Bonus-Diabetic

42. If you're a baseball fan maybe you are thinking about Jackie Robinson. If you aren't a baseball fan, maybe you haven't a clue who Jackie Robinson is and if that is the case please close this blog, go figure out how you can educate yourself and at least maybe watch the movie 42 that will hopefully teach you about a snapshot in American history. Also, shame on you if you don't know who this baseball player was in American history. Anyways, 42 was my blood sugar when I got to see my son for the first time. I know you read that right. Go back look at the number and please for the love of all things holy pick your jaw up off the floor. So, I am telling you this to educate you on the lack of endocrine knowledge, in particular, in the OB world. Now if you work in the OB world and know so much about diabetes I commend you. In reality, ,many in nursing, in general, don't have a clue about the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. How do I know this? 1. I am ...

I heard it thousands of times while I was pregnant with Lorenzo. I assume it was because I was a miserable pregnant woman. I still feel ashamed for the faces I gave coworkers when they asked if I was able to put an IV in or place a special NG tube into their patients (both are things I am specially trained to do).  It will be worth it. I suppose they meant the misery would be worth it when he was no longer destroying my insides. I couldn't sit at work for the last 2 months of my pregnancy. I had a donut pillow to attempt to make me comfortable. It failed. But they were right. It was totally worth it. When I saw him through the plastic sheet in the OR, my heart grew. It practically exploded. I hadn't even held him yet and I could already feel my heart love him. I imagine my heart did the same thing it did at the end of the movie for the Grinch. It grew 3 sizes, right?  That positive pregnancy test had me dreaming of that same moment happening again. This time it would ...

As I was winding down for the night, I could not shut off my brain. I was thinking about EVERYTHING. Would I be ok at work in the morning? Would I bring the virus home with me? How would I detox my belongings when I got home? How would I keep my loved ones safe? Was this what my husband felt when he was on the front lines in the middle east? Did he feel like he had enough supplies? Was he protected?  I tossed and turned so long that when my husband came to bed I was still awake so we started talking about the thoughts going through my mind. I asked him about what got him through war. I understand that he was protected with large guns and gear while I am simply protected by disposable cloth and reusable plastic to cover me from nearly head to toe. However, the reality is, this virus too can be deadly and I may not have to fear someone shooting my limb off but I do have to fear that my chronic disfunction within my own body may put me at greater risk if I do become infected with th...

It was the summer after my senior year of high school. I was sitting around a table with a bunch of former classmates and their parents. I had just been diagnosed with Grave's Disease. Now I know this blog is about my diabetes but I'll make the connection I promise. Anyways, we were sitting there and I was talking about my new diagnosis and my ex (if you went to HS with me you know who I am talking about, he still doesn't know) says "Is it contagious?" There was an uproar of laughter from everyone sitting there. His father. My former friends. And their parents. This moment is VIVID in my memories. I can picture it like it was yesterday. I can tell you who's house we were at. I can tell you what city I was in. I remember it well. You want to know why? I have the trifecta of autoimmune disorders. (I told you I would bring it back to diabetes). I don't think he would ever admit it but I am confident that I was too diseased. Too imperfect. Too sick for his p...

Define NORMAL: the usual, average, or typical state or condition. As a diabetic, I often feel abnormal. It makes sense right? I have to constantly think about nutrition, insulin, carbohydrates, how exercise will affect my blood sugar, what people are thinking when they see my insulin pump on my stomach at the beach, how pizza will affect my sugars, how any type of food will affect my blood sugars, do I have my fruit snacks in case I go low, do I have my extra pump supplies with me in case of pump failure and the list goes on and on. As I grew up, it became more and more evident how abnormal I was....and not because I can be a weirdo ;).... but because I have 2 sisters without diabetes, my entire family lives without diabetes and I often wondered why me? Well at the age of 10 I finally lived one week feeling like I was normal so only for 51 weeks of the year I felt abnormal but I had the support from some AMAZING people from that 52nd week that supported me and made me realize how nor...

Where were you 20 years ago? I was sitting on a cold blue chair in the Children's Hospital Lab waiting for the funniest, tall, black man with glasses to make my first poke, on my journey of pokes, seemingly painless. (If you know him let him know I still remember this night like it was yesterday). It was a night that would change my life forever. Over 20 years there have been the good, the bad and the ugly days. If you knew me as a toddler you know that I could throw a mean temper tantrum now imagine you've been diagnosed with a chronic illness that not a single person in your family has. Let's just say my parents are incredible humans. They were and still are an amazing support system and I firmly believe one of the reasons I am "such a good diabetic" is because they taught me the ropes and pushed me to stay on track. Ask them how easy those conversations were especially in high school.... I still have vivid memories of the noise the vials (NPH/ Humalog) made a...

        Well I finally decided to give this blogging thing a try. I'd like to add some notes before I get started. 1. I do not consider any information that I will share medical advice. 2. I am doing this so that I can educate people and give people the opportunity to see life through my eyes as a Type 1 diabetic. 3. I am a diabetic but that does not mean that I allow diabetes to define me (some diabetics will only refer to themselves as a person with diabetes, I am not one of those people). 4. If you have feedback, I'd love to hear it....privately. 5. English was never my strong class in school. I am a science and math gal through and through.So if my punctuation is off I'm sorry but I'm not sorry. Alright, here goes nothing. I wasn't sure what to start with but this comment has been playing around in my head for quite sometime so here it goes. "I hope that Lorenzo (my son) doesn't ever have to deal with that (meaning my diabetes)." Yes, ...