A strange anniversary - UPDATED

UPDATE: Today is World Diabetes Day. Let's all pray for a cure. Also, please see my friend Jamie's post. -J

This is a post I meant to do a couple of weeks ago, but didn't make it happen. October 20 was an anniversary for Mike, but not one we traditionally celebrate. Four years ago Mike was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. In many ways it seems like it's been much longer than that, as we can't really remember life before diabetes since it's become such a part of our lives.

The reason I wanted to blog about this strange anniversary is that I want to honor Mike and the way he has handled this life-altering disease. I'll never forget so many things about that time in our life:

*On the phone with my mom at work the day before he got diagnosed as I explained his symptoms to her - I remember the exact words she said, "Julie, you don't think he has diabetes, do you?" We're so grateful she asked that question, because we both got on the internet and began to research, so we were not majorly caught off guard the next day when the doctor suggested the same. I didn't think it could be diabetes because all that I was familiar with was type 2 - the more common type that is usually caused by age and/or lifestyle factors. Mike was incredibly healthy and obviously young (just 26 y.o. at the time), so I didn't know how he could have diabetes. As we immersed ourselves in the diabetes education resources available, we soon learned that type 1 was a completely different disease.

*Getting the call from Mike the day of the diagnosis. He had gone in for a sinus infection he couldn't shake, but as I mentioned before, we kinda expected the diabetes diagnosis. (He had been losing weight like crazy and was constantly hungry and thirsty.) I remember losing it and then begging my supervisor to let me go home early. On the way home, I stopped by the grocery store and bought a bunch of groceries. At the time we assumed Mike was headed toward a completely sugar- and carb-free lifestyle. Thankfully that is not the case with type 1. He certainly shouldn't overeat on those things (just as the rest of us shouldn't), but a very common myth is that type 1 diabetics can't eat sweets. I remember trying to get out all my tears on the way home so that I could be strong for Mike.

*Driving away from the endocrinologist's office after Mike's first appointment. He wasn't the most sensitive doctor ever and was somewhat lacking in bedside manner. Mike had asked him about life expectancy with diabetes, and let's just say the doctor was pretty harsh. (Typically doctors are dealing with patients who don't want to make the lifestyle changes to take good care of themselves, so oftentimes I think they're especially harsh to scare people into taking care of themselves.) We were driving in separate cars as we left the office, and a car cut me off and almost hit me. I was crying at the time, feeling hopeless, and that almost-collision snapped me back to the reality that no matter what the doctor said, Mike's life is not in the doctor's hands, not in Mike's, nor in mine. None of us knows how much time we have.

Instead, Mike has chosen to live his life so fully. He inspires me constantly for never complaining. He gives himself several shots a day, pricks his fingers to check his blood sugar and practices portion control. The number of prescriptions he has to keep track of each month would rival an 80-year-old. Occasionally he dreams of a day when he can devour an entire pizza or eat a huge stack of pancakes. :) But he never wallows in self pity.

If you had asked either one of us that day if life was going to be different, we would have assumed yes. We didn't know if Mike would ever again be able to do the things he loved to do. But since his diagnosis we've been on two backpacking trips, traveled to the third-world three times for mission trips, backpacked Scotland and been on numerous camping and hiking trips. So I'm pretty sure he's not letting diabetes get him down.

I love my Mikey, and I'm so blessed to have him in my life. He's already a wonderful father to Amelia, and I'm so glad that she will have him as a role model of living a life of hope.