Slow down sugar, I'm diabetic

I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes on February 17th, 2014 at age 19. So I made this blog to write about my highs and lows (no pun intended) with the disease and hear everyone else's story as well. Diabetes is a lifelong diagnosis, we might as well get through it together.

[naturallysweett1d]

It’s been a while

So it’s been a while since I’ve written on here but today seems like a good day to start up again. I was feeling good for a while, but lately diabetes has me in a huge funk. 

The past two weeks have been blood sugar hell. I can’t go even a few hours with out my blood sugar spiking to almost 300 and with finals, it’s extremely difficult to sit down and study. Of course there could be a lot of causes for this - stress, getting sick, or just my body ultimately killing off the little beta cells I still had. That’s one thing I hate about this disease. All the factors that play into everything make it impossible to pin point what is going wrong with my body and to try and make a fix. There’s no rhyme or reason for any of the bad days, and no explanation for the good days. This disease is spontaneous and doesn’t give a crap if you’re trying to get a degree.

Last week I also found out that I’ve been accepted for a two week field course to Costa Rica to study sustainability and conservation. No one understands my love for this country. I’ve been there before for a volunteer trip and it was absolutely life changing. I had the most amazing host family, built a community kitchen, hiked down to the waterfall, surfed and snorkeled. But back then I wasn’t diabetic. I didn’t have to worry about how low my blood sugar could go while hiking, making sure I constantly had insulin with me, or that my PDM doesn’t get wet on the beach. Can I still even go surfing anymore? Going low in the middle of the ocean is not something I could even plan for. My endocrinologist is fantastic and has ensured me that we’ll prepare the best we can for this, but I’m honestly scared as hell. 

I used to love traveling. I used to love the adventures, being exposed to new places and meeting new people. But now I have this huge complication with my body that is constantly in the back of my mind and is ever weighing on my shoulders. Diabetes has taken so much joy out of my world and has made me scared of it. It has made me sheltered and it has made me fear the future I used to look forward to. I’ve been a relatively positive person throughout my diagnosis but this is something I can never forgive it for.

[naturallysweett1d]

It’s been a while since my last post but..

My A1C came back as 6.7! I thought it was definitely going to be at least in the 7′s with all my highs lately.

[mydiabetessecret]

November 3rd. This date is quite “important” I guess, for me. It was the day I was diagnosed with type one diabetes, 8 years ago. I remember everything I felt that day, I remember the previous days, the sickness I felt, doctors not knowing what was happening to me and giving false diagnosis. I remember that a couple of weeks before I was diagnosed, I had some kind of spots(? on my legs and my mother took me to the doctor and the doctor said “it’s probably just an allergy” well, guess what? it wasn’t. On halloween that year, I threw up in my friends bathroom. I remember waking up that day, 8 years ago, when I was almost 7 years old. I remember feeling like total crap, I wanted to throw up, I was dizzy and I didn’t know what the fuck was going on… I was scared. My parents got me in the car and they took me to the hospital, I felt like I was going to pass out, I didn’t had the strength to even walk, so when we arrived they had to carry me. I remember the streets and that it was a grey morning, I remember everything. Then I blacked out. I probably fainted before they got me inside the hospital. When I woke up, I saw doctors around me, injecting syringes in my body, I remember that I was crying and screaming asking for my parents. They told me they were in the cafeteria. They probably didn’t ate nothing because of everything that was going on. I only have fractions of memories of being in the hospital, I don’t really remember which things happened before or after, buy I do remember a lot of things. I spent 7 days in there. It felt like months. 8 years ago I was diagnosed with type one diabetes and I’ve been living with it since then. I haven’t had one day of real rest, without worrying about this illness. I’ll never will.

Share Your Secret | These Resources May Help (via mydiabetessecret)

[naturallysweett1d]

Oh my god I just read your last post. I'd never thought about what this disease does to my relationships. Now I'm incredibly sad :(

I’m sorry!! I didn’t mean to upset anyone, I was just venting. I guess we just have to remember that we have those people here to support us :)

[naturallysweett1d]

Diabetes Day 548

So I stayed here at school over the summer instead of going home, that way I could keep working and taking classes. I ended up meeting this really great guy and we’ve been seeing each other for a few weeks now. He’s extremely sweet and he knew from the beginning that I’m diabetic. I told him I understood if it took him a while to get used to but he wasn’t scared away one bit. He asks questions, makes sure I’m okay, and even bought glucose tabs to keep at his apartment for my lows. 

This past week we both went home to see our families before classes start again (he’s from California, I’m from Jersey). We’ve facetimed a few times during the week and during one of our chats, he brought up that he told his dad about me. I was ecstatic, until he mentioned how he showed his dad my facebook. I have nothing vulgar or inappropriate on my page, but he noticed one thing. “Does she have diabetes?” “Well yeah, she’s type one.” “Are you sure you’re ready to take on that responsibility?”

That’s when it hit me- because I have an uncontrollable illness, I possess an extra burden to whoever I date. My disease is an added liability and effects any relationships I want to build. Not only do I have to worry about my health, but my significant other has to always wonder; Is she low? Is she high? Can we go to this restaurant? Are we allowed to get ice cream after? Should I wake her up at 3 am to make sure she’s okay?

