Diabetes and Me

You may be wondering about all my links on the left. I have had Type 1 diabetes for 42 years next month. That's most of my life. I was diagnosed when I was 11 years old around the 4th of July. I remember that day. It changed my life forever.

42 years is a long time to live with diabetes (not so fondly called diabeasties sometimes). I'm very lucky that I do not have any serious complications. So far, I'm reasonably healthy and hope to stay that way for many more years.

Diabetes does not rule my life. It never has. I rarely mention it. It's just a part of my life, an important part at times, but not the only part. When I was younger, no one ever told me I couldn't do something because I had diabetes. All in all, my life has been good. I can't complain. I have a wonderful husband and a beautiful daughter, both of whom I love with all my heart. Forever and ever...always.

For the last 5 years I've been using an insulin pump. First a Disetronic H-Tron+ and now an Animas IR1200. The pump literally saved my life. It gave me my freedom back. The freedom to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and also the freedom to NOT eat. This may not sound like much to someone without diabetes, but it was always so hard sometimes living by the clock: 7am - Breakfast; Noon - Lunch; 5pm - Dinner and all the necessary snacks in between. It's a wonder we don't all have eating disorders since our whole lives revolve around food and the correct time to eat it. The pump has saved me from all of that.

I found a lot of support from a great group of people I met online at Insulin Pumpers. Insulin Pumpers is a mail list that has over 4,000 members. It's a great place to go when you're searching for information on diabetes and insulin pumps. We share our experiences and try to help each other through the rough spots. They are a non-profit organization that depends on donations to cover operating costs. If you'd like to make a tax deductible donation, please feel free to click the link on the left. Your generosity will be greatly appreciated. Or, just drop by for a visit by either clicking the first link on the left or the link above in my narrative.