Pearls of Wisdom

Today I did something I have NEVER done in the 13 years of being a diabetic. I did something that I have never had the urge to do and have pushed back on for a long time. And it's really not that big of a deal, but today I attended a "Woman With Diabetes" luncheon put on by the Diabetes Behavioral Institute, and my good friend and diabetes psychologist, Susan Guzman. Susan invited me to this luncheon a few weeks ago and I went back and forth in my mind about attending for several reasons. The luncheon was only for women with Type 1 diabetes and this would be the first time I had ever even met another woman with Type 1 diabetes, let alone sit in the same room with 50 of them! And to boot, I couldn't bring Pearce to hide behind.

In going with my New Years Resolution of just saying yes, I decided in good faith that I probably should just suck it up and go. It wasn't going to kill me and if I really didn't like it I would never have to go again. Not knowing what to expect I arrived at a private room at The Prado restaurant in Balboa Park set up just for our group. I signed in, donned a name tag, and hesitantly walked through the door hoping that seating was assigned. And wouldn't you know, it was a sit where you want type of event and I was terrified of taking that HUGE first step despite being the friendly, social, and outgoing person that I am. Not going to lie, this idea of socializing with other people with diabetes scared the shit out of me, mostly because it's so foreign to me.

As luck would have it I ended up sitting between Linda (an attorney) and Glenda (a teacher), who are old friends and the veterans of the group, both having had Type 1 diabetes for over 50 years. The next 3 hours flew by as the 3 of us talked about everything: jobs, kids, diabetes (of course) ... The more we continued to share the more I realized we had in common. I mean, besides the fact that they both were in professions I knew about and Glenda's daughter and I went to the same college, I don't know why I was so surprised that these woman knew exactly what I was talking about when I said the words omni pod, novolog, basal rates, and Dr. Moore to name only a few. What's even more amazing is that considering a glucose monitor wasn't available until 1981, and these woman had diabetes for at least 20 years before that, they were both in great health! If there isn't any other lesson for me to be learned here is that, a long healthy life is a possibility, and even more so for myself who has had the amazing opportunity to use the technology of a simple glucose monitor since day one.

I drove home from the event with mixed emotions. If I had to use one word to describe my experience it would be "interesting," and not in a bad way. Honestly, it was emotional for me to let my guard down today in front of people I didn't know. It was and is always hard for me to wear that label of "diabetic." On the other hand, I was so appreciative to know that I share such similar experiences with others. I found it comforting to laugh with Linda and Glenda and to not be so serious about diabetes.

Each of us shared a "Pearl of Wisdom" today, something that we have learned along our journey with diabetes and mine was:

"It takes a village ... support is what gets me through each and every day."