As Diabetes Month ends, I don't know how much we've accomplished. I don't know how many more people with diabetes will take better care of themselves. Or how many people realized they may have undiagnosed diabetes and went to get a fasting blood sugar test.
I do know that Nov. 14, World Diabetes Day, the International Diabetes Federation released the latest stats and projections on the rising incidence of diabetes around the world. The situation everywhere is getting worse.
Yet for me, having lived with Type 1 diabetes almost 42 years and with no end in sight, I have to find hope somewhere. So I take it in the attitude I've adopted: You can have a great life, not despite but because of diabetes.
Don't get me wrong: I am not denying the work, the hardship and the fears diabetes brings or it's potentially damaging consequences. I am suggesting what Randy Pausch told us in his "Last Lecture" and what Michael J. Fox has been telling us since he got Parkinson's. That you can make meaning from tragedy and find not just a way to bear it, but joy in a meaningful life.
For the full article click here.