My Diabetic Heart

NHBPM Day 8 Prompt: 3 Truths and 1 lie. Tell us 3 things that are true about you, your condition, your Health Activism, or your life. Now tell us 1 lie. Do you think we will be able to tell the difference?

“One of these things is not like the others, One of these things just doesn’t belong, Can you tell which thing is not like the others, By the time I finish my…” shoo be do be do.  🙂   Which of the following statements was NOT made by me?

1)  “There is no shame in having health problems; the real shame lies in not seeking the help you need.”

2)  “My brush with death has taught me that I truly have nothing to lose, yet everything to gain, by reaching out to others.  And through it all, I’ve relearned the value of having loving and supportive friends.”

3)  “I’m an alpha male on beta blockers.”

4)  “Prior to my diagnoses, I really didn’t give a shit about Twitter. Had no use for it, and thought it was just another trendy thing that would fizzle.”

Well, do you know the correct answer?  Leave a comment below and tell me what your guess is.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

NHBPM Day 7 Prompt: Write about something that gets you down, burns your out, or makes you sad. Purge it in a blog post. Turn it around at the end. Tell Tuesday why you’re ready for it.

Oh boy, a post about things that get me down, burn me out, and make me sad.  Yeah, this could turn into a long rant quite easily.  In the interest of time, though, I’m going to keep it short and say this:

I hate diabetes, congestive heart failure, cancer, and every other painful health issue that I or my friends and loved ones face every day.  And I really dislike the financial strains I have been under since diagnosis.  More often than not, if something is bothering me, it’s probably one of those items.

Right now, though, it’s a a lack of sleep from working late and having other obligations to meet.  And there’s one remedy for that: SLEEP!

Good night!

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

NHBPM Day 6 Prompt: Get aspirational. Money is no longer an option. What is your biggest goal that is now possible? How could you get there? Now bring it back down to size. How much of this can you accomplish now, in a year, in five years?

As I sit here thinking about what to write for this post, I must admit that the first line of the prompt is a bit confusing.  “Money is no longer an option”? As I think about it, I believe that option should actually be object.  Money is no longer an object, meaning I have all the money I need to complete the grand ideas about which this prompt is asking.  Yes, that makes much more sense to me now.

If I were in a position where money were abundant and I didn’t have to worry about how to pay for insurance, medications, testing supplies, and other bills, I would quit my job and devote all of my time and energy to diabetes and heart disease advocacy.  I would turn the things I’m passionate about into my full time job.

I would love to be able to spend my time traveling the country, sharing my story and meeting people living with diabetes and congestive heart failure.  I want to be able to attend more of the meetings and conferences that my friends and fellow advocates attend.  In fact, if money really were no object, I’d buy a bus and a jet to travel in.  And I would make them available to others in the community who wanted to attend different events but didn’t have the means to get there.

And the Diabetes Online Community would finally have the D Prom of our dreams, and everyone in the community would be able to attend the event.

Sounds nice, doesn’t it?  Sadly, that’s just not the reality in which I live.

I have no money, no buses or planes, and no sponsors either.  I live paycheck to paycheck, just like so many millions of people do.  I just try make the most of the resources I have available.

I have a computer, a blog, a telephone, and a community full of amazing, intelligent, and passionate friends.  And when I combine those resources with my sense of creativity and determination, I know that anything can be accomplished.  If only I try.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

NHBPM Day 5 Prompt: 5 things that changed my life. For better? For worse? List 5 things that changed your life as a patient, caregiver, or Health Activist and how.

“Sometimes in life, horrible and unexplainable things happen.  These things are a test of character.  And I have character” – Agatha Trunchbull, from the movie, Matilda.

Here are 5 things, good, bad and in no particular order, that have happened in my life and tested my character to the limits:

•  Being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and congestive heart failure sure spiced things up a bit.  Good grief!  I can’t think of any one event in my life that so abruptly changed every aspect of my life as receiving those diagnoses.

• Dealing with my mother-in-law being diagnosed with end stage uterine cancer a year ago, and all of the chaos that has ensued as a result of that.

• Meeting, falling in love with, and maintaining relationship with April for the last 9 years.  We may not be married, but we live the vows “for better or for worse, in sickness and in health” each and every day.

