{"id":16584,"date":"2011-05-25T09:47:35","date_gmt":"2011-05-25T13:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584"},"modified":"2015-12-27T15:45:13","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T20:45:13","slug":"live-this-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLive this life.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

The day my diagnosis essay<\/a> posted was a great one for boosting the feeling of community with my diabetes care. I was touched to read the comment thread from the essay because it allowed me to connect with some of you about your own life changing doctor visits. That day, I also sent the essay to the Insulindependence<\/a> Captain google group.\u00a0 My email inbox was flooded with responses on how reading the essay brought back vivid memories of their own personal experiences with being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No matter what age of diagnosis (type 1, type 2, LADA, gestational), most of us felt isolation in that life changing moment of hearing some version of the words, \u201cyou have diabetes.\u201d\u00a0 The evening of the day the essay posted, I sat on my deck, sipping on a glass of local pinot gris, marking the occasion of having such a personal piece of writing published.\u00a0 I was sharing the celebratory moment on the phone with a friend and he and I were talking about connecting with people through this common thread of our stories with diabetes, I was overcome with the completely opposite feeling of isolation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was in January when I was reading the weekly posts on A Sweet Life, when I read a blog post by Erin Spineto about her preparations for a solo sailing adventure in the Florida Keys as a fund-raiser for the non-profit Insulindependence<\/a>.\u00a0 At the time, I had been researching different diabetes training programs because I wanted to train for something to get in better shape and start to build community around my diabetes care.\u00a0 I had been dragging my heels in signing up for a Team WILD<\/a> training even though I was excited about what they do as an organization and despite the fact, two of my closest girlfriends told me that they would do the Chicago sprint triathlon with me as type 3 supporters.\u00a0 Type 3 supporters are described on Team WILD\u2019s website as, \u201cthe female friends and loved ones of a woman on the team who has diabetes or pre-diabetes.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I struggled with the idea of having to train to swim as part of the race. Lets face it; I was the girl at swimming lessons as a child that did not like to get her face wet.\u00a0 That was until the swimming instructor decided to put pennies on the bottom of the pool.\u00a0 If I were brave enough to get my face wet and dive to the bottom of the pool, I was going to become the wealthiest eight-year-old I knew.\u00a0 Who could resist those copper colored circles of joy? But what triathlon has pennies in the bottom of the lake?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When I read on Insulindependence\u2019s website about how they had an entire club within their organization devoted to outdoor adventure, I was thrilled.\u00a0 I could easily get behind the idea of training to go backpacking in Yosemite or cross-country skiing in Maine with other people with diabetes.\u00a0 They had an announcement on their website; they were currently accepting applications for Captains for their outdoor adventure club Testing Limits<\/a>.\u00a0 It was settled, this is what I had been looking for, and I decided to apply then and there for one of the Captain positions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At the time, I was in the midst of undergoing testing for a 3rd<\/sup> autoimmune disease due to some markers that had come up on bloodwork.\u00a0 I had been on that testing road many times over the years with type 1 diabetes and celiac disease.\u00a0 They are both autoimmune diseases, increasing the potential for developing additional autoimmune diseases.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think that anyone likes undergoing medical testing.\u00a0 But as I began going through the familiar process of test after test, I noticed myself reacting strongly both mentally and physically. I could feel myself fighting to not have anything else to manage, even if potentially it may be an explanation to some of the symptoms I was experiencing.\u00a0 I kept slamming up against the thought; I don\u2019t want anything to get into the way of me living fully. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

One of the Captains for Triabetes, the triathlon training club for Insulindependence recently shared an article<\/a> he had written about how the Greek titan Prometheus can teach us about living well with diabetes.\u00a0 I highly recommend reading the article and want to share one of his key closing thoughts, because, to me it is another way in exploring softening instead of hardening because of our challenges.\u00a0 He says, if there is one message he can impart to a child living with diabetes, which I will add could apply to anyone living with diabetes, it will be, \u201cLive this life.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am excited and honored to begin this blog journey with you and the connections that we share in this process of living fully with what we are given.\u00a0 We all have something that we struggle with and it is through these struggles that challenge us, that we are universally connected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":53098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nLife with Diabetes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The day my diagnosis essay posted was a great one for boosting the feeling of community with my diabetes care. I was touched to read the comment thread from the essay\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Katie Decker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584\",\"name\":\"Life with Diabetes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-25T13:47:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-27T20:45:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2de4e4140b78052ad9412a0cfdfd8ada\"},\"description\":\"The day my diagnosis essay posted was a great one for boosting the feeling of community with my diabetes care. I was touched to read the comment thread from the essay\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":1280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u201cLive this life.\u201d\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\",\"name\":\"ASweetLife\",\"description\":\"The Diabetes Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2de4e4140b78052ad9412a0cfdfd8ada\",\"name\":\"Katie Decker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4179d51ff0c855534ffbc789581c55a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4179d51ff0c855534ffbc789581c55a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Katie Decker\"},\"description\":\"Katie Decker was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was twenty-five years old and celiac disease one year later. Her explorations into living a healthy lifestyle with these diagnoses have transformed her life. She went from working at a fast-paced international architectural firm in Los Angeles to a small company in Portland, Oregon where having a balanced lifestyle is as valuable as good design. In 2007, Katie attended the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=17\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Life with Diabetes","description":"The day my diagnosis essay posted was a great one for boosting the feeling of community with my diabetes care. I was touched to read the comment thread from the essay","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Katie Decker","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584","name":"Life with Diabetes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg","datePublished":"2011-05-25T13:47:35+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-27T20:45:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2de4e4140b78052ad9412a0cfdfd8ada"},"description":"The day my diagnosis essay posted was a great one for boosting the feeling of community with my diabetes care. I was touched to read the comment thread from the essay","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg","width":1280,"height":1280},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=16584#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u201cLive this life.\u201d"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/","name":"ASweetLife","description":"The Diabetes Magazine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2de4e4140b78052ad9412a0cfdfd8ada","name":"Katie Decker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4179d51ff0c855534ffbc789581c55a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4179d51ff0c855534ffbc789581c55a6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Katie Decker"},"description":"Katie Decker was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was twenty-five years old and celiac disease one year later. Her explorations into living a healthy lifestyle with these diagnoses have transformed her life. She went from working at a fast-paced international architectural firm in Los Angeles to a small company in Portland, Oregon where having a balanced lifestyle is as valuable as good design. In 2007, Katie attended the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City.","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=17"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}