I hate that this disease not only affects me, but it affects anyone I come in contact with. My family, my friends, my roommates, my boss and coworkers, my relationships.. Taking away pieces of my life is shitty enough, does it have to take away from theirs too?

[mizutanii-deactivated20160213]

just type 1 diabetic things: changing your omnipod and awaiting the dreaded click of the cannula 

[diabeticdancer]

Yes yes yes

[whatdiabetesshouldcallme]

When you’re around a bunch of other diabetics

[naturallysweett1d]

Diabetes Day 516:

Posting this picture because last month at camp, one eleven year old inspired me to finally change my site. For the first 8 months of having a pump, I never took my pod off my stomach area. This particular camper did the same thing, except she only wore it on her arm, so I made her a deal. I told her if she tried a site on her stomach, I’d try out my arm. It took her the whole week to agree to rotate it but she finally did, so I did too. Since then I haven’t wanted to switch back, ironic right?

Putting my pump on my stomach was an easy way to hide my disease. Now that it’s on my arm it’s easy for everyone to see; when I’m at work, at the gym, or even in class. A year ago I would never want the world to see that I’m diabetic, but now I’m confident in showing it off. The last month has been filled with “what’s that thing on your arm?” questions from strangers, and now I don’t hide away from telling them and even joke about being “part robot”. Never be ashamed of what makes you different.

[theskellingtonkey]

So if I (a diabetic) release ketones, and raspberries also release ketones, does this mean I am a raspberry?

[paradisa]

Confirmed: I am a raspberry. I knew it

[naturallysweett1d]

CALLING ALL DIABETICS GOING INTO A HEALTH CARE CAREER

I need your help! So I was diagnosed during my freshman year of college and since then I have taken consideration into switching my major from engineering to Biobehavioral Health (BBH). I talked to my advisor today and she basically said if I make the switch, my GPA (because of engineering) wouldn’t be good enough to get into a nursing or really any medical program after graduation. I really want to become a CDE but unfortunately that calls for a professional health care background. Does anyone have any ideas of diabetes based careers with a basic health degree? Engineering would put me in a better place with a job after graduating but honestly it’s just not my passion. I’m pretty lost. Any suggestions/advice?

[diabeticdoings]

There was a myth then - and it still permeates T1D culture now…That if you do the ‘right things’ all your blood sugars will fall into place. This is simply not true. I was taught that if you find the magic proportion of activity, food, and insulin you will be happy and healthy all the live long day. Its easy right? My reality is - and I think this is true for T1D in general - is that my numbers fluctuate because today’s body is not the same as yesterday’s. There are patterns and general guidelines to follow sure. But life is not static and routine, also plenty of other factors effect blood sugar - not just food, diet, and meds. Some of those factors are known but there is no way to currently influence them, others are unknown, and some are just too difficult to predict with reasonable accuracy the majority of the time.

I saw this and thought you needed to see this too (via diabeticdoings)

[naturallysweett1d]

Diabetes Day 464

Lately I’ve been thinking back to when I was first diagnosed. I’m sure I’ve told my story before but as a run down, it was my freshman year of college. I had gotten strep throat, which turned into the flu, which turned into my pancreas shutting down. I had been sick in bed for over two weeks and getting this news from my doctors was devastating. I was scared and wanted to be with my family, who unfortunately couldn’t be with me. 

I was diagnosed on a monday. That previous weekend one of my close friends who lived in my dorm had told us that doctors were testing her for cancer and there was a possibility that she would have to take some time off from school.

And then a few days later I was told I had a chronic disease. I was told it will never go away and it will change, even shorten, my life. I was terrified not only of this disease but now of life. But how could I feel sorry for myself when my good friend might have cancer? How could I even put my disease in comparison? A few injections a day, counting carbs, and constant blood tests doesn’t compare to what she’d have to go through if her test results came back positive. 

Luckily my friend’s tests came back negative and she’s doing fine now and I am so happy that she doesn’t have to go through treatment. But my disease is still here and sometimes I feel as though it is undermined compared to other sicknesses. We fight this battle everyday of our lives, but no one calls us strong or brave. I wish other people knew what this disease consisted of and how much life it takes out of us each and everyday.

[naturallysweett1d]

And my A1C this time was....

6.3 again! 

This number is so relieving after all the discouragement last week from high BGs.

[naturallysweett1d]

This week has been nothing but high blood sugars and I am SO tired of it

[naturallysweett1d]

Same thing happens with my pump! First 12 hours I always run low, and the last 12 hours I always run high. (I usually leave it in 4-5 days instead of 3)

It’s the strangest thing! I’m glad to see it’s not just me. With the Omnipod, it beeps like crazy on day 3 until you change it so I can’t leave it on that long even if I have insulin left over.

[naturallysweett1d]

Does this happen to anyone else?

The first 12 or so hours after I change my pod, I run low no matter what. I check my sugar: 65. Drink a juice and check 15 minutes later: 65. Is that normal?

[naturallysweett1d]

Diabetes Day 420:

Receiving a package full of test strips makes me feel like a little kid on Christmas

.. I guess that’s how you truly know you’re diabetic, huh?