Thursday, October 30, 2014

More Than a Number

I am more than a number.
 I am a child with dreams and determination.
I want to succeed. I want to be healthy.
 I am listening, learning, doing my best.
I'm staying active. I'm eating right.
 I am the victim of a system that fails my family,
fails to educate, fails to innovate.
I thrive in spite of the standards. I rise above the average.
In more ways than one.
I try new therapies boldly, but blindly. Alone. Terrified.
I sing, I teach, I shine. And I struggle.
 I am more than a number.
I'm a woman with dreams and determination.
 I find partnership. I discover community.
We are more than our numbers.
I am a woman, a mother, and I'm still listening, learning.
I rise and fall, ebb and flow,
knowing that there is much I don't know.
I am not a statistic.
I am a human being.
I am more than a number.
So are you.

9 comments:

  1. Thank you for this! You have amazing timing (other than the 7 ate 9 comment)!! Yesterday, Owen was asked to describe himself. He answered, "Diabetes. That's it. There's nothing else". He LOVES your videos, so I can't wait to show him this!!!

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  2. This is lovely and you just encouraged a mom to a sweet 14 you girl, dx with T1D in August.

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  3. Awesome time line pictures Melissa, lovely your daughter. Good job !! keep moving forward !!

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  4. Love the photos, and what a great way to see the story unfold over the years! (I, unfortunately, have no history of my A1cs, but I'm pretty sure they probably follow the same general pattern)

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  5. Hi Melissa, I appreciate your blog and the pics. I was diagnosed in 1945, when I was 6. My first A1c was in 1980. Very high numbers like yours for about 10 years, but much better by the mid 1990s. It takes a combination of good A1c's and stable BG's, without so many highs and lows, to avoid diabetes related complications.

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  6. Thanks Melissa. I really enjoyed your timeline of photos and comments. Yes, we're definitely much more than just numbers of averages.I was diagnosed long before the A1c even existed. It doesn't define me any more than the label of a disease does.

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  7. I love the way you tell your story Melissa. I think this illustrates so well, with numbers yet, that we are worth so much more than numbers

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  8. Thank u for sharing ur story!!!

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