Sweet and Sour- The Type 1 Diabetes Rollercoaster

Time for another hypo rant! This morning my diabetes clearly didn’t want me to be waking up early for a 6 hour orientation at uni. So it decided to give me a level of 3.6 (under 4 is a hypo/low blood sugar) That’s fine, no dramas. Then it dropped to 3.3- yay. So that was dealt with and off I went for a long orientation. Then the hypo from the depths of the underworld came along- yes it deserves that title. I was heading back to my car having just got off the train. Minding my own business I was trying to make a call (I was definitely already low but couldn’t feel it) and they didn’t pick up. *note: probably a good thing, I wouldn’t have made much sense and might have insulted someone* So as I was glaring at my phone for having the audacity to disconnect due to a busy line, a man approached me. He asked if I was alright, probably mildly concerned about the half lucid girl glaring at a mobile whilst dragging herself up a street. I think I was nice enough but said I was completely fine th...

Meet Tonks! My new pump :) So Severus has been replaced with a fancy new version of the pump. Sadly, his non colour screen, poor menu set-up and non-waterproof capabilities have made me change over. Plus he ran out of warranty last month. Sorry Sev, you just can't keep up with the new tech And a fancy new blood sugar meter to go with her! This one sends my blood sugars straight to the pump. Here's hoping I don't put this one through an X-ray machine too...

Today I saw an amazing mini documentary put up by the New York Times. It’s 12 minutes long but well worth that time. Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/opinion/midnight-three-six.html?_r=0 It follows a mother and daughter living with the daughter’s type 1 diabetes and gives a real view into the life of a t1 and their family. I should stress that- this is just ONE case, your diabetes may vary- I know mine does. It got me thinking about my own life, and my parents. The video seems to show the mother as still very much in control of her daughter’s diabetes, which is understandable as she was diagnosed at a young age and demonstrates some severe symptoms. I do everything in this clip myself, except the middle of the night checks where my dad comes in and wakes me up. But that doesn’t mean that my parents don’t have the same amount of concern. They had to let me be mostly independent from the time I was diagnosed for a few reasons. - I was a young teenager when I was diagnosed...

Today would be my first pump’s (Dobby's) fourth birthday. But I put him through an x-ray machine. So Severus carries on the tradition. Pumps come with a 4 year warranty, so if you’d like to throw me in a pool or destroy Severus in some other way, then you should have done it yesterday. Today you’ll foot the 8 grand bill for a new one :) A lot of health insurance companies don’t fund new pumps until 5 years have passed. I don’t yet know what my health insurance does but I could be walking around with a pump for another year that isn’t covered. ….yay. If I stay away from x-ray machines I should be fine though. Pump therapy is a great fit for me, and I threw together some stats with the help of calculators and google. - I was on MDI (4 daily injections) for a total of 251 days - Which means I had 1004 injections - I have been on the pump for 1461 days - Which means I’ve had around 487 set changes (needles to put in a new cannula) - So had I have remained on M...

It’s time for another open letter. http://instagram.com/jamieoliver/ Dear Jamie Oliver, Your campaign about ensuring kids have clean drinking water is great, however it's overshadowed by this image. I’m going to run on the assumption that you didn’t intend to cause offense and set back diabetes awareness by light-years. You did however choose to pose in front of a can labelled diabetes holding up packets of sugar. You said on twitter that that image was a background at any event. I'm fairly certain that wasn't an accidental backdrop. You made your choice to stand there- own it. I’m guessing you’re trying to “help” people avoid diabetes by advocating for less sugar in our diets. What you did was project a huge stereotype that I’m getting really tired of correcting. You, someone who is looked to for advice about balanced eating, have put forward the idea that diabetes is caused by sugar. It’s not. Type 1 is an autoimmune disease with both ...

The warranty on my pump expires on the 11th of January, and knowing my knack for mishaps (the x-ray incident comes to mind) I’ve been scouring the diabetes webiverse in search of a new model. It’s a complicated process that should go like this: - Does it work? - Who made it? - Do I need that feature? - How long is the warranty? - How much am I going to have to pay for this? - Is my health insurance going to cover this now or am I going to have to wait an extra year with no warranty? Instead this happens… “Is it pretty? LOOK A COLOUR SCREEN! Hmmmm, I don’t know about that warranty length. BUT LOOK AT THE COLOURFUL GRAPHS!” If I have a poor quality pump next year (albeit with stunning graphics and sleek design), you'll know why.

To think, that this time last year I was hanging out for HSC results, imagining that I would be the most productive uni student ever because I was studying something useful. Now I'm half way through uni exams and realise I have turned into a sloth If I could have the time over again I would do things a little differently. -I would make notes as I go. EVERY.TIME. Not for two weeks and then cram two days before the finals -Attend your 8am lectures. 6 hours of catching up in one day is not a good idea. -Drink less coffee -Stop driving to the train station every day. You walked before you had a drivers license, your legs ACTUALLY still work -And if you do drive, park your car well so you're not relying on "the car gods" to keep it safe all day -Don't get addicted to yet another TV Show, MASH was bad enough during the HSC -Don't buy every textbook- rookie mistake I made twice -Don't write your report the days before it's due. It will take longer...