My Consequence of Diabetes

Yesterday was the 3rd annual Diabetes Art Day.  Lee Ann Thill over at The Butter Compartment is the creator of this awesome event.

What began in 2010 with only about 80 participants, has grown.  In its second year there were over 170 participants.  This year, it looks like that total will be beaten out of the water!

Unfortunately I didn't get my art up yesterday.  I am adding it today.

As I'm sure everyone knows, with Diabetes comes the danger of complications.   We've all heard the horror stories.  The one's that start with "my friends uncles cousin in law......" and ends with blindness, amputation or death.  You know what I'm talking about.

Well, sometimes those stories come true.

Because of years of neglecting my Diabetes, I became one of the statistics.  After years of letting my sugars run high, because I was scared of having a low blood sugar out in public, or in the middle of the night, I noticed some symptoms that I probably ignored for too long.  Perhaps if I had been a "better Diabetic", or perhaps if I hadn't been stuck in a town that has a severe shortage of Doctors, or maybe it's because of the lack of benefits at our places of work, I would have taken better care of myself.  It may be just that since I was told from the beginning that I wouldn't live very long, so I just sort of expected the worst, that I neglected things.  It doesn't really matter what the reason, it's what the end result was:

Triple Bypass Surgery January 10, 2011

It was a rude wake up call.  Please don't let this happen to you.  Take care of yourself.

                                                     DON'T LET DIABETES WIN


(the above picture is not me, but i have the same scar.  it's not pretty, and it wasnt fun.  if i knew then what i know now, i would have done things so differently!  this didn't have to happen to me.  i pray for a cure, so it doesn't have to happen to anyone else!)