July 19, 2019

What just happened?  The last entry on this was dated 2017.  The headline said my children were 18, 17, 15 and 13.

Today, I am staring down one who is 21, almost 19, 18, and closer to 17 than 16.

Life moves fast.  Don't blink.

I have shared bits and pieces of our life with type one diabetes over the course of the last eight years.  In the last couple...I have become a little quieter.  Taken a back seat.  Let Josh drive this train...even when it felt like the train was going to crash.

He is now a high school graduate.  Heading off to college.  He is ready.

Am I?  Yes.  How did we get here?  My hope it to start blogging a bit more...at least not once every two years. 

There is still a lot of work to do to help make living with diabetes something we say in past tense.

Stay tuned....

Amy

I never remember...but I never forget.....It was about now...or tomorrow....maybe the next day...thank goodness for the FB memory feed -- it will remind me...though it's a constant thought without the reminder. It was around now that we heard those words, "He has type one diabetes."

Today, I told J I wanted to wear a sensor to see what it was like. First time since diagnosis. For real. Yes, I have stuck my finger and checked my bgl about a zillion times -- but this? Nope. never.

He laughed, but I think was intrigued. He said I was crazy, and that the insertion would hurt if I went slow. I couldn't press the button. I asked him to help. We laughed some more, and I kind of fought back tears. It was scary. He did it, and we laughed some more. It is good to be in this spot, 6 years down the road, that sometimes you can laugh at the smallest parts of this disease.

We (I) haven't been able to beat technology yet though. I wanted to have this sensor reading blood sugar levels so we could see both his and mine. Fifteen minutes or so after we inserted this -- I got a sensor failed message. Another layer of really experiencing what t1d feels like -- going through the angst of an insertion - only having to fail -- and you having think about doing it again.

Is this really like having type one? No, probably not. But it is close. A glimpse of what it feels like to have something on your body, all the time. How long will I keep it on? I don't know...perhaps long enough to see if I can get it to reach a receiver....if not....it simply serves as a reminder to me....and to you.....what warriors people with type 1 diabetes really are.

The #educateandadvocate piece -- this is a Dexcom continuous glucose monitor. A fine filament/wire is inserted just underneath the skin to read blood sugars constantly - -giving you new information every 5 minutes or so. This part is worn on the body 24/7 and is restarted or replaced every 7 days....

This is a day in the life of T1d.