The Problem With Diabetes...

I've often said, is that it's not the same for everyone. You can read my blog - with my tough guy logic and talk about how it's all just a matter of simple rapid math (carbs - exercise = insulin required) - and conclude that - all in all - it's really not that difficult of a disease to manage.

On the other hand, you can know a guy like Kerm. Kerm was the first diabetic I was introduced to when I left the hospital after my diagnosis. At the time, I was 13 and he was 17. His name was Chris, but everyone called him Kerm due to his resemblance to the frog that was in vogue in the 80's.

While I never saw Kerm have a bad attitude about diabetes - in fact, he was a counselor at many diabetic camps - he also rarely seemed to be in good control. Truth be told, I was never close enough to him to know why he was always running high or low but - at least for Kerm - the "simple math" I preach here often didn't work. We all know that out of control diabetics are prone to complications and Kerm was being treated for eye problems before he was 19.

From time to time, I'd get updates from people who bumped into Kerm and the story was usually the same. "He was happy. He asked about you. He's having problems with his diabetes." I imagine it's been at least 18 years since I spoke to him.

Last week, Chris Blevins died. He was only 40. I'm truly sorry the math wasn't as simple for him, because if anyone deserved better, he did. Everyone who knew Kerm loved him - diabetics and non-diabetics alike.

Does Kerm's death mean anything for my diabetes or - if you read this blog because you have diabetes - yours? No. My blood sugar was 95 when I got up this morning and will do what it always does - more or less. Your diabetes, also, isn't dictated by how difficult it was for Kerm. On the other hand, if diabetes feels like a punishment to you and you struggle to maintain a good attitude about it, don't use Kerm's story as a crutch. Because while his blood sugars were frequently out of control, his attitude never was. And years from now, that's what his family and friends will remember about him. I know I will.

Comments

  1. Eric Gervase10:01 AM

    Good post Marcus...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous10:11 AM

    You knew Kerm too? He and I were counselors in the same cabin several years ago at HDYC.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The gun in my basement.

Image
In my basement, I have a safe. And in that safe, under expired passports and birth certificates, there's a gun. It's unloaded. Hasn't been loaded in probably twenty years, and yet every time I take it out, I check to make sure. If you're a gun nerd, it's a 9 shot .22 revolver. On this website , it says that "it is true that many people have been killed by a .22 LR in the course of history," but the writer concludes that this weapon is a bad choice for self defense. I didn't buy it for self defense. I didn't even buy it. It was my father's and after he died, my mother gave it me, along with an Elgin watch he'd worn for years. The watch was weathered and worn and I took it to be restored. The jeweler refused, saying it was worthless. Two decades later, the watch is still in my jewelry box. There's no need for it to be locked up. I have no idea if this gun is in my possession legally. No idea if my father had a permit for it, or w
Read more

Happy D-Blog Day, Uh, I Guess...

So according to diabetics blog-wide, today is D-Blog Day, the day when those of us affected by diabetes are supposed to blog about it. Or draw awareness to diabetes... Or something like that. I'm really a bad poster child for the disease. Not because I'm not in great control (actually, I am), but because I've just never been bothered by the disease so much. Red sums it up well in Shawshank Redemption: "Get busy living, or get busy dying." So if living means three blood sugar tests a day, so be it. If living means being hooked up to an insulin pump, go to it. That being said, I feel for anyone with diabetic kids... I'm a tough guy about the disease. I wouldn't be if my kids had it. If either of my kids had diabetes, I'd be screaming about the politicians who are spending money on wars instead of research, and I'd be yelling about the schools that make it difficult to be a diabetic in the classroom. But my kids don't have diabetes, so instead I
Read more

Jon Obst - RIP

Image
Last night, I learned that Jon Obst, one of the best diabetic ultra runners the world has known and my teammate on the original Team Type 1 Running Team, had passed away. For me and for everyone who knew Jon, the news was heartbreaking. Since I learned about Jon's death, I've been thinking about the stories I knew about him. It would be entirely incorrect to say we were close. Near as I can count, we spent time together on four weekends for races, with a casual Facebook relationship in between and since. But the thing with Jon was, you didn't have to spend much time with him to feel close to him. Before I begin,  I want you to know how good of a runner Jon was. If you look at his results , you'll see that he completed 36 ultra races, finishing 11 of them on the podium. Anyone who has completed a single ultra knows how deep of a well it takes you to compete in such races. Keep in mind, this list doesn't include the races Jon didn't finish and anyone who knows
Read more