Resilience

As a person who has lived long-term with diabetes, I see the ability to bounce back from adversity as critical to my success with diabetes management. Resilience is crucial to any long-term project and human happiness.

Yet resilience can never emerge without adversity. For us, diabetes has supplied that adversity, often more than we’d like.

Since I live alone, I now spend long periods unpunctuated with regular human face-to-face contact. I rely on long phone calls and a few zoom calls to mitigate my aloneness. It’s not ideal but reality can force us to adjust and wise adjustments define resilience.

I feel buoyed by two ongoing worldwide events as I hide from this pandemic: a SpaceX mission and Vendee Globe, a single-handed around-the-world sailboat race.

SpaceX just launched a crew of astronauts to the International Space Station a few days ago. That crew deliberately chose to name their space capsule, Resilience. In interviews the crew acknowledged the broader social context of pandemic, political disagreement, and racial justice as motivation for their choice of naming their mission.

In a press conference featuring the five astronauts this morning, their common acknowledgment of their respect for science seems poignant to me. It makes a whole lot of sense in this setting. Respect for science forms the basis for their immediate survival.

Science also provides the basis for our survival in this pandemic. While many things remain unknown about our future in the next year or two, I confidently see the product of science, a vaccine, will be our common lifeline. Even our crude tools to manage our time without a vaccine, widespread mask-wearing, keeping physical distance, and washing our hands all give a respectful nod to scientific reality.

The Vendee Globe sailboat race starts and ends in France and will take place over the next three months, starting just over one week ago. Single-handing a sailboat all the way around the world, particularly its course through the Southern Ocean, is built on resilience. The sailors, both men and women, all must be resilient as they must rely on their personal resources, both mental and physical, to complete this grueling challenge.

The last 37 years of my life since a T1D diagnosis, is built on the foundation of many scientific achievements: the discovery of insulin and the technology to produce it, blood glucose test strips and the meters to read them, insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitors, and automated insulin dosing systems.

I realize that resilience goes well beyond the scope of science but I find the interplay between science and human resilience an inspiring one.

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Terry, great post.

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Thanks for the reminder, Terry.

I have been crying like a baby all day. All resilience is gone.
I spent 8 hours on the phone today and 8 hours on the phone yesterday just trying to get someone, anyone, to process this DMV form. Before this, there have been months of effort.

All they have to do is process 1 form. But, they can’t or wont. So, I have to spend months of relentless effort. They tell me I have to go to the legislature and change laws in order to make it not be this way anymore. I am only 1 person and I cannot keep making up for all the failures of so many other people and entire systems. They almost brought me to my knees this year.

Finally, at the end of business day, some nurse found one of the many, many forms I had submitted and promised that they would call me tomorrow.

This is only half of the battle. Now, I have to get the government to process the form.

I just can’t keep this up. The obstacles are insurmountable.

They might as well be asking me to fly to the moon. I cannot do it. I feel so disabled today. I will never be able to do anything. I will never be able to work or take care of myself if I this is what I have to do, just to drive a car. I am without hope.

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I’m sending you lots of tight hugs, good thoughts, and prayers that everything will be resolved! Hang in there … please, don’t lose hope!

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Trying to get a bureaucracy to do the right thing can be a soul-draining experience, a tough adversity. I can’t offer any sage advice or insight, just try to hang on to your sanity and humor.

That is one sad cat!

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Thanks you guys. I’m almost halfway through the process. I’m running out of time, but it is still possible that I will succeed if I don’t give up.

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And you won’t … so you will :slight_smile:

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Don’t give up. Sometimes, even when you think it’s over, it’s not.

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I have had my bad ups and downs (T2 to me is just an adjustment.) just celebrated my 75th birth day sort of I don’t give up why should I, it only causes me more anguish. Life includes loving, sharing and loss I have yet to figure out totally how to deal with the loss part. Especially with polio, Covid, cancer and AIDS
I just try to get up each morning enjoy the sunrise and the the birds on the water.

Just walked out on the deck a crescent moon over the water life is not all that bad

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I’m running out of time, but it is still possible that I will succeed if I don’t give up. YOU WILL SUCCEED!!

I have reached absolute physical and emotional exhaustion over this.

But, maybe if I process what is happening, I can write it down in a way that people can understand. If I can do that, clearly and concisely, I can communicate it in an attorney general complaint.

The way I see it, there are only 3 branches of government. If none of them can/will help me, then I am trapped in this hell for all of eternity. I believe I spoke with Mike Hatch yesterday on the phone. He’s a nice guy, and was very sympathetic, but he said what every lawyer says, “Listen kid, this is simply too expensive for us to even have a conversation about.” That means legal representation of any kind might not be an option, unless its essentially free. So, next is a complaint to the Attorney Generals office.

I think we are already working from the Legislative Branch side. The results there have been less than satisfactory, but more than expected. I’m giving them a C+.

I don’t know what the executive does, but they’re not gonna be any help.

I am reaching critical exhaustion. Sanity slipping. Once Lori Swanson returned a call when I was in this state (last year) and had low blood sugar and I just started yelling at her and not making any sense…like an insane person. I have to hold it together, now. I might need to put this to bed for a couple days so I dont go off the deep end. I am going off the deep end. I’m becoming insane Sidney Lumet.

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Uh oh. Someone texted me to take something down off of LinkedIn again. My BG = LOW.

Why are we all needing to be be resilient? Its 2:40am and I just woke up feeling fantastic and wanting toast. I have no memory of yesterday yet. I wonder what happened yesterday that was bad…uh oh, last post only 3 hours ago. That means not much sleep. Need more toast.

What horrors await me from yesterday when I remember that day? I know that it involves me posting gangasta rap on LinkedIn and the government…need more juice. Perhaps its better not to remember, but I think there’s something I really need to delete on LinkedIn before anybody wakes up. Woe is me. Its freezing in here.

Up to bg = 47. This dog looks comfy and cuddly. I setup an emergency electric blanket here for just this occassion. You guys need one of these. When you get the low bg, you can just hit a button and be warm. Its a lifesaver. bg = 67. good enough. All of you are sleeping except Australia and Hawaii.

Hey @T2Tom, how did the covid treat ya’? I apologize in advance if you wrote about it. I missed it. What did you end up doing for your birthday?

The state called me. They have fixed a bunch of stuff. Maybe I shouldn’t harass them as much this year. Not everything, but lots of stuff is fixed.

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