My diaversary (diabetic anniversary): 11 years today!

It’s funny how some days are burned into your memory, and you get reminded of them even if you forget to remind yourself. I’m great with remembering birthdays and special occasions… I guess my diaversary is one of those? But this year I had authentically forgotten, until Facebook showed me this picture from 4 years ago today:

And I looked at the date and realised it’s the 12th October. This was our first family pic, taken at my parents’ home in Durban, just before my dad’s epic 70th birthday party. So epic that I drank too much bubbly, ran up and down the stairs fueled by pure joy to be in my childhood home surrounded by my friends and family and liberated (slightly) from my cutie pie 3 month old baby (that’s Arty in the pic). And then had one of only two scary diabetic episodes in my life, where my blood sugar dropped so low in the middle of the night that Mark had to force jam into my mouth and called an ambulance.

Sheesh. What a way to celebrate a diabetic anniversary!

Meanwhile, I have gone over and over the events of that night, and realised it was almost entirely because I was breastfeeding, which results in erratic blood sugar, and then I drank bubbly and ran around. Not a good combo! And of course as soon as I got to the hospital they told me I was fine, but I was horribly shaken…

Interesting, then, that today not only marks 11 years with diabetes (more than a decade!) but also 4 years since I’ve had a diabetic incident. A double celebration! And I am filled with gratitude: that I am still 100% healthy after 11 years with a chronic condition. That it is 2018 and not 2007. That I understand my body so much better than I did all those years ago. That I have two healthy children. That I feel (most days) abundantly healthy. I am a very lucky diabetic.

Here’s to the next 11 years! And 22! And 33! 44! 55!

PS: Also, hilariously, 9 years ago I posted this on Facebook: “Six hours on a bus. No aircon. Bumpy roads. Motion sickness. And some guy snotting into his hand and spitting on the floor… Yeeuch.” We were in Cambodia and it was the absolute worst bus drive of my life. I was so ready to stop adventuring and go home!