JDRF Kick-off speech.

It was an emotional afternoon on Tuesday. As I stated in my previous post, my father invited me to speak at the luncheon for his hospital's JDRF kick off luncheon.

As my dad said it best: "I didn't think it would be such an emotional day."

The JDRF representative who was there introduced herself and "the cause," and then played a video of a montage of interviews with local Las Vegas diabetics, none of whom were over the age of 11.

It was very difficult for me to watch these young children faced with the same disease that I have. I could relate to them on a level that I never thought a video could make me realize. Add to that the excellent production quality, wonderful editing, and slow piano music in the background, and it was The Perfect Storm of emotion for me.

I'm not much of a outwardly emotional person, but by the end of the video, my eyes were already pretty glazed up.

Next up was my father who spoke of the shock involved when their son was diagnosed, and how it has effected the entire family.

Hearing my dad talk was just piling on the tears.

By the time I got up to the podium following my dad's speech, I had tears streaming down my face. I was a mess.

It made it hard for me to read the words I had prepared, let alone even get out the few words I had to say. I won't count this is one of my most successful speeches, but I absolutely will count it as my most heartfelt presentation ever.

The speech:

What does it mean to be diabetic?

My father, whom many of you may of may not know is Michael Mericle, graciously asked me if I would speak to a group of his colleagues about what it means to be a diabetic. It’s an interesting question, and not one I’ve put a particular amount of thought into in my life. I’ve never thought much about what makes a diabetic unique when compared to someone with a normal functioning pancreas. The differences are subtle, and I hope I can share some of my experience with you.

Diabetes mellitus derives it’s name from the Ancient Greek term meaning literally “to pass through urine.” Diabetes mellitus is characterized by the loss of insulin producing beta cells of the islets of Langerhans.in the pancreas.

I’m talking to doctors and medical professionals though, and you already learned this in your Anatomy and Physiology classes.

So what does it really mean to be diabetic?

I’ve been a diabetic now for just over 13 years, or 4800 days.

That means I’ve tested my blood glucose using test strips somewhere in the neighborhood of 24,500 times.

I’ve given myself almost 15000 injections of insulin.

I’ve never been hospitalized.

I still have all functioning limbs.

I don’t wear glasses.

I have all my original organs.

I have full feeling in my fingers and toes.

I can run a mile in under 6 minutes.

I can bench press my body weight and I can squat over 300 lbs

These might all sound like trivial accomplishments, for a 31 year old, but they are milestones when you are a diabetic.

So, what does it mean to be a diabetic?

Being diabetic means going to bed with a blood glucose reading of 115 and waking up with it being 240 and not having a clue what happened over the course of the night.

Being diabetic means taking 4 units of insulin to lower the 240 blood sugar and testing 2 hours later to see that it’s now 215.

Being diabetic means taking 4 more units and testing 2 hours later and having a reading of 65, and realizing it’s going to be a long day.

Being diabetic means carrying peanut butter crackers and juice boxes with you all the time, and having to explain to your 3 year old daughter that those are “for daddy” – they aren’t snacks.

Being diabetic means waking up to a blood glucose of 115 and not going low overnight means today is going to be a good day!

Being diabetic means waking up at 3 am confused and disoriented and getting upset when you get to the fridge because you can’t find the orange juice you so desperately need to treat a hypo - because it’s hiding behind the Pepsi your friends brought over because they think diet soda tastes bad.

Being diabetic means arguing with a drink vendor at an amusement park on a hot day because you’re too indignant to pay a dollar for a cup of ice, just to keep you insulin from getting hot.

Being diabetic means a bed time glucose reading of 70 means you’re going to be up for a little longer than you wanted to.

Being diabetic means having some of the worst blood sugar days when you’re paying the most attention to your diet and your insulin…, and having some of the best when you could care less that you’re a diabetic.

Being diabetic means drinking straight vodka, not margaritas or mai tais.

Being diabetic means learning the hard way that foods containing sorbitol should be consumed judiciously.

Being diabetic means saying “SCREW IT – I’M HAVING THE MILKSHAKE” – knowing that it’s going to ruin the rest of the day.

Being diabetic means always holding out hope for a cure, but never really expecting it to happen.

Being diabetic means being aware of your body, the highs and the lows. Discerning when you’re “real people sick” and when you’re “diabetic sick.”

Being diabetic means you appreciate life differently, sometimes cautiously, but it means NEVER letting your disease control your life and never letting your guard down.

My sister has a writeup and pictures over hyah