Hi! There really is life after diagnosis and it sounds like you’re adjusting pretty well. I was dx’ed almost 2 years ago and in retrospect wish I’d gone with a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) right away. I have a much better idea of how my body responds to different types (and quantities) of food and how to manage exercise (I’ve had a lot of problems with lows). 
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RE pumping, for many insurance companies, there is no waiting period. My daughter’s (now ex-) endocrinologist wouldn’t rx a pump, insisting that our insurance wouldn’t cover it for 6 months, despite the fact that I got approval for coverage from the insurance company the day after her diagnosis. I had to fight like a crazed mother bear to get my daughter on a pump 4-1/2 months after her diagnosis, despite providing that endo with written proof that our insurance covered a pump and pump supplies. In my daughter’s case, pumping made her life much more “normal” and I can’t even begin to describe the improved management of her bg levels (if memory serves, outside of diagnosis, no a1c’s in the 7’s; almost always low 6’s and high 5’s, which is saying a lot in view of the fact that she does not eat low carb plus she is riding the puberty hormone roller coaster 
). I’d suggest reading Gary Scheiner’s Think Like a Pancreas and John Walsh’s Pumping Insulin, then be prepared to self-advocate like crazy to start pumping sooner if this is what you’d like to do. Tubeless pumping with the OmniPod system plus using a Dexcom CGM have allowed my daughter to return to being a “normal”, albeit cyborg-ish, teen. We both love her Dexcom and pump. (We’d love it even more if she didn’t need these amazing pieces of technology, but thank G_d they’re available.)
And by the way, Welcome to the D-Tribe! TuD is a great place: lots of empathy and support, some arguing and a black sheep or two (like in any emotionally healthy family) and a plethora of extremely helpful information.
AND Happy [late 
] First Anniversary!!! (My non-D daughter, who is the same age as you, celebrated her First Anniversary last August.)
Welcome to our club and your new part-time job–neither of which any of us wanted😄
I was diagnosed at age 24. I’ve been diabetic for 37 years!
In that time, I’ve had a child who is 32 years old and did well with the pregnancy.
I play tennis 2-4 times a week competitively which I just love!
Here’s what I have learned over the years.
- Don’t beat yourself up over a bad A1C or bad blood sugars. Sometimes the diabetes won’t cooperate even when I’m doing everything I’m supposed to. Just strive to do a little better and get help if you need it to accomplish that.
- When I was younger, I would have more “pity parties” due to the frustrations of my diabetes not “behaving”, but over the years I have learned to be a little more mellow about it. And we joke at my house–no one wants to come to the pity party, and if they do come, they don’t want to stay long😄
- I have made it this long with no retinopathy or neuropathy, for which I am very thankful. And it’s not because of great A1C’s, maybe just luck.
- Diabetes care and control has come a long way and it’s much easier now than in the past; not at all saying its a piece of cake.
- IMO a pump is the way to go. I’ve been on one for over 20 years and control is much better with more flexibility on eating.
I’ve added a Dexcom also, which helps you and gives you peace of mind if you are into sports/exercising. - I’m sure you feel overwhelmed and a bit of anger at this, which is perfectly normal.
You will get the hang of it and maybe become your husbands worse nightmare, as I tell mine how many carbs he’s eating😄
I hope all these posts help you a little as you navigate this new journey.
Prayers are with you!
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I was diagnosed at 29 (now 8 years ago) and also wanted to go on the pump right away. (I was at an R1 university hospital with a major T1D research center and that was everybody’s position; my CDE had T1D and wore a pump and while teaching me how to stab myself with injections, also showed me the basics of the pump.) I did have to wait for the insurance company’s approval for three months, but the endocrinologist’s advocacy was critical for the period to be relatively short. So do your research; start choosing a pump, considering what your insurance would cover (you can do trial periods without insulin with some of them; contact the manufacturers’ reps on your own) communicate your serious wish to your doctor and insist if needed.
The other thing I wanted to mention – since from your picture it seems that you and your husband are into snow sports – with the pump this sort of physical activity is so much easier! (I myself ski and my husband snowboards.) Hopefully you have an internal pocket on your snow gear for the pump when you do get one!