• Finding the DOC has been one of the best things that has happened to me in the last 3 years.  The love and support that I have received from so many amazing people  in the community has played a huge role in my survival.  And that is not overstating things at all.

• Leaving home to attend college 250+ miles away.  If you can’t figure out why that was life changing, well… nevermind. 🙂

Can you list 5 things that have changed your life?  Sound off in the comments box below!

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

NHBPM Day 4 Prompt: What happens after you press “publish.” Write about your post-blog-writing process. Do you immediately tweet a link? Email it to everyone? Re-read it for spelling errors?

On the surface, my writing process is fairly simple. I get an idea, I think about it some, and then site down to write the post. The idea could come from an experience during doctor visits, things that strike me during chats with friends, from reading something online or offline, etc… And sometimes, I just need to vent.

Now, it may come as a surprise to some, but I struggle with just sitting down at the computer and typing out a post. And more often than not, the long and more hard hitting posts on MHD have started on paper. Yes, there are people in the world who still use paper and pen for writing, and I’m one of them. Call me old fashioned if you must, but when the last microchips of my computers have stopped working, I’ll still be able to write.

Now then, once I’ve managed to get my post into WordPress and have proof read it again, the events that happen upon clicking publish are pretty simple. Upon that click, the title and link of the blog post are automatically posted to Twitter via the WordPress to Twitter plugin I have installed on my blog. There is also a page for My Diabetic Heart on Facebook, and a link is posted there as well by way of an RSS feed.

I do tend to retweet my blog posts throughout the day to ensure that all of my followers have a chance to see it. Hey, we all have different schedules and different times that we are on twitter, right?

And once the post is published, tweeted and otherwise promoted, followers slowly trickle by to read it. And some readers even leave comments.  🙂

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

NHBPM Day 3 Prompt: Dear 18 year old me. Write a letter to yourself when you were 18. Be sure to tell yourself what to do more of, what to do less of, and what you have to look forward to in the next few (or several) years.

Dear Mike,

I am the ghost of your wild and crazy future.  I’m writing today to tell you about some exciting and horrifying events that will unfold in your future.  Let me tell you, you’re in for one hell of a ride.  So, lets begin.

I regret to inform you that your 18th year will be a rough one.  The day of your birthday, you’ll be at the hospital with a beloved uncle, hoping and praying that he’ll recover and be home soon.  A couple months later, just an hour after you’ve called the hospital to relay the news that you’ve aced your senior project presentation, your uncle will die with you having the chance to say good bye.
You’ll go to your senior prom two days later, but it won’t be a joyous occasion.  Two weeks after that, you’ll graduate high school.

You’ll head to college in August, 250 miles from home.  You’ll be lonely and scared, but you’ll adjust rather well over time.  And you’ll meet the love of your life on the first day your on campus.  And 9 years later, you’ll still be in love with her.

You’ll experience some tough breaks in college.  Like the broken leg you’ll endure just the first semester of your junior year.  You’ll question your ability to complete the semester and graduate on time because of this injury.  Yet, in your usual  stubborn way, you’ll trudge through that storm like every other.  You’ll have plenty of help, of course, but your own resilience will amaze you.  And everyone else.

You’ll graduate from college on time, and with honors.  You’ll struggle to make ends meet for a while, like so many will, but you’ll land a decent job.  And you’ll enjoy what you do. For a while anyway.  Like everyone else.

Then, just months after finally becoming eligible for health insurance at work, you’ll develop an infection.  A yeast infection.  And it won’t go away.  You’ll finally relent and go to the doctor.  The doctor will subject you to a battery of tests, and will diagnose you with type 2 diabetes and congestive heart failure.

You’ll fear for your life and lose much sleep because of haunting thoughts of dying in your sleep because your heart will be so weak.  You’ll learn to manage your diabetes quickly, and get into a routine of testing, medicating, and eating properly.  And you’ll use your knowledge of the internet to seek out information about your conditions.  And to find support.

After discovering social networks and blogs devoted to diabetes, and seeing the value of them, you’ll launch a blog of your own.  You’ll tell your story, eventually be published in a national diabetes magazine, and travel the country to meet other people with diabetes.

