Diabetes Awareness Month: D-Quote #1

November is Diabetes Awareness Month! For those of us living with and impacted by diabetes it is a chance to advocate, educate and provide awareness for this challenging condition. I also think of it as a way to provide support to those of us living with diabetes.

As some of you might know, I share a quote each morning on the Facebook page for Diabetes Light. Last year I started a special initiative involving quotes to promote advocacy for November’s Diabetes Awareness Month. I asked our community members to write a quote about diabetes which was then shared each day for morning quote. We had many awesome contributions and the D-quote campaign was a big success!

I reached out to our community again this year asking them to share a quote with these instructions: your quote about diabetes can promote advocacy, awareness, be something you have learned, something that makes life easier, something that is hard, sad or frustrating, a funny or interesting story, etc. You get my point! I also asked them to provide a picture of themselves which I believe only further increases our advocacy efforts. First by putting a face to a story and also helping people realize just how many people this condition affects. Diabetes has no limits.

So many wonderful and thoughtful quotes have come in and I look forward to sharing them with you most every day this month! I love the opportunity to hear from our community to better understand how diabetes affects them. Many are fresh voices from those who do not currently blog. A BIG thanks to everyone who worked so hard to help put into words what this condition means to them as a way to advocate.

I see advocacy as a way to move us closer to a cure. By sharing what this invisible disease means, how it affects us and the challenges it presents we can better help people understand what we are up against and why we need a cure. Hopefully then when asked for a donation for a diabetes fundraiser someone might be more willing to contribute because they have a better understanding first-hand what this life with diabetes is about.

Thank you to those of you who do not live with diabetes but choose to follow along as a way to more fully understand diabetes and the part it plays in our lives. You are our voice and can help advocate too, sharing our stories when clarification and understanding is needed regarding this widely misunderstood condition.

Lastly, there is one other new thing this year with our D-Quote initiative. Someone I was talking with over the weekend suggested sharing the quote each day not only on the Facebook page but also here in a blog post to help further promote our efforts and outreach. So that is what I am doing. Although the first quote for Diabetes Awareness Month appeared on Facebook on Friday, November 1st, this blog post is going up just a few days late featuring Friday’s quote. Watch for many more inspiring Facebook and blog posts this month featuring D-Quotes—the inspiring thoughts and views of our community regarding life with diabetes.

Without further ado, here is the first November Diabetes Awareness month D-Quote! Thanks so much for reading.

*****

My name is Cynthia. I am a warrior. I live with Type 1 diabetes, a serious life-threatening condition invisible to most. My body does not escape the pain—enduring thousands of needle pokes every year, endless medical appointments to fight for the health many wake up with, exhausting blood sugar fluctuations despite my best efforts, sleep disrupted by low blood sugars, the threat of life-altering complications and at times discrimination. This path has not been easy but I do my best to thrive, educate the misinformed and treat my body, mind and spirit with pristine love and care. Diabetes has helped me learn how to survive despite the most turbulent and frightening conditions. I am strong. I am brave. I am a fighter and do not give up despite the tears and frustration. Diabetes has made me a warrior.

Cynthia Zuber
Type 1 diabetes
Diagnosed at age 11
2/13/87
www.diabeteslight.com

You have just read a D-quote, a Diabetes Light initiative to create awareness and support for November’s Diabetes Awareness month. Please like, comment and share to promote advocacy and awareness for diabetes. Thank you!

*Like/follow us on Facebook at Diabetes Light: My holistic journey to health to read more quotes this month from those living with and affected by diabetes.

**We are still in need of more quotes! Please message me your contribution or email me at cynthia.zuber@gmail.com. Pics with your quote are welcome. Thanks for your help! 

*****

In Peace & Light,

Cynthia