Diabetic life

This is a side blog I made to post all of my diabetic stuff to. I am 18 and have been type 1 diabetic since I was 4. I'm here for anything you need, advice, a place to vent, a friend, etc. Main blog is stairwaytohappy

[sixpenceee]

The first insulin pump in 1963 compared to the modern one. 

[red-stocking]

I WANNA PRINT THIS OUT SO THAT WHEN PEOPLE START TALKING ABOUT HOW TECHNOLOGY IS RUINING YOUNG PEOPLE AND FUTURE GENERATIONS I GET TO SHOW THEM THIS

[songbird30]

Let's have a Conversation

Let’s have a conversation. Let’s have a conversation about a disease that get’s labelled as “not serious”. Let’s talk about a disease that people blame the sick person for. Let’s talk about a disease that 415 million adults world wide suffer from and 542 000 children have to live with.

Let’s talk about type 1 diabetes.

Let me tell you what this disease is.

Type 1 diabetes is war

It’s a war in your body that you have to fight to win, to stay alive. It’s having to fight a battle each and everyday. Some days you win, you manage to check your blood glucose levels 4 times a day, take all your medication, and manage to keep your levels in check. But more likely you don’t. You forget to check your blood glucose or take your medication. Your numbers aren’t perfect. Because type 1 diabetes isn’t as simple as stabbing yourself with a needle a couple times a day and then forgetting.

Type 1 diabetes is:

The first thing you think about when you wake up It’s checking your blood glucose before every meal It’s counting carbs It’s calculating insulin It’s stabbing yourself everytime you eat and drink It’s feeling sick It’s lack of concentration It’s headaches, and infections It’s feeling drunk, and acting strange without control It’s emergency trips to the hospital, and getting complications (loss of sight, loss of limbs, heart disease, liver problems) It’s the mental disorders that come along with the disease It’s feeling like you’ll never be normal, like you always have something in your way It’s feeling like everyday is a battle. It’s the last thing you thinl about at night before you go to sleep.

So let’s have a conversation.

Let’s have a conversation about a disease that is far more complicated and painful than what meets the eye.

[jugodetronos]

fun things you get to experience when you have diabetes

getting to stab yourself with needles all the time for fun! except not for fun, but to keep you alive

that one oral med you’re on? yeah sometimes it’s just gonna give you diarrhea lol have fun figuring out when

your whole body being hot and cold at the same time. like you’re cold, but you’re overheated and you want to take your shirt off but if you do you get massive chills and there’s no winning

walking up the stairs when your sugar is high? more like you’ve never done squats that burn this much

really bad circulation in your extremities. like your torso is hot but your toes are fucking freezing as hell.

being told that your kidney function is “thankfully still okay” or that “you don’t have retinopathy yet”

stumbling to the kitchen in the middle of the night and having to decide which food will work best to treat a low when your brain doesn’t work and your body doesn’t work and if you don’t pick fast enough you’ll pass out and maybe die

going to bed in range and waking up feeling like hell on earth

dealing with shit like this:

and this

having to force yourself to drink water when you’re really really nauseated and want to throw up everything in your stomach. nausea so bad water makes you want to puke

ppl telling you it takes 15 minutes to recover from a low when it’s more like 2 hours before you feel like your previous self (and recovery from a really bad high takes like 3 days)

an achey body for no good reason

friends being like “we should work out together” but you’re like “how tf do I manage my blood sugar while I’m doing that”

having to push through and still go to work/school when you feel like shit

things that hurt. those pump sites and injections that feel like you’ve been stabbed. your body begging you to feed it. your eyes. your muscles. your head. your stomach. your lungs. everything hurts.

