Of course I have thought about not having diabetes. I have prayed for a cure and dreamed of a life free of shots and finger sticks. I am sure most of us have. But for some reason the thought kind of scares me.
Remember the movie The Shawshank Redemption? Remember the scene when Brooks get out of prison and desperately wants to go back? He has been so used to living in prison that being free is now like a prison for him. He has become “institutionalized.” Functioning in prison is the norm for him and anything else is uncomfortable and disturbing.
Is that was a cure would be like? I mean, at first will we hesitate each time a box of cookies is plopped down in front of us? Would we wonder how many carbs are in that meal we were just served? Would we want to check our BG every once and while just to see if our machine is still working or just for fun?
I think I would save Master P. I would have him in a shadow box or something. That would be awesome. I could make a mobile with all the old BG machines I have too!
I know after time I would be very happy not having the big D but I honestly think I will miss it. Well not miss “it” but miss the routine.
Would we all stay in touch? That would be my biggest fear. I would hate to now keep in touch with all of you and read what you are going through. We should make a pact. If there is ever a cure for diabetes and we all do not have this stupid disease to deal with any longer, we should promise to continue posting about all the yummy goodness we are enjoying.
Now that I look at it, the only negative to being cured would be the possibility of losing touch with those friends whose friendship began because of the disease.
I promise I will continue even if it’s only You Tube Tuesdays and an occasional Ninja post.
That is of course, if a cure is found.
10 comments:
I've thought about that before too George. I don't want to lose the people I've met because of this stupid disese, but man how I would love for the disease to go away.
I can't even fathom what life would be like if there is a cure and I'm not even the one with the disease. I hope there is a cure but I don't think about what it means if there is one. Because if there never is one it will make it that much more painfull.
If there ever is a cure I can see the title of diabetes blog posts everywhere: "I Can't Believe I Ate the Whole Thing".
Man, George, I hope we see that day. But, if not, I'm glad we (the OC) have each other. And, even if that day does come I'm still glad I have you guys.
What a great metaphor in "Shawshank". I promise to leave that special message hidden under a rock for all of you, should "the cure" come to pass...:-)
Seriously, though, I think we're all too entwined in the memory of our lives with the D to completely lose old habits or old friends. It's like being war buddies--we still speak each other's language.
Remember what Red said: you have to hold on to hope :-)
Hi George,
Shawshank is one of my favorite movies and I love how that seems to apply so well to diabetes.
I like the pact to stay in touch with the OC. I enjoy reading your blog and I really like how I feel like I'm not alone.
-Allison
Great post G-Money. That IS a great parallel (one of my favorite movies too).
I chuckled at the thought of shadowboxing our pump equipment, or somehow getting "crafty" with all of our supplies. That's awesome!
I too hereby promise to keep in touch. No matter what.
I know what you mean, George. I've lived with it so long, I don't know how I would function without it. But I would like to give it a try.
You're right, the downside would be missing all the great people I've "met" because of it. We would all still have to stay in touch. Life just wouldn't be the same...
If there is a cure, we should all go out for sushi.
hi...
allow me to introduce myself. i'm lynne, or maybe more accurately "lurker lynne." i've been reading your blog and a few others for a little while now and thinking about responding/writing something of my own/etc. but haven't until now.
great post today. i think about life after a cure quite often (when i'm not imagining that there is a cure but it's kept from us because of a conspiracy propagated by lifescan, lilly and medtronic et. al.) and i do think there's probably more institutionalization that we (as least i) would like to admit.
what if i couldn't blame my mood swings on my blood sugar?
what if couldn't use diabetes as an excuse for why i couldn't do something (that i didn't want to do anyway)?
when i no longer had lows forcing me to eat when i wasn't hungry, would i suddenly eat only when i *was* hungry?
would my effed up relationship with food clear itself up?
would i be less afraid of things i do, but sometimes avoid, now: multi-day backpacking trips, hiking by myself, traveling in foreign countries, living alone?
i do want a cure. i used to pray it would happen in my lifetime back when i used to pray. but i often wonder what it would mean. i think i wouldn't be the person i am had my life not radically changed when i was nine years old. (that which does not kill you makes you stronger and all that...) so when something that's so much a part of you disappears (even when it's a "bad" thing) are you left with a big hole? a scar? a vague memory?
it WOULD be sorta cool to find out.
as for the relationships you've made (with whom i can only assume are people you've met because of your blog), i assume it will be like changing jobs. sometimes your coworkers get to be your closest friends for a while because you spend so much time with them. then you leave the employers and suddenly your relationship is reduced to christmas cards and youtube forwards.
but sometimes... you forge a bond that nothing - not the absence of a common workplace or home town or school or disease - can take away.
i'll get off my soapbox now. keep on truckin', ninja.
I've thought about it too, and like Penny said, I'm not even the one with Diabetes. I don't know how'd I'd manage to not want to check my little guy now and then. And I wonder how long it would take before the carb numbers didn't calculate in my head?
As for me, I will be on the beach in Zihuatanejo, and you all can meet me there. I will have the boatdrinks.
A cure for Diabetes....I'm not sure how I'd react.
First I'd probably not believe it.
When I was diagnosed, my Dr.'s told me a cure was 10 years away. I just celebrated my 30 anniversary with it, so I am a bit skeptical about any and all things cure related.
Diabetes has been the longest relationship I've had to date, and we would be getting a divorce "for the cure".
After the shock wore off, I'd get the vaccine(or whatever,)and then go to town on Reese's peanut butter cups, flan, chocolate, and probably throw a big party for all my D-blog friends at Ben and Jerry's HQ.
Maybe we could make our own flavor called "Ketoacidoses - no - more-ses," or "Diabetes Treaties."
It would be silly and along those lines. We could eat ice-cream until we all suffered from a collective brain freeze and get all crafty with our obsolete D supplies.
Craft shows would never be the same and neither would the internet!
I'' stay in touch with all my D-friends, cure or not. We are soldiers in battle and all of us have the scars to prove it! I need my D-buddies, regardless of a cure.
k2
Ooh, George, such mixed emotions on this one!
Thanks for making me wonder what it might be like...
Best,
AmyT
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