I have had Diabetes for a very long time...this is my 40th anniversary!! I actually wanted someone to throw a party for me to celebrate my good health, but that didn't happen:(
I want to share a bit of my diabetes experience but find it a bit difficult because diabetes is so much a part of my life that I sometimes find it so mundane to talk or write about, although I know it isn't mundane to the reader. I guess a good metaphor is that to me diabetes is just like putting on my socks every day or doing the laundry. First of all they are very repetitious jobs to do just like counting carbs and checking blood sugar and changing the pump site. Sometimes I find holes in my socks so I have to start over with a new pair...or sometimes the laundry is extra dirty and requires some extra time and attention to get it clean. The same goes for the diabetes. Sometimes everything runs smoothly and sometimes I need some extra time and attention to put things back on track.
Well, I was diagnosed when I was 5. My bs was over 900 but I was still alert and walking around and talking. Back then I was sent home on insulin, you know those old glass syringes that had to be boiled to keep them sterile. I was also NOT given a menu plan as they didn't do that back then where I lived. It wasn't until I was 9 that I was actually put on a "diabetic diet" and this helped. Then I went on 2 injections per day when I was 12.
At this point things get a bit cloudy. But my pediatrician told my parents that I was the second person in our state to own a blood testing monitor. This was back in the late 1970s I think. My parents were very supportive and took me to the Joslin Diabetes clinic while in middle school and again before I left for college. This really gave me the tools I needed for independence. I am so grateful for their help.
I graduated from college with a BA in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Mgmt but I also have 2 1/2 years towards a 4 year nursing degree or dietetics degree. (I would love to finish one of these and become a CDE...someday.)
Shortly afterwards, I fell in love, got married, and 9 babies later, here I am......TO BE CONTINUED....