having to hear diabetes jokes “lol it was so sweet it gave me diabetes” “omg it’s like a big bowl of diabetes” SHUT THE FUCK UP THATS NOT HOW DIABETES WORKS YOU PIECE OF SHIT but having to hear it and stay calm

losing the ability to tell when you’re low so lol you’re in the 30’s and you only just realized

having to stop having fun or hanging out with people or having to go home because you’re out of insulin or strips or needles or your site fill out. and by extension, never really being able to do something spontaneous because you always have to think how will i manage the sugaz when I do

always worrying about food. where it’ll come from, how to count it, where you can get some of you suddenly drop. food is your biological imperative. if you can’t answer those questions you’re this much closer to dying.

you don’t even know who you are without this disease. you know it’s not everything about you but it consumes you. literally. it eats away at your body, eats away at how long you have left to live.

having to deal with the monetary cost. like, pay or die? what kind of life is that?

never getting to take a break from the ridiculously difficult task of keeping yourself alive.

[dykabetik]

Gradually normalizing your mortality so you don’t have to live in constant fear

[diabetixrock]

Thanks tumblr for this shocking diabetes cure

[sugarfreesweettooth]

[diabetixrock]

Hey guys!! So I'm participating in a JDRF walk for diabetes and I would love if any of you want to make a small donation or just share this link on your social media!! Thanks so much :)

[diabetic-living]

Sorry for being a terrible blog owner and not posting anything for ages!!

it’s nearly exam season and i’ve been working hard. I’ve made a new queue that should last a while now and i’m still around answering asks, it might just take me a bit longer to respond :)

[diabetixrock]

Good luck with your exams!

[typeonediabetesblog]

[hackdiabetes]

Dear Mom and Dad,

Thank you. 

Thank you.

Thank you.

Love,

Your T1D Daughter

[hackdiabetes]

Esme, 2 Year Old with Type 1 Diabetes, Needs Our Help!

This is Esme. 

She’s 2 years old and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in February 2016. 

Over the last two months, Esme has suffered from hypoglycemic unawareness, severe hypoglycemic events, wide fluctuations in blood glucose before mealtimes, and–despite her parents’ best efforts–still has an A1c above 7.0. 

Understandably, her pediatric endocrinologist wants her to be put on an insulin pump and CGM as soon as possible to ensure her safety and future health. 

The problem, though, is that Esme’s parents receive their health insurance through a company called Humana. 

And Humana doesn’t believe that an insulin pump or CGM is medically necessary for 2 year old Esme. 

Humana has denied the request for Esme’s devices three times in a row. In an open letter to Humana’s CEO, Bruce Broussard, Beyond Type 1 founder Sarah Lucas writes:

“Despite the substantial information provided, the claim was denied a third time this week — after what Humana has called a peer-to-peer review, completed with an oncologist as the medical expert. Esme’s request now awaits a fourth review, this time by an outside review board, with initial indication that the decision would be issued Friday, April 22nd at noon. On Wednesday, April 20th, Esme’s parents received an email from Humana representative Joe Kirsch, indicating that this may be further delayed as a pediatric endocrinologist had yet to be found to participate in the process.”

So let’s get this straight. 

Esme is experiencing extreme glucose fluctuations that can’t be controlled through injecting and blood testing alone. 

Esme’s pediatric endocrinologist believes an insulin pump and CGM are medical necessities given her condition. Without them, she faces the risk of seizures, coma, brain damage, retinopathy, and death.

Based on the feedback from a cancer expert, Humana has decided to ignore Esme’s endocrinologst and deny Esme a pump and CGM. 

I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to sit around and wait for something terrible to happen to Esme while Humana takes their sweet time searching for a third-party endocrinologist to weigh in on what is clearly a denial of human rights. 

So here’s what we’re going to do, guys. 

We’re going to use our strong, powerful voices as people with type 1 diabetes to change Esme’s future. 

Let’s follow Beyond Type 1′s lead and write our own letters to Mr. Broussard at Humana. His email is [email protected] or you can Tweet him @BruceDBroussard. Ask that Esme’s appeal be approved and that Humana revamp their policies for clients with type 1 diabetes.

Your letter will not only help Esme and her parents, but it will also set a precedent that forces insurance companies like Humana to recognize that the tools needed to manage this disease are necessities, not luxuries.

