Two Years of Knowing

Today is my two year Diaversary.  Two whole years; not a long time in reality, yet I feel like it’s been so much longer.

In actuality, I really have been living with Type 2 Diabetes and Congestive Heart Failure for longer than two years.  What today marks is two years of knowing it.  And what a difference knowing has made.

Looking back, I’d say I had been living with type 2 and CHF, undiagnosed, for two or three years before I was diagnosed.  Given the knowledge I have now, and the fact that I had felt like hell for so long, I’d say that’s a well educated guesstimate.

Lots of things have changed for the better over the last two years.  My A1C, as of last check, is 6.5 as opposed to 9.6 at the time of diagnosis.  My heart, which was pumping at 30% to 35% when I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, is now pumping at around 50%. At least that’s what the heart catheterization I had in July showed.  And, I’m lighter in weight than I was prior to diagnosis.

It’s been a wild and crazy ride the last two years; I’ve learned lots of stuff and gained more friends than I can count.  I’ve been places and done things that I never would have considered prior to diagnosis, like petting sharks, starfish and horseshoe crabs and traveling to meet strangers I met on the internet.

Being diagnosed with a life threatening health condition makes you realize just how short and fragile life really is.  And the fact that life is short underscores the importance of living what time we have to the fullest.

I’ve said this time and time again; life hasn’t ended because I was diagnosed with diabetes and congestive heart failure, It’s only just begun.  And I can’t wait to see what new adventures the new year has in store.