I 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…
What Helped Me as a Kid with Type 1 Diabetes
Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes and Family, UncategorizedFor 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…
This was part of my daughter’s school work* last week: What about the thing that I am certain will happen today? I will have a rough blood sugar roller coaster. – nope. That’s not a certainty. Today’s been pretty mellow, to be honest. The temperature will be exactly 72 degrees and sunny today – nope. I live in New England….
Dino Days
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes and Family, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Psychosocial Support, Real Life Diabetes, RelationshipsBeing diagnosed with diabetes as a child twists time, making me feel like I’m not terribly old but that my diabetes is ancient and withered. Looking back at an online journal that chronicles almost half my life with diabetes paints me as a digital dinosaur, one whose story and community has evolved in response to time, technology, and ability. The…
Your mama so awesome that she dragged measuring cups and a tiny scale to restaurants so she could accurately carb count your food. Your mama so awesome that she hand-fed you graham crackers while you had a logic-defying low on the kitchen floor. Your mama so awesome she woke up in the middle of the night to check your blood…
A Look at Body Posi Betes
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Complications, Diabetes Online Community, Psychosocial Support, Real Life DiabetesA few years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting Georgie Peters when I was visiting Australia. This woman is a force – a combination of positivity and raw honesty, writing about her lived experience with type 1 diabetes. She’s written here before and today she’s visiting SixUntilMe to talk about her latest social movement of combining body positivity and diabetes….
Visualizing Diabetes
Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Complications, Healthcare, Mental Health, Psychosocial Support, Real Life DiabetesLast week, I had the pleasure of connecting with Katie McCurdy through my work at The Patient Revolution, and she and I talked about her health visualization tool, Pictal. (That interview can be found on the Patient Revolution blog.) From the article: “Pictal is a set of worksheets that patients can use to create a health history timeline and show…
The One About Steel Magnolias
Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes and Family, Diabetic Mommy, Infertility and Pregnancy, Real Life DiabetesI remember sitting down to watch this movie, not knowing how it ended. “How scary can it be? Julia Roberts has such a big laugh. Mom likes Sally Field. Diabetes in it, too? That’s cool. Let’s make some popcorn.” record scratch Narrator’s voice: Yeah, that was me, around the age of 10. I didn’t know anything about the movie Steel…
Great Job! Stellar! You’re a Star!
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Community, Healthcare, Real Life DiabetesMan, all of this. The big mountain that is “the healthcare system?” That thing seems gigantic. But small changes make a big difference. I think about the stickers I used to get on my school papers back in grade school. The happy, bright yellow star grinning its toothless grin at me, delighted by my spelling homework. It seems goofy to…
The game is pretty simple: a blue, plastic board with a bunch of pieces cut out, and a series of yellow pieces that each fit into their specific spaces. Then you set a timer, scramble to fit each yellow piece into its spot before the timer buzzes, and try not to twitch from the stress. Oh, did I mention that…
In the course of my experiences as an advocate for diabetes, I’ve had people ask me what my parents did to help me become a well-adjusted adult with diabetes. And after I stop laughing at the clearly loose definition of the phrase “well-adjusted,” I realize that I have the support of my friends and family to thank for my diabetes…
Seven Versions of One Low Blood Sugar
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Psychosocial Support, Real Life Diabetes, RelationshipsSCENARIO: A blood sugar of 53 mg/dL caused me to wake up at 2 am, drink a juice box, and stay awake until 2.30 am waiting for my blood sugar to rise. DESCRIBING TO MY FRIEND: “Yeah, sometimes diabetes is a thing at night. I had a low last night that woke me up around 2 am, but that’s why…