Veeny's diabetic life :-)

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I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was five years old.  I can remember life before that happened, not having to be careful with what I ate or did.  I was young enough to make the transition without too many difficulties, though.

For the first six months, I was on the one insulin only (Lente).  This wasn't the right insulin for me, as was proved by the hypos I woke to most mornings. I'm not sure what the glucagon stores were like in our house at that time, but they must have been high! After six months, my consultant finally listened to my parents, and added a second insulin to my mix (Semi Lente), and miraculously, no morning hypos.

In 1991, I was switched to the new analogue insulins, which for the next 20 years, created night hypos for me...most nights.  I know, I seem to have a penchant for hypos!  Despite reporting this to my consultant, and seeing my HBA1c go from 4.6 to 7.8 in six months, I was kept on this insulin combination until I went on a DAFNE course.

Day 1 of that course, and FINALLY, my diabetes team saw what I had been telling them for 20 years. The background insulin is what had been causing this turmoil for me. We tried splitting my background insulin, we tried different background insulins, none of which showed significant improvements.  So began the 2.5 years application and wait for an insulin pump.

On 23 July 2012, I started in my pump. This is the most significant thing to happen to me since my marriage and my initial diagnosis.  Suddenly, I was seeing the results of the hard effort I was putting in to control my diabetes. And that was just fantastic.

How do I feel about my diabetes?  

It is, for now at least, something I can't get away from yet _that doesn't phase me_.  :-)  I do my best to control my blood glucose levels, I work closely with my health care professionals, and I talk freely and openly about it.  I have _never been ashamed_ of it (except for whatever I said or did when a bad hypo struck).  

It is part of me yet doesn't define me.  We have been close friends for over 40 years, sometimes falling out, but most of the time, trundling along nicely together.  Anything I have chosen not to do in my life has been a personal choice, not a choice made because I have this condition.

Is it a problem for me?  Only when dealing with ignorance about my form of diabetes, worringly including from some health care professionals.  Do I talk about it?  Yes, a lot.  Perhaps too much!  Thank goodness for patient non-diabetic friends.  What will I domif/when tyoe 1 diabetes is cured?  If I am eligible to undergo the treatment, I imagine I will probably find it difficult to trust that it's finally sorted out this issue with my body.

What's the most positive thing to haooen because of my diabetes?  Before I retired I became the main statistician for the department I worked in.  It turned out to be a role I was suited perfectly for after all my years of calculating carbohydrates and insulin ratios, monitoring and analysing blood glucose and HBA1c numbers, and generally being the number addict that diabetes necessitates.  And I absolutely loved that job!