We're well into the season of giving, just a few days until Christmas in fact. There are boxes and parcels strewn around my house. Most of those contain gifts, yet to be wrapped but others contain insulin pump consumables and after a tidy up and an inventory check I have become rather overwhelmed.
Before we get into the guts of today's blog, please allow me to draw your attention to the Buy Me a Coffee links at the bottom of this piece. Every coffee bought for me during December will be donated to Diabetes charities. I have plenty of caffeine to bother my hypertension, don't worry but if you appreciate this blog then do what you can. As always, please only donate what is affordable to you.
Why overwhelmed? Because during the inventory check it quickly became apparent just how much has been donated to me and Pumpy McPumpface. I've been pumping for 4 months so, you can probably imagine that I've got through a lot of consumables in that time. However, I have so much right now that I don't really need to worry about consumables again for a long time. I originally thought that I'd probably be alright until February or March. Wrong, take a look...
...and my Christmassy kitchen table is pretty big but it's not big enough to get everything into one photo. Don't forget the previous 4 months of consumables which I've already used up. We Diabetics get through a lot of stuff!
Stacking that lot up took quite a while and when taking the photo I realised how incredibly lucky I am. What have I done to deserve such support and kindness, exactly? and then I remembered the recently sent Birthday and Christmas gifts, some from people I've never met. A lot of people have been very generous to me and when I ask my close friends why that is, the answer is always the same or at least very similar. I ask it from time to time because I don't consider what I do to be a chore. The reply usually comes back along the lines of undervaluing myself and I have perhaps been guilty of that at various times in my life. I think that there is great power in openness and talking when it comes to health and Diabetes, in particular. There is great power in honesty and being agenda-free. While I remain a presence in our community, I will continue to do the same things. How else can I repay my peers? I hope that being there continues to be enough and I hope that all of you remain in my life for a long time to come.
So, this is my last blog before Christmas and it might be a very difficult time for some of you. Diabetes aside, it's been a rotten year and I know many will be missing loved ones who are no longer with you. I cannot imagine your pain but I will be thinking about you. In our community, we lost Gwynnie, earlier this year and I still really miss her. I remember her sending me a Libre sensor, once because I would be without tech for a few days. She took my address and it arrived a day later. She also took part in everything! and was absolutely hilarious in the process. I still check her Fantasy Football team scores and in all honesty, she's scoring more points than many of you lot from the afterlife. I bloody miss her. She was a great example of how to advocate for others despite infrequent recognition and limited opportunities. In her memory, I will continue to raise the voices of others. Be more Gwynnie.
You can do that, too. Talk about your Diabetes, ask questions, speak up without fear. In turn you will be supporting your peers. Pick any social media and begin. You'll mostly find me on Twitter (@DiabeticDadUK) if you'd like to engage with me.
Thank you so much for reading this blog. I do appreciate your visit and your support. As you might know, I LOVE COFFEE! So I've teamed up with a thing called Buy Me A Coffee. If you enjoy my content and appreciate the time it takes to create such things then you can buy me a coffee! AND until Jan 1st 2022 I'll be donating all your kind coffees to various Diabetes charities.
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