Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Diabetes Blog Week 2016 Day 2: The Other Half of Diabetes


Click for the The Other Half of Diabetes - Tuesday 5/17 Link List.
We think a lot about the physical component of diabetes, but the mental component is just as significant. How does diabetes affect you or your loved one mentally or emotionally? How have you learned to deal with the mental aspect of the condition? Any tips, positive phrases, mantras, or ideas to share on getting out of a diabetes funk? (If you are a caregiver to a person with diabetes, write about yourself or your loved one or both!)

For this prompt, I let my inner voices out. If you know me, you’ll know that my inner voices are usually singing, and more specifically, generally singing a song parody of some kind.

If you haven’t seen or heard of the musical Hamilton (about Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and his rivalry with Aaron Burr), well, watch the Tonys in June, where it’s assured to win a boatload of them. I’ve parodied Hamilton relentlessly over the last several months, but the layered meanings to My Shot in relation to diabetes were just too tempting to resist. (You can play this while you’re reading for the backing track. Even if you don’t read this post, give it a listen!)

Diabetes is a disease with an incredibly multifaceted mental impact, and all sorts of emotions -  positive, negative, and somewhere in between – get showcased on a daily basis. They all get a turn here.


MY SHOT

[DETERMINED ME]
I am not taking another shot
I am not taking another shot
You know my blood sugar’s funky
I’m tired and I’m hungry
But I’m not taking another shot

[ANGRY ME]
Got a busted pancreas, I can’t dial it
I don’t mean to whine, but fine
It makes me a bit violent
The trouble is I got a lot of brains
But no islets
I have to bolus just to survive
It’s harder to thrive
With no pilot

I’m a bunch of damaged goods
It isn’t curable
Trying to reach my goal
With my A1cs –uninsurable
Needs to be 6 but it’s always higher
My endo thinks that I’m a liar – inquire
‘Bout my burden, bout my disadvantage
Yes, it’s hard to manage
Got no self-control to brandish
Emotionally famished

I’m cheerin’, but years in, there’s no major change
Think I’m going to explode when asked if I’m out of range
I have the D-I-A-B-E-T-E-
S: yes, a mess, nothing’s free

It’s nice to see me run independently
Meanwhile, media’s misleading on us endlessly
Essentially, reporting relentlessly
Then the world turns around and starts blaming me
They ain’t never gonna see what we oversee
So there will be a revolution in the D-O-C
Enter me!
(I say in a Tweet or three)
Don’t be shocked when I tell you what’s bothering me
I won’t hide in my pride if it sets us free
Potentially, we’ll all talk eventually

And I am not taking another shot
I am not taking another shot
You know my blood sugar’s funky
I’m tired and I’m hungry
But I’m not taking another shot!

[HYPOGLYCEMIC ME]
I dream of life without the dreaded D
This chronic mess will be the death of me
Glucose-less – would you guess, I can’t be – glucose free?
When I’m low, I get a little bit panicky
(A sugar shot!)

[REBELLIOUS ME]
Yo, I’m your frustration speaking
And I guess control again is all that I’m seeking
I’m joining the rebellion ‘cause who cares if I test
Come on, give it a rest, I know I’ll never be best
Maybe I’ll skip a shot!

[DISILLUSIONED ME]
But we’ll never be truly free
Until we’re all cured and get to process that mentally
We can’t cry –we’ve run dry – promises, valiant
But they’re stagnant, actual progress absent
Take another shot!

[CASH-STRAPPED AND SCARED ME]
Hey I don’t mean to alarm ya
But we can’t really talk that way in front of Big Pharma
They give life, want us to give them the big bucks
Insurance is like Lady Luck
If you don’t have her, you get ------ [a shot!]

[HOPEFUL ME]
You guys, check what we got
Now there’s all this tech, years ago, we had squat
I think we’ve got a shot
We’re privileged, it’s our strong spot
We take our chances with advances and succeed a lot
What are the odds we’ll plod through without positive thought?
You know we’re taught that the job’s part mental, like it or not
But still I wonder, with ambition, how efficient simply wishing is?
Point me in position, tell me what our next new mission is!

Oh, am I talkin’ too loud?
Sometimes I get over-excited, a little bit proud
With a community of friends around
It’s hard to stay completely down - 
(Let’s get this me in front of a crowd!)

[DETERMINED ME]
And I am not taking another shot
I am not taking another shot
You know my blood sugar’s funky
I’m tired and I’m hungry
But I’m not taking another shot

Everybody sing: whoa…
Shout it to the rooftops

Rise up
When you’re stereotyped and teased, you rise up
Don’t doubt your expertise, you rise up
Autoimmunities gotta rise up

We’ll defeat this disease and rise up 
We’ll defeat this disease and rise up 
We’ll defeat this disease and rise up 
We’ll defeat this disease and rise up 
Rise up

[DEPRESSED ME]
I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory
When’s it gonna get me?
In my sleep? One last thing that’s bled from me?
We all see it coming – will we run, or have the strength to flee?
Just one more blue candle in a litany?
See, I never thought I’d live past twenty
Diagnosis: some get half as many
Ask anybody why we sometimes cheat and go sweet, reach for a treat
We’re all completely incomplete – that’s plenty

[DETERMINED ME]
Scratch that-
These are mental moments, not a movement
If we’re all coming together with
All our improvements
So, oppose us? We’re going to take a stand 
Speak out and reach out, hand held in black-flecked hand
And? Can we win our independence?
Once and for all defeat depression’s menace?
Or will the blood we shed beget an endless
Cycle of codependence with no hope of transcendence?

[ALL OF ME]
I know uniting is exhausting, uninviting
But please, just, between all this bleedin’ and fightin’
Complications are frightnin’
It’s hard to handle this financial situation!
Are we a Nation of D? Is disease our whole nation?
I’m past patiently waitin’! I’m passionately
Smashin’ passive advocatin’
We need action, not traction, creation!
We’re laughin’ in the face of nearly endless sorrow
We’ll win this day by thinkin’ of tomorrow

And I am not taking another shot
I am not taking another shot
You know my blood sugar’s funky
I’m tired and I’m hungry
But I’m not taking another shot

And I am not taking another shot
I am not taking another shot
You know my blood sugar’s funky
I’m tired and I’m hungry
But I’m not taking another shot

We’ve got to take this shot!
Rise up!
We’ve got to take this shot!
So we can not take yet another
Not take yet another


Shot!

3 comments:

  1. You are so creative! Love it :)

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  2. Only you would do this with such flair! I haven't seen Hamilton but have listened to the soundtrack. I'm not home now, but I'll check back on your post and listen to the music later.

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  3. Great post, I love the parody.

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