And through the experiences with your health, advocacy efforts, etc… you’ll find a reason and purpose for living.  And finally, you’ll realize how short and precious life really is.  You’ll commit yourself to living each day to the fullest.

So, there you have it.  A glimpse into your future.  Probably not at all what you expected, but it is what it is.  And you’ll learn to deal with it.  And maybe even be thankful for the experiences you have along the way.

And remember, “Life is not a journey to the grave with intentions of arriving safely in a pretty well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming … WOW! What a ride!”

Sincerely,
An Older, Wiser You.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

NHBPM Day 2 Prompt: My TV Show. Your blog is being turned into a TV show! Congrats – you’ve earned it. In fact, you get to co-write it. Write about the TV show based on your life or blog.

So let me get this straight.  You want to turn my blog into a TV show?  You really think my life is so interesting that people would watch?  Shoot, I struggle to get people to read the blog, but if you really think we can make a winner out of My Diabetic Heart on TV, I guess we can give it a shot.  I mean, the worst thing that will happen is it will be canceled after the pilot episode.

OK, so here are some initial thoughts about the show.

It’s not going to be a reality TV show, where cameras are following me everywhere.  Despite some evidence to the contrary, I do value my privacy.  So, that option is off the table.  Don’t even ask.

And if it is to be turned into a sitcom, docu-drama, etc…in which Hollywood actors will play the characters, two actors in particular are prohibited from the casting call list.

If we do go the Hollywood route, I do hope to we can get the guy that wrote the script for Buried on our writing team.  That’d be awesome.  What was his name again?  Oh, right. Chris Sparling!  Yeah, if you could just go ahead and give his people a call and set that up, that’d be terrific. M’kay.  What? You don’t have contact info for his people? Dagnabbit!  Oh wait, I know his wife, Kerri.  I’m sure she could help.  🙂

In all honesty though, I can’t see devoting a whole television show just to my life.  I think I would much prefer to do a talk show kind of thing.  Where I could talk about different aspects of my life, but also provide a platform for other PWDs to share their stories, promote advocacy efforts, and educate on the realities of life with all types of diabetes.   I want to do something that will really help other people, not just have the whole thing focus on me.

Oh, and if this venture is profitable, I’m going to insist that a large portion of the revenues, say 75% or more, be donated to Diabetes and Heart disease related charities.  Because that’s how I roll.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J

NHBPM Day 1 Prompt: Titles of my future book. Say you’re writing a book about your life, community, condition, or Health Activism. Come up with 5 working titles and a quick book jacket synopsis.

I find this prompt amusing because I’ve been toying with the idea of writing a book about my diagnosis and life with type 2 diabetes and congestive heart failure for a long time now.  While nothing is officially in the works for publication, I can say that my blog has been a great tool for documenting the stages of my journey.  😉

Now, I’ve thought about potential book titles a lot.  I mean, A LOT!  And the very first one that I came up with was Sore Fingers and a Broken Heart: My Life with Type 2 Diabetes & Congestive Heart Failure.  I thought it a good title.  I mean, it certainly covers both of the invisible illnesses with which I live.  It’s not, however, as thrilling as it could be.  Yet, I’m stuck on that theme.  Perhaps different words for the main title could make it better.  Something like… Bleeding Fingers, Broken Hearts – Yeah, that’s a little more like it.  Hey, as we say at work, if it bleeds, it leads.  🙂

OK, so the book has the potential of being titled: Bleeding Fingers, Broken Hearts: My Life with Type 2 Diabetes & Congestive Heart Failure.

And the synopsis for the book jacket?  Well, that could go something like this:

Living with type 2 diabetes or congestive heart failure at any age is hard enough, but imagine being diagnosed with both at age 24.  Follow along as I share the heartache of diagnosis, the struggles of living with multiple invisible illnesses, and the victories I’ve experienced in my fight to live on.  It’s a story of survival.  The story of my new life.  A life being lived to the fullest!

Again, I’m going for short, simple, and to the point.  Don’t want to give away too much.  Just enough to lure readers in.  🙂

So there you have it.  A few details about a book that may or may not see the light of day.  Yes, I know I didn’t follow the prompt to the letter, but that’s OK.  A prompt is merely a tool to get one thinking.  I’ve thought, I’ve composed, and I’ve posted.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J