Todays is V’s Diaversary. Eight years ago, on May 22nd, she was diagnosed with T1D. She was eight years old. Today, 5/22/21, marks half of her lifetime lived with diabetes. It’s almost hard to remember our life before T1D. And every photos of May 2013 preceding the diagnosis is clearly marked in my head as “before”. Celiac diagnosis technicality didn’t come till August. But they told us at the hospital that most likely V had it. We never really formally acknowledge Celiac diagnosis day, but today it seems fitting to at least give it a nod. It certainly likes to complicate things. Eight years ..read more

Maybe it won’t hit you at the first undeniable signs Or at the hospital, his name written on the board And on the bracelet around your wrist Just like hers was many years ago Maybe it won’t hit you at home His syringes strewn all over the kitchen counter Just like her syringes and vials On her nightstand years earlier Maybe it won’t hit you at the pharmacy When you need to sort out his orders, then hers When you leave with insulin for both When you pay double the copay Maybe it won’t hit you on the phone Supplies and appointments for her, then for him Double the time on hold Double the logisti ..read more

Husband: I’ve noticed A has been drinking a lot yesterday and today. More than normal. He got up a couple of times to use the bathroom. Me: Hmmm. Concerning, but probably nothing. Husband: [after a day of out of town BMX racing] He was not hungry, didn’t eat dinner. Said his stomach was bothering him. He crashed at 7 PM. Me: [Quietly freaking out a little] OK, when you get back, we need to test his fasting BG. Just to make sure. The following morning… Husband: Hey, A is still asleep (it’s around 8 AM) Me: SHIT. Where is the nearest CVS? Or any pharmacy? You can buy a cheap kit and check him… I ..read more

It’s been a while. I don’t even know if anyone is still reading. V submitted this poem for school English assignment. When you are diagnosed with T1D and Celiac at 8, it becomes part of your identify. And when you are almost 16, you may develop an uncanny ability to beautifully articulate it. Without further ado, in her own words… Which Girl Am I? I often find myself wondering, who am I? The question society has expected me to figure out before all of my teeth have even grown in. What do you want to do? What do you like? How would you describe yourself? Who are you? The word identity, tw ..read more

I am a member of a big diabetes facebook group. Due to a large overlap between T1D and celiac, it often comes up. When someone asks a question in regards to the interplay between the two, in general responses are helpful and informative. But once in a while I see things that really rub me the wrong way. Cue to about a week ago, when a parent posted about their 6-year-old T1, who was very recently diagnosed with Celiac. They said that since going gluten-free, kid’d blood sugars have been running high and they were having a hard time managing it. They wanted to know if it was common. The respons ..read more

A few days ago I posted this problem on my Facebook page for this blog Let’s do diabetes math together. Based on nutritional information presented, solve the following problems. Show your work. 1. How many grams of carbs are in each popped cup? 2. How many grams of carbs are in one bag of popped popcorn? 3. If you estimate 17g of carbs for entire popped bag, and your insulin to car ration is 1 unit per each 4.2 carbs, what’s the total amount of insulin needed to cover all 17g? 4. Based on your answer to #2, how many units of insulin should you have actually given? 5. In a short paragraph ..read more

What every T1’s fridge butter compartment should look like: A thing of beauty What we won’t be doing again: signing up for auto-refills, because for some reason they box is into a rigid 90-day refill schedule. If we refill manually we can do it after about 70 days. What no one should ever be faced with: a ridiculous retail price of insulin. This is so wrong. Thank goodness we have GOOD insurance ..read more

This is gonna be close. Next refill is on 12/8. One vial was opened today, not pictured. There is one more at school. And this last one in the fridge. V has been going through ridiculous amounts of insulin. Puberty is largely to blame for her skyrocketing insulin needs. Add to it sometimes forgetting to bolus, which results in being stuck on high BG, which then takes even more insulin to bring down. Add hormonal surges when insulin is like water for a couple of days. Her insulin prescription was increased last time (to from 9 to 12 vials per 90 days!!!) because we were dangerously close to ru ..read more

From the T1 parents point of view… Picking up your phone to check her numbers  First thing in the morning, straining to keep eyes open Before checking weather, email, or news And smiling at a beautiful steady line Or jumping into action to bring it back It is waking up to alarms when she sleeps through them Walking across the hall to her room to give insulin  Waking her up indvertently  Sometimes again and again and again It is hours spent at doctors’ appointments And even more time spent on the phone With insurance, medical suppliers, pharmacists To make sure she has what she needs to stay al ..read more

November is diabetes awareness month. I blogged every day in November in past years. I don’t have it in me to do it this year but it’s a good reasons to at least write something here and there. So, looping… For those who don’t know, looping is a DIY system created by a few genius T1 peeps and parents, that allows a small device called Riley Link to establish communication between insulin pump and CGM, so that it can automatically adjust basal insulin based on CGM trends. You gotta do a bit of work. I needed to do very basic coding, following amazingly detailed instructions, and built an app th ..read more