My daughter, randomly, asked me what a seizure was. (Turns out someone had talked about it at school as a result of a student with epilepsy.) We talked about it, and then she asked if diabetes could cause seizures. She doesn’t ask me complicated questions about the longterm effects of diabetes very often (barring that one time she asked me, when…
The Bright Side
Blood Sugars, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes and Family, Diabetes Complications, Diabetic MommyBlue Lagoonabetes
Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Community, Psychosocial Support, Real Life Diabetes, TravelingWe made plans to go to the Blue Lagoon in Iceland before we had left for our trip, so I knew I’d be a little bit jet-lagged and a little bit moody about missing the kids, but I was excited to see this “wonder of the world,” where geothermal hot springs pool to create a steamy, cyan-colored bath. When you…
I’m not brave. … and man do I hate admitting that. But I’m not. I’ve known this for a long time but I realized it again two weeks ago when I was at the Connected in Motion/Beyond Type 1 SoCal Slipstream event. There were people there who will pick up and run 10 miles without giving it too much thought. Or…
Rewind: Voicemail for my Pancreas
Blood Sugars, Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Memories, Relationships(I’m traveling this week, with limited access and desire to visit the Internet, but while I’m on an adventure, I’m rewinding the blog to showcase some older posts. So don’t freak out if you see some older post about being pregnant or whatever because giiiiiiirl I am not pregnant.) “Hey, you. This is awkward. Voicemail. I hate voicemail. But I…
Rewind: Ordinary but Extraordinary
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Exercise & Fitness, Psychosocial Support, Real Life Diabetes(I’m traveling this week, with limited access and desire to visit the Internet, but while I’m on an adventure, I’m rewinding the blog to showcase some older posts. So don’t freak out if you see some older post about being pregnant or whatever because giiiiiiirl I am not pregnant.) I will admit right here, right now that I admire people…
Rewind: These Boots Were Made for Talking
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes and Family, Diabetes Community, Psychosocial Support(I’m traveling this week, with limited access and desire to visit the Internet, but while I’m on an adventure, I’m rewinding the blog to showcase some older posts. So don’t freak out if you see some older post about being pregnant or whatever because giiiiiiirl I am not pregnant.) At the airport two weeks ago, I was coming home from…
What Helped Me as a Kid with Type 1 Diabetes
Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes and Family, UncategorizedI was diagnosed with diabetes in second grade, so I’ve had this disease along for essentially all of the available rides in my almost 40 years. From 1986 onward, I’ve experienced everything from field trips to fights with my parents about boyfriends to learning to drive to college to pregnancy and parenting children of my own. My life, for all…
For several weeks this summer, my daughter played in a competitive softball league. The whole tournament had my concern levels amped a little bit. Was she getting enough sleep? If not, was that why she was impossible to drag out of bed for 9 am games? It was so hot. She had to wear a lot of sunscreen. When they…
Diabetes Club
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community1st Rule: You do NOT talk about diabetes. 2nd Rule: … just kidding, of course you can talk about diabetes. 3rd Rule: If someone says “I’m low” or goes limp, grab some Glucolift. 4th Rule: Only two CGM transmitters to an order. 5th Rule: One snack at a time. 6th Rule: No insulin, no bolus. 7th Rule: Diabetes will go on…
It’s Complicated.
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Complications, SUM in Other PlacesThis month, in the most recent edition of The PLAID Journal, I contributed a piece about the complicated questions we get about diabetes, and how our answers are just as complicated. “Is diabetes hard? Yes. And no. There are times when I get mired in some of the tougher moments of diabetes, blowing up balloons by the dozen for a…
Yesterday, I was at a meeting where the audience was decidedly not a diabetes one. And in explaining my experiences with diabetes, I had to give an overview of what type 1 diabetes is and how long I’ve been living with it. “I was diagnosed at the age of seven. It will be 32 years this September …” After the…
200 mg/dL. Often, when I see a number like that, I think, “Oh, it’s okay. It doesn’t define me. It’s not an assessment of my self-worth. I’m still a decent person despite an out-of-range blood sugar.” And that’s true. I’ve written about how true that is a pile of times*. These numbers aren’t ME. … but they’re still mine. The problem…