type1grace

On World Diabetes Day, I thought it would be appropriate to share this piece of my heart with you. In collaboration with fellow type 1 diabetics, I finally finished the post I've been working on since 2016. 14 November 2018 The hardest part about having an invisible illness is that it’s invisible. From the outside, nothing seems to be wrong. Being able to see and visualize something makes it so much easier to understand. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want your pitty or sorry’s. Explaining an invisible chronic illness to someone is similar to explaining colour to a colourblind person. In a way, you can image or guess what it’s like, but you can’t possibly fully comprehend it. The reality is that an invisible illness is something you don’t “get”, until you get it. What you see, is an ordinary woman or man, girl or boy, living alongside you. Doing what you do, liking what you like and talking like you talk. What you see, are tired eyes and some bruises; which go by...

Best part about being chronically ill: How I choose to see my inabilities. Never before that day 8 years ago, did the thought occur to me that one day I would wake up, and one of my biggest nightmares will be evolvi ng in front of my eyes: the nightmare which became an inevitable part of me. The reality that, from that day onward, my life would be different.  And how different it is. From that day, the fight for survival is actually a fight and the certainty of life tomorrow is in fact, uncertain. There are countless bad and terrible things that make having type 1 diabetes such a burden and punishment to live. Partly maintaining your homeostasis is not a piece of cake. Ha ha. Yes, the insulin shots do hurt sometimes. The deep bruises are from thousands of needles and the hard fingertips are from countless pokes. Yes, when you get a cold, I get pneumonia. Being sick for weeks on end when the world is supposed to carry on for you too, is harder than imagin...

Losing hope; finding hope; keeping hope Since the start of Lent, I often thought about the pain and suffering Jesus Christ went through in order for us to be saved. Easter is my favourite holiday, since we celebrate our death and our birth: our eternal life. 14.04.2017, Easter weekend Lady Grey, South Africa As a chronically ill millennial, who believes in Jesus Christ, pressure and demands from the world and within, is on the rise. Losing hope and faith became inevitable to me during dark times. But I kept on walking on the route I knew, and discovered that I was indeed never truly alone. “Why doesn't your God heal you? I thought he could do anything ? How can your "father" punish you like that, and then you still believe in him..?" I hear this so often. After my diagnosis of type 1 diabetes among others back in 2010, I kept on asking God why me ? I’m not an angel, but I’m surely not the worst person alive. I don’t deserve to be this ...