#helpESME

[kail-loving-life-deactivated201]

Quick promo!

☀️MBF me! ☀️Must be a health/fitness blog ☀️First 10 reblogs (likes DO NOT count) ☀️Have a good day!

[insulingetsmelow]

Blood test, y u scream?

[diabetixrock]

I just got mine done and they didn't give me any instructions!! It bruised really badly too :(

[stairwaytohappy]

Health check in!

So I am low on vitamin D and my cholesterol is a little too high which is not good for diabetics especially so I am going to try really hard to lower that and also raise my vitamin D which is less important but I still want to do.

Also I am starting an anxiety med this week and the doctor said I may be pretty sick and unable to sleep for the first week but if I power through it I should be fine after that, so wish me luck!

[diabetixrock]

Reblogging this since it's diabetes related! (This is my main blog yall by the way)

[sheisrecovering]

daily self care checklist ft. emojis 💖

[amplifiedpain]

being chronically ill is really really hard. emotionally and physically. it’s hard to know you have a life full of appointments and tests and needles and procedures. it’s hard to know that each day might bring the same struggles as the day before or even be worse. being chronically ill is tough and if you are managing through it you are very very tough and i applaud you.

[exemplarybehaviour]

“why is your bag so heavy?” bc fuck you that’s why

“why do you have to pee so often?” bc fuck you that’s why

“but why do you have to eat right NOW?” bc fuck you that’s why

“can’t you do that somewhere else?” NO FUCK YOU

[insulin-aholic]

Starbucks London Fog latte and diabetic aesthetic.

[diabeelzebub]

Hey! I just had a weird question, do you wear crop tops with your sites out like that in public? I think that's so cool! I haven't been able to work up the confidence to do that but I hope i can. BTW I have a diabetes side blog , diabetixrock

I’ve actually only worn it in public once, because it’s always cold where I live. I wear it at home a lot, and would definitely wear it out more if weather permitted. It feels sooo nice (physically & mentally) to have my sites and tubing out in the open. I’m a firm believer in the importance of disability awareness & representation, and I hate the thought of my disease being a source of shame or embarrassment. I’m proud of myself for making it through each day with T1D and my pump/CGM sites are a visual representation of my perseverence. I love my devices and I love showing them off. No one should be made to feel bad for relying on medical devices.

I totally understand why you’re self conscious about it though. I have been wearing an eyepatch since 2007 due to an injury that left me blind and permanently dilated, so I’m pretty used to being stared at.. I have heard every pirate joke you could possibly imagine. Even still, after 9 years, I have plenty of days that I choose to suffer without my patch because I can’t handle the stares and jokes. There will always be times when people’s insensitivity will hurt, just like diabetes/sugar jokes. (The patch minimizes the frequency and severity of my chronic complex headaches, in case you’re wondering..)

That being said, I do NOT consider myself a confident person by any means. Like I literally have several mental illnesses that make me hate myself constantly lol. I may be jaded but if anything I’d say I’m callous, or cold - at least in public and around strangers. I just have kind of a “fuck you” attitude in general, so I grew a thick skin early on with my experiences with my eyepatch, and even embraced it by getting a pirate-themed sleeve (tattoo) lol. Now that I’m diabetic, showing off my sites is my way of embracing my illness. It’s like, empowering, in a way. As much as it sucks, T1D is a constant in my life and a huge factor in who I am as a person, so why hide it? Fuck what others think. There will always be people who look for things to dislike about you so you might as well do whatever you want. If they stare, make jokes, or talk shit, then they’re jerks anyway and their opinions are invalid. I usually just say something like “real original, asshole,” or roll my eyes, or laugh condescendingly at them, and walk away.

But please, wear your crop tops!! You’ll look cute as heck and you’ll feel amazing, especially on a warm breezy day! You could even decorate your sites with stickers or cool overtape like Grif Grips. No shame in being a bionic babe! 💖

[diabetixrock]

Thank you for this long and awesome answer! This totally helped a lot :)