Diabetes Blog – Happy-Medium.net

I’ve read a lot of posts and comments on blogs, Facebook, etc. in the last week or so (you know, since the Diabetes Dad/DRI/BioHub dustup) from people who don’t believe there will ever be a cure for diabetes. Trust me… I totally get where you are all coming from. At times, it seems like the cure is so far out on the horizon that there really is no horizon at all, if you know what I mean.

But I can’t go that far.

This is my affirmation.

I’m not looking for it to happen any time soon. I have no idea what form a cure would take. I don’t know if any of the research currently under way will yield any results at all.

But I know that if we never try… we’ll never know for sure. I know that if we never stand up and say, “Hey, nearly 26 million people in this country have diabetes, and over 360 million people globally, and we deserve our chance to find a cure”, we’ll never know for sure.

I dig the new technology. I’m excited about new devices that will make us safer and healthier over the long haul. I love the extra education I’m getting every day. The helpful tips from the Diabetes Online Community, the unique perspective of my endocrinologist, the amazing drug therapies that have hit the marketplace in the past twenty plus years, the improvement in meter technology and CGMs and diet and nutrition.

Still… none of it amounts to a cure.

And you know what? I’m so grateful for the fact that I’m living today with diabetes, in this era, because I have a lot more in my arsenal to fight this chronic condition than anyone who’s ever lived with it before.

Still… none of it amounts to a cure.

In the past year and a half, I’ve learned, shared experiences, met people, asked questions, made mistakes, had successes, and expanded my horizons beyond even my own comprehension and despite my own fears. I’m not sure I can convey in this medium exactly what that feels like, but it feels really good.

Still… none of it amounts to a cure.

I have a healthy skepticism of government, and medical technology firms, and big pharma, and yet I believe that the absolute power of a cure for diabetes would not, could not allow it to be kept a secret for long.

Ever hear the phrase “Prepare for the worst, hope for the best”?

I am prepared to live with my disease for the rest of my natural-born life. I’m not counting on a cure. I don’t see it in this or any other 5 to 10 year time frame I’ve ever lived in. I too look at new presentations of so-called “solutions” with a wary eye. Even disdain.

But I refuse to give up on the idea altogether. Hoping for the best means hoping for a cure. I will keep hoping for a cure, if for no other reason than to keep hope alive for the next generation.

Because the next generation deserves hope too.

Because this generation deserves hope too.

Because… while I’m bombarded on all sides by glucose issues and possible complications and the next fundraising pitch disguised as The Greatest Thing Ever, I refuse to let any of it take my hope away.

This is my affirmation.