(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: Ordinary but Extraordinary
Diabetes Advocacy, Diabetes and Emotions, Diabetes Community, Diabetes Online Community, Exercise & Fitness, Psychosocial Support, Real Life DiabetesRewind: 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…
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…