Skip to main content

#happydiabeticchallenge - Blue Friday

Today is the final day of the MAY you be a #happydiabeticchallenge - Blue Friday! Generally I wear blue on Friday for diabetes awareness, but today as I sent commands to the space station from the backroom I couldn't help but notice that Earth was dressed to the nines in her gorgeous blues! I decided to repost an entry I made from 2014. Happy Friday friends!



I would really quite like, a trip into space,
It’s such an adventure, it’s such a neat place.
The Earth’s glowing texture, a feast for the eyes,
The inky black heavens juxtaposed with sunrise.

The astro-thought hit me, when I was just five,
Inspired me to learn, have determination and drive.
Before understanding, the pile o’ paperwork,
Astronauts, it seems, must be free of all quirks.  

Diabetes was a significant bump in the road,
I got mad at the rules, I was going to explode.
It was unfair and cruel, that fateful diagnosis,
Even when the doctors said, “She has a great prognosis.”

“Why did this happen to me?” I would think,
Not realizing how the two worlds might interlink.
I decided hard work, was really the only way,
That my thoughts might take form…make a difference someday.

The astro-thought never left, this now 30-something’s mind,
Becoming a ‘naut, and leaving Earth behind.
I ache for the day, when “D” won’t decide,
My innate limitations on where I reside.

It is no secret, my soul longs to be free,
I can’t wait to float in zero gravity!
Flying to space will shatter the bounds,
Of this disease which [currently] holds me to the ground.
Labels:

Comments

  1. Rick PhilipsFriday, May 10, 2019

    I adore that picture for blue Friday. Yeah I wanted to be a scientist as well. Unfortunately, I am not that smart and I have diabetes. Oh well, I can admire form afar.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Who has two thumbs and loves comments? Nerdy April!!! Type one out and hit publish!

Popular posts from this blog

The road to curing Type 1 Diabetes

From the moment of diagnosis, the road is rough, the learning curve is steep and the stakes are literally life or death. The map is less-than-helpful - paths originating from virtually every corner, coalescing at a center point (aka "diagnosis") and bursting back outwards - some paths cross and wrap around each other but others are isolated. And even with all of these roads, most of the territory is uncharted - how did we all get here and how will we all exit? Where are the obstacles we haven't found yet? Which passage holds the key to unlocking the solution?

On any given day I feel pretty isolated with this disease - I'm the only T1D in my group at work, the only one in mission control, the only one in my family. I go through the logistics of calling insurance companies, ordering supplies, changing sites and troubleshooting malfunctions mostly on my own. Even those pesky carbs really only get counted in my brain, no group think for a meal bolus here. But there is b…
3 comments
More Nerdy This Way! »

International Travel with Type 1 Diabetes

Whew! Back from one international trip and on to another next week! I will admit my eyes roll every time I get the "we're gunna need to pat you down" talk at TSA, but international travel is a whole different animal. I thought it might be fun to see what goes through my brain and into my bags for these types of trips!


I wouldn't be a NASA Flight Controller if I wasn't good at planning, the key to international travel as a T1D is PLANNING!

3 months prior

Assess supplies. Mine come in 90-days supplies so I like to inventory at least 3 months prior and make a plan to order more early if the trip is going to coincide with the end of my 90-day stock. In my experience supply companies are usually pretty good about adjusting orders as needed if you tell them the reason for the early request - just mention you have an international trip coming up and want to make sure to have plenty of supplies (and backups!) in time. Request a loaner insulin pump. It's likely the comp…
2 comments
More Nerdy This Way! »

Type 1 Diabetes - IT life.

Nine years ago (9 years ago?!), I was still waiting for the black-box-doctors at the FAA to clear my Class III medical certificate - a requirement for my then-job flying on experimental Army helicopters. To 'pump' up my diabetes-dejected ego (ha), Dave let me tag along with him for his MH-47G proficiency simulator runs. That tiny taste into helicopter flight dynamics gave me so much appreciation for him - hovering is literally the.hardest.thing, I was tense the entire time and constantly felt like I was one small cyclic movement away from losing control. Even though I knew in the back of my mind we were in a (moving) simulator, my senses got lost in the weight of the flight controls, the movement on the screens, and the hard thumps when I hovered right into the ground.

At the end of the runs I asked him how he has the stamina to pilot this monster of a helicopter for literally 15 hours straight (these special ops versions can mid-air refuel). He sort of laughed, but his answer…
2 comments
More Nerdy This Way! »
01 09 10