Thursday, December 31, 2009

Hello, 2010

There is a poem entitled ‘What Cancer Can’t Do’. I bought a gift with this poem inscribed on it and gave it to my friend who is a Breast Cancer Survivor. While I was sitting here thinking about the past decade, the past year, the upcoming year and what role Diabetes has played & will play in each, I remembered this poem.

Only....I changed it.

Diabetes is so limited....
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the spirit.

What a wonderful way to end a year and a decade, with hope, resolve and determination.

















I would like Diabetes to say hello to 2010 and strive to play fair in a game that I am tired of playing. I think Diabetes needs to make some resolutions and, because I’m such a good host, I will help it.

Dear Kelly:

*I will not bruise your body with the tools you need to keep you alive. I will let every insertion go well, be pain free and unnoticeable.

*I will back off of your thyroid, heart, liver, nerves, eyes, kidneys, feet, skin, every tissue and every organ in your body.

*I will not make you sad, angry, depressed, anxious, tired, confused, hopeless, stressed or suicidal.

*I will help to keep you in control. Of your blood sugars, of your emotions, of your health. No unexplained highs or unprepared lows. No mind boggling reactions, no slip into coma territory, no losing control of yourself.

*I will help your fingertips regain their feeling, stop being constantly sore, and will give you enough blood without having to prick several times.

*I will let you have your immune system back. So that when people walk around you coughing, wheezing and hacking from a cold, you don’t immediately get the flu and take 6 weeks to heal.

*I will let you have your body back. I know your body is exhausted & beat up from its every day battle; I will give you a reprieve.

*I will let you live as long and as normal as everyone else. I will not cause you to worry about your life, or the quality of your life, on a daily basis.

*While I can’t control people and their curious stares, their finger pointing, their judgments, their uninformed attacks, I will help you fight to prove them wrong. I will help you be healthy so that you can continue to be a warrior for invisible chronic illnesses.

*I will try to miraculously disappear just as I appeared. No warning, no signs, no history, no reason, no goodbyes, nothing. I will just leave.

Love, Diabetes

Eh, I can always hope, right?

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Happy New Year, everyone. Hope 2010 is a sheer delight!

*Peace.

5 comments:

  1. Great letter!
    And yes, we have to have hope.
    Happy New Year to you!

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  2. I lurve ALL of your blogs but this one especially. It is time that diabetes makes some resolves to us! You are brilliant and you give me a continuous stream of hope for us!

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  3. HAPPY 2010!
    May this year give you much hope, good health, lots of happiness, and and your fair share of martinis- shaken, not stirred!
    Kelly K

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  4. Hey Kelly, This is a GREAT post today. I loved it all, especially the pic. I'm thinking I need that blown up and posted on my office wall. Have a great 2010!

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  5. Kelly-

    Happy New Year! Great poem and letter! Cheers to 2010 and meeting IRL!

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