Have you been reading the shared experiences, maybe offering your own, for Hypo Awareness Week? I have offered up a few things and joined in with a few discussions. It's been heart warming to find solidarity with my peers and learn of the experiences of others. Awareness days, weeks, months or whatever are good things, in my opinion. A little understanding can go a long way for better care in a clinical environment but also at home, work and in a social arena. Keep on sharing and raising awareness of what matters to you.
So, this blog post isn't really about Hypo Awareness Week. The title and photo might have given that away already. It was inspired by the hypo conversations, though. Hypos, a seemingly unavoidable complication of having T1D, rarely spoken of as a "complication", it's frequency - more so for some than others, and the knowledge that your last hypo probably won't be your last ever hypo unless it puts you in the ground. Hypos are probably for life, once you've been diagnosed with T1D, unless technology advances further or £50 million donations find us a cure.
Lots of things are for life, of course; Taxes, corrupt politicians and ITV reality shows to name a few. You'll have your own "for life" baggage, I expect. I certainly do and despite my positive stance over awareness campaigns, I have found this particular one has left me rather melancholy over my own "lifers". 'From the cradle to the grave' refers to my own long term conditions. I almost called this blog "Not a moment" because since my first breath, I have lived with a long term condition.
Some conditions affect our lives more deeply than others, that could be because of the condition itself or the way we lead our lives or how we're managing the terrible hand that the universe dealt us. My LTCs vary from things that I have no need for support or care over to things such as T1D, where I benefit hugely from good support and care.
My melancholy, my self-pity if you will, will come and go for the rest of my days. It is an infrequent visitor and not something to be concerned about. I feel the storm clouds gathering when I've had a rough period of health or a difficult period in my personal life. In this case, I've had a troublesome couple of weeks with hypos and reduced rest and that's why I've been all very "woe is me" for a day or two. In this time I've been revisiting my "lifers", when they happened, are they related and even considering what might happen in the years to come. Following my last hypo, frustrated, I silently went through my LTC health history:
- Day 1, congenital birth condition
- Year 2, speech condition
- Year 8, diabetes
Then, some breathing space for 25 years. The universe must've been on holiday. Let's crack on...
- Year 33, eye conditions
- Year 37, new eye conditions
- Year 44, shoulder condition
A lot of conditions, hey? and far too much detail to offer in one blog post. Some are related to each other but, because I focus on T1D and anything related to it, I rarely bother to mention anything that's not in the diabetes camp. Oh, sure, they impact on me in many different ways but they don't require any intensive management like T1D does. Oddly, despite the hypos putting me under this dark cloud, T1D is something I feel more "ready for the fight" over. It might be because things could escalate and become very bad with diabetes and the complications that it could bring or it might be the prospect of one day having very little to manage (maybe nothing) in later life when it comes to diabetes. It would be sweet to still be around to experience that.
Reading back through this post, it looks pretty bleak. Sorry, I'm usually a very positive and glass half full person. Life can be incredibly good sometimes! I don't need to think for too long to remember and to count my many blessings. Life is also very short and I firmly believe in enjoying myself as much as I can until I head off into the sunset, leaving behind a trail of horrified nurses. I encourage you to do the same (maybe not the nurses) when you can because, diabetes or not, it turns out you only get to do it once.
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