our D-Lives will be for any given day.
Sure, some craziness would ensue – like the kind of Roche Summit fun where we some fun times were had by all. I’d spend some time eating anything I wanted, WITHOUT CARB COUNTING. I’d stab Ned Ryerson in the neck with a syringe, and strangle those D-Police with my pump tubing. All in good fun.
But there’d be sad and bad times as the routine of our D-Lives went on, and we would learn some lessons by those we encounter day in and day out. Luckily, our repeating day would make it worthwhile is the Diabetes Online Community, which would give us hope and support in getting through it.
So, what is the little furry ground hog Phil going to see when he looks at his shadow, and also looks at how many days of diabetes are ahead? Who knows. But when the morning alarm clock goes off, think about us waking up just as Bill Murray did in the movie: hearing those DJ voices on the opposite end proclaiming that it’s “Diabetes Day!”
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Michael Hoskins blogs at http://thecornerboothcc.blogspot.com/.
The SaJaBla Life 