Luck and Blessings

For three days now, these beautiful flowers have been smiling back at me from beside my computer in my office. Their exquisite aroma fills the air, wafting through me every time I enter the room. They were given to me from my boyfriend Michael, simply because he wanted to show how much he loved our time away and to thank me for 'letting him be him'. I am blessed.

I am blessed with love, I am blessed with family and I am blessed with circumstance.

I find one of the best parts of visiting a new place, is discovering the city, its streets and ally ways. It's people, it's smells, it's sounds. When I was in Thailand, I loved taking in the city as we jumped from taxis to buses, tuk tuks, the subway, ferries, vans, the lot. But it didn't take long for me to wonder: What if I'd been born here with diabetes, to a struggling family on the streets and in the slums? How long would I have? Would I have died before I was even diagnosed?

At the Rotary International Convention, I stumbled across a booth tying two of my passions together: Rotary and Diabetes. The Rotarian Action Group for Diabetes aims to increase the awareness of diabetes, coordinate treatment and education of diabetes patients, and provide diabetic supplies to third world nations. What stood out to me most was the words written across the flyer they were handing out: 'No child should die from diabetes'. Simple and true. I am excited about discovering this group and hope that you will join me in visiting their facebook page and help them to make a difference.

A time to recharge

Well what a whirlwind my annual holidays were. Or perhaps I should more aptly say - what a roller coaster they were! While it took me a while to 'come down' and adjust to the the time off (who new one would need to 'adjust'!!), our trip to Asia was incredible. Thailand was nothing short of AHmazing! Absolutely loved it. So much so, we were planning our next trip back before we'd even left. The people are so friendly, the food is delicious and there's thousands of adventures to be had. It really is the land of a thousand smiles.

Diabetes-wise there was never an issue. I only had two very mild lows, and never got sick... except for a little flu (but then I probably caught that on a plane or just wasn't used to city pollution). I came home with enough diabetes supplies for another holiday (as predicted!) and the worst thing to happen was that a freaked out when I thought my insulin was becoming warm for too long during a day trip to the Tiger Temples (but of course I had plenty of back up supplies back in the hotel).

Before leaving, I was generally pretty tense about  a lot of things and in particular I was telling myself I need to start 'getting used to' the fact my mum is dying and that we just don't know when. That I needed to 'make plans' for how I was going to make the most of our time left together and also how to deal with my mental and emotional state during and after. What I wasn't thinking was that we might loose her while I was away. It's true what they say, at the end of the day, nothing can prepare you for something like this. While I have been there since the moment she was diagnosed, and I have been informed of the various 'processes' and stages of 'decline', deep down there is always still a level of shock and devastation at every stage.