On Dying and Living
I dedicate this story to my oldest son, Isaac. He’s taken the lessons he’s learned from his disease and been such a support to me. It was at his prodding that I am even writing this story. “Mom, how can people pray for you if they don’t know what’s going on?”
On January 13, 2021, I almost died.
I don’t really know where to begin. What has been all-consuming to me has been a secret to all but those closest to me — my family. Unbeknownst to many people I have a chronic disease. Admitting that has taken a long time. For years I didn’t want to assume this label because it made me feel weak, flawed, undeserving of opportunities.
Without going into excruciating details, a little over five years ago my pancreas decided to do its own thing. It started off with getting dizzy when I didn’t eat at the right time. That happens to a lot of people so I didn’t seek medical attention. Time progressed and it became worse so I talked to one doctor, then two doctors, then teams of doctors.
After ruling things out like diabetes, the technical term given to my condition was Hyper Reactive Hypoglycemia. For a while doctors tried to find what was causing it and to fix the source of the…