What Life With T1D is Really Like

Type 1 diabetes is:

• Checking my blood sugars every minute of the day to make sure I’m staying in range and not going too high or too low.

• Trying to catch and make corrections before my blood sugars go too high or too low.

• Knowing that if I don’t keep my blood sugars under control, in the long term, I risk health problems like heart issues, kidney issues, stomach issues, and neurological issues, such as ultimately losing my feet due to neuropathy.

• Waking up in the middle of the night to check my monitor or prick my finger to make sure my blood sugars are not too high or too low.

• Feeling guilty that my disease causes stress for the people I love.

• Having FAITH that if I do my best and stay diligent, I will survive the minute, the hour, the day, and the night.

• Having to do math when my brain isn’t working because my blood sugars are too high or too low.

• Obsessing about keeping my A1C below 6.0.

• Exercising every day to keep my blood sugars in range and my A1C below 6.0.

• Accepting that if a storm comes in, my hormones fluctuate, or I get sick, my blood sugars will likely become very hard to control.

• Accepting that sometimes my blood sugars will drop too low or go too high for no explainable reason at all.

• Figuring out how to keep sugar in me when I am throwing up and can’t keep anything down, and my blood sugars are dropping.

• Fighting to make sense in a conversation when my blood sugars are off and my brain isn’t working correctly.

• Celebrating the rare and short-lived moments of clarity when my blood sugar is in the optimum range and my thinking and energy feel “normal”.

• Never feeling bad or sorry for myself when I eat something that sends my blood sugars soaring for hours.

• Controlling my emotions when my blood sugars go too high or too low and I feel awful, and just want to cry or scream because I did everything I could to prevent it, and it happened anyway.

• Watching others eat anything they want, any time they want, and being ok knowing I can’t do that anymore if I want to live a long, healthy life for my family and for myself.

• Going to sleep having faith that my CGM will alert me if my blood sugars go so low that I risk not waking up.

• Relying on my partner and sometimes my children to save me if my blood sugars drop too low in the middle of the night and I begin to seize.

• Feeling SO GRATEFUL and LUCKY to have a partner and children who are vigilant enough (and love me enough) to catch the low in the middle of the night, and SAVE MY LIFE!

• THEN feeling guilty about the stress this puts on my partner and children, who know they may be the ones who have to save my life at any given time.

• Feeling BLESSED that I naturally stay positive and NEVER feel sorry for myself for having to fight this disease.

• Waking up each morning and starting all over again, grateful to have been given another day to live, experience, and appreciate every minute of this beautiful life I get to have.

Please comment on what this disease is to you. Whether you live with type 1 diabetes or are a partner, parent, or child to someone who does.

Let’s open a dialogue!