I was hoping that was the case for me, but it’s not. I spoke directly with my insurance and they require 6 months of logs
I am working on getting a CGM right now though!
jtenneson, I recommend calling the friendly and helpful folks at Dexcom directly. They are often successful in cutting through the bu11$h1t roadblocks your health insurance puts up to delay you getting a necessary medical device (just so they can hold onto those precious pennies, nickles, dimes, quarters, and dollars for a few more days, weeks, or months to increase their profits and make their stockholders happy). Don’t get me started on insurance companies; I am having to submit Prior Authorizations for generic medications I prescribe for my patients at an alarmingly increasing frequency. And the significant amount of time I spend doing Prior Auths is not billable, i.e. I do this on my own time without any pay. But I refuse to follow suit with a sadly increasing number of my colleagues who prescribe only the medications that do not require Prior Auths, and if/when these are not effective, cause intolerable side effects, and/or lose efficacy, tell their patients “I can’t prescribe Medicine X because your insurance company won’t cover the cost” and then leave it at that. Although I can empathize with their decision to do so, as I am sick and tired of spending up to several hours every week working without pay… Rant over! Do please go ahead and try contacting Dexcom directly and asking them to run the gauntlet for you; you have nothing to lose but the time it takes to make the phone call. (Try calling on a Thursday or Friday, the “lower call volume” days.) Best of luck!
Hi there and welcome! I was diagnosed at 24, one year ago. I can whole-heartedly second @rgcainmd’s advice to contact the companies directly if you are interested in pumping / CGM. I was on a pump (t:slim) and CGM (dexcom) within 6 weeks after diagnosis… I did have to push for it. In the end I connected with Tandem and Dexcom reps, and both worked to get me my devices in less than 2 weeks from contacting them (I was in an unusual situation where my insurance was ending mid-year, and I wanted to squeeze the devices in on the old insurance’s deductible). Good luck!
Diagnosed T1 at age of 30, 30 years ago. Don’t make the same mistake I did by slacking off. 3 or 4 years into it I thought my regular insulin doses were doing acceptably well, made the mistake of not checking BG and ended up in the hospital (after a trip to Africa) for another week d/t high sugars.
4 to 6 years ago, I slowed down on my BG tests resulting in several EMS visits and some undesired / unaffordable trips to ER d/t low sugars.
CGM during the past 3 years has been a life changer and possibly a life saver to me, offering a great deal of confidence and better control of my BG results.
Hello! Thanks for your response. I’ve been very diligent with carb counting and taking insulin before every meal. I’m too scared about the consequences to slack off. Hopefully I still feel that way in a few years! And I actually got a CGM on Friday! So far I am loving it! It’s interesting to see in real time how each food/meal affects you. Eventually I will be pushing for a pump, but right now I’m fine with MDI while I get into the swing of things.
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I empathize as I deal with similar frustrations with insurance companies though not yet having to pre-auth too many generics. I would love to see a billable code for doing our pre-auth work or be able to charge the drug company for doing their negotiating. One thing patients can do is to get their insurance companies WRITTEN POLICY for a device or drug that they are requesting (which may be available on line or by calling). This will provide the specific details or a check list of what is needed to get approval; you can even take this in to your doctor’s visit to help them help you (and in some cases, to show them that the insurance WILL cover something but only by following their protocol). Once you satisfy the insurance protocol, you’re generally good to go. I recommend seeing a diabetes educator if the office has one; if not, call the insurance to see who is available. For example, I can see my educator without a copay and she knew more than anyone about what options were available and exactly what I had to do. She discovered that for my pump and CGM, I had to check 5 finger sticks a day for 25 out of 30 days, see an endo 3 times, be type 1 and achieve world peace or three out of four. Knowledge is (some) power.
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A pump is not for everyone, so take your time.
Make sure though to log from the beginning, as 6 months of logs are a long time and if you decide for the pump you have everything ready!
Good luck and take care 
Get a CGM ASAP. Will make your life easier.