In response to Mike Durbin's Diabetes Blessings Week, I've put together some first "thanks" we might have given upon our diagnoses...

The DKA Survivor — Thank goodness I'm alive!

Symptomatic Solly — Thank goodness we know what it is!

The New Type 1 (adult) — Thank goodness there's insulin!

The New Type 2 — Thank goodness I don't need insulin!

Type 1 (at Thanksgiving dinner) — Thank goodness I have insulin, so I don't have to say "no" to anything!

 

Just a Touch of "The Sugar" — Thank goodness there's a pill for that!

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I’m thankful it’s just diabetes.

Was just watching a news story about a cute little girl. Her mother applied a numbing cream to her skin. It reminded of what we do for Charlie before we insert his sensor. There was an injection but it wasn’t insulin. It was chemotherapy. She grimaced ever so slightly as it went into her chest.

I’m thankful it’s just diabetes.

I’m thankful for my family.

I’m thankful that my grandmother is not in pain as she gets ready to leave us.

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In early 2008, I took a look at Passover through the lens of diabetes. One of the traditions I discussed was Dayenu, a song we sing after the recitation of the Ten Plagues visited upon the Egyptians. The word "dayenu" is sometimes translated as "it would have been enough/sufficient". The Haggadah with which I grew up -- a highly-abridged, poorly-translated version, to be sure -- chose instead to title the English version, "We Are Grateful".

The list I drew up included things to be thankful for in terms of being able to live with diabetes (rather than die from it), including: (READ MORE)

Thanksgiving eve began this morning as it does every year - with me sticking my head deep into the refrigerator and promising Susanne that the turkey does not smell funny.

We will wake up early tomorrow morning, drag ourselves downstairs and scrub that turkey cavity clean. When all the disgusting little bits are pulled and discarded, Susanne will then take a toothbrush and some Crest and scrub the inner bones until it’s sparkling white and minty fresh. Susanne will ask one more time if I think it smells funny. I will say no.

Following tradition, Susanne will go from worrying about the turkey not being fully cooked to worrying about it being fully cooked too soon, in a matter of minutes.

"Is it too early to serve dinner at 9:30 am?"

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Rachel From Cupcakes Take the Cake on Flickr

It's Turkey Day. A day full of family, gratitude, and carbs. From the sweet potato casserole to the pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving Day is filled with carb-laden goodies that can wreak havoc on blood sugars.

This year will be my second Thanksgiving with the pump. I don't even remember handling last year's Thanksgiving challenges. However, I do remember Christmas very vividly.

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On Monday I found out that my friend's house burned down. Rather than making apple pies or cranberry sauce in the hours before Thanksgiving, he and his wife will be sorting through ash and debris.

On Tuesday I found out that a friend's husband admitted to having an affair for more than a year. She will spend the hours before Thanksgiving checking credit card statements and learning more horrifying details.

My daughter Maeve and I couldn't avoid hearing my wife's anger while she sat stunned with the phone pressed to her ear.

"Daddy, whose head is it that mommy's gonna rip off?" Maeve asked.

Bad things happen to good people. And it seems everyone has something; something terrible and unexpected.

Charlie's diabetes is ours.

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