If You Only Knew

Oh no! My mom is hacking my computer and is doing this post.

If you only knew what each day brings, you might not say some of those insensitive things.

Like “at least it is manageable” and “you’re lucky he’s strong”, but you don’t know what it is like for us all day long.

We get up each morning and start our fight. We question each decision and wonder what’s right.

For each new day is never the same. Some begin with promise and some end in blame.

There are days when we think we have it all together. We try to power through the storm no matter what the weather.

But days like today remind me of what is true. This disease robs us of special moments and there’s not much we can do.

Eating alone during an unpredictable low is just a fraction of the many things you don’t know.

We think and we plan for the events of the day and we discuss how we’ll handle the curveballs that come our way.

Will we test our son’s blood sugar in the middle of the night? Will we give him his insulin after his very last bite?

All kinds of questions just to survive the day. This is hard for us no matter what you say.

And even though we are strong and we won’t let this beat us, our strength gets stronger by the way others treat us.

We get stronger when you listen and try to understand what we say. We feel supported and loved when you don’t try to show us another way.

You see, we are the ones fighting from minute to minute and we know it’s hard for you to understand unless you are in it.

 

I was inspired to write this poem after a conversation I had today with a close family member and after Joey went low right before dinner tonight. It reminded me of the continuous roller coaster of emotions that we are on every day as we all live with T1D in our family. I wrote this poem to inspire others to be more compassionate about this disease. To listen when we are explaining or telling our story. It’s not for sympathy. It’s to educate and make others aware of our daily struggles as we fight this disease together. You may not see it on our smiling faces or hear it in our voices, but the emotional pain and frustration are there every day as we fight this disease. Please help us to lighten our daily burden by understanding that this disease affects us in ways you could never imagine.

I would like to tell my son Joey that I am so very proud to be your mom and I will continue to fight to bring awareness and educate others about T1D and how it affects people emotionally and physically. You continue to amaze me every day and I love you!