Decent Stories, continued

Read Part 1, here: http://www.tudiabetes.org/profiles/blogs/like-every-type-one-i-also-have-a-story-but?xg_source=activity

I first started seeing Dr. Nancy Bohannon a few months after my T1 diabetes diagnosis. As a kid, I never thought of doctor visits as painful, wastes of time, or tedious in any way. But with Nancy, things were different. She was more of a friend, who wanted to solve the daily riddles of type one diabetes with me. A partner in crime, so to speak, who listened just as much as advised with her clinical and scientific knowledge. I remember her candor and enthusiasm over my efforts to get those daily blood sugar readings under control (the 80-120 range). Nancy provided that type of comfort, security, and guidance that made me feel normal and grounded with my condition. She was a great friend, one that I greatly miss to this day. I will contact her.

Here is Nancy's website: http://www.sugarnancy.com/

Aside from frequent doctor visits, being a type one diabetic in grade school, and then later in middle school, wasn't quite such a big deal. I became just as good of friends with all of the school nurses as with my peers. The thing about being the only diabetic in a group of 14 year-old Goonies (80s movie reference), is that you don't really think about telling anyone how your blood sugar levels were, or how cloudy your NPH, 12-hour insulin was prior to injecting it into your skinny tricep.

In other words, kids don't have the time. Kids need to be kids, no matter what kind of affliction they deal with on a daily basis. That's for the parents to deal with and offer support, at the home base. Home is where you need to recover, and figure out why your blood sugar numbers were, or were not, within normal range. In a world according to a kid, you look up to what makes the most sense to you, and remember what your parents, doctors, dieticians, athletic cousins, nerdy friends, and teachers tell you. Because as you grow older and build your sense of self when entering adolescence, you pick and choose your battles. For a type one diabetic, the biggest battle is getting through the day, and your arsenal consists of your blood sugar meter, different types of insulin (one that works in the background to maintain a normal blood sugar level, the other one for meals), lancet needles, syringes, and those white colored, orange-flavored glucose tablets that taste better than an 8th grader's lunch.

So, those are the kid years, and the first year or two of adolescence.

well said . i did not grow up with all those things like testing pump glucose tabs etc... in the 30's & 40's those things did not exist...t1 since i was not yet 3...79 now...