I Run For My Dad Because I Hate Diabetes

So I'm currently watching Britain's Got Talent with my foot propped up because I attained two rather largish blisters yesterday from walking a measly 10.62 miles yesterday for a work charity event (which had been probably lying in wait during my lunch time 5k runs as well) and decided to pop and drain them myself rather than wait for them to become callouses, as I'm too impatient and would like to get moving again soon.

I'm getting antsy because I have exactly five weeks before the ASICS British London 10k run and I'm no runner - no, I'm not athletic in the slightest.  Which is slightly disheartening when I'm surrounded by ultra-fit people in my life (ahem, Udita, Lauren, and JK) and I'm blobbed out like a heffalump on my couch eating Jelly Babies like there's no tomorrow (and yes, I finished the pack).

Anyway, while I was looking up methods of blister popping (because the ones I used to get in ballet from my pointe shoes tended to just pop themselves and bleed all over my shoes - lovely, I know), I came across this fantastic blog by a Californian podiatrist named Dr. Christopher Segler who gives a great rundown of blisters and blister treatment.  However, I hit a sobering point in my impatience and annoyance when I read that blisters on the feet of diabetics, such as my dad, should be considered a medical emergency.  I had to re-read that a couple times.  Although I knew (from growing up with a father who has suffered from this disease for over 30 years) that any foot injury to a diabetic was very, very serious, it took the words "medical emergency" to really make me pause and think about the gravity and importance of the cause I'm running for.

Although both my parents (and most of my extended family) suffer from diabetes, the person I'm mainly running for is my dad.  Watching him cope with this illness has been one of the most painful things to experience in my life, so I can't imagine what it's like for him.

More than anything, I'd like to raise awareness about diabetes as a non-preventable disease; often, when people hear the word "diabetes", they instantly write it off as an obesity/diet-related issue, which is sometimes the case, but in my dad's and family's situation?  It's not.  And that's what's difficult to accept.  For now, I'm just playing a waiting game.  Others will say, "Oh, but that's easy, you can just cut out sugar or eat less carbohydrates.  And don't you just inject yourself with insulin?  Or take pills?"  It's a complete lifestyle change.  And a lot of people don't understand that.  Nothing infuriates me more than people who know my dad and the extent of his diabetes only to hand him a piece of cake at a party or a jar of jam for his birthday.  Diabetes is an illness to be taken seriously.  Imagine having to have your feet amputated because you had an infected blister from running.  Or teetering on the dangerous brink of falling into a diabetic coma because your body could not cope with the sudden change in your blood sugar level - while you were asleep.

I hate cancer.  I also hate diabetes.  If you have a spare dollar or pound and would like to contribute to a terrific clause, please sponsor me here and help me reach my goal of raising £300 for Diabetes UK.