My Diabetes Can Drink Green Beer

St. Patrick's Day 2009 marked my 21st anniversary of having type 1 diabetes. So, now my diabetes can drink green beer! Woohoo.

My mom gave me a sweet card and a present, as she's done every year, to commemmorate the day and say nice things about how I handle my diabetes. Every year, this makes me teary-eyed.

I had just turned 10 when I was diagnosed, so I remember a bit about the doctor's office. And the night in the hospital. And the nurses coming to our house with grapefruit and syringes to teach us all (me, my mom, my dad, and my stepdad) how to give injections. To be honest, though, most of it was a blur. In the span of just under two years, my mom and dad had divorced, we had moved across the country, my mom married my stepdad (who I adore), and I started at two new schools. Which means that there are many other memories of that time that are much more crisp. This may have something to do with the fact that my blood sugar was oh, 364 when I was diagnosed. My brain was probably not recording memories very well in that moment!

But my mom was an adult! And a mom! She spent the night with me in the hospital, and she says that she had a moment before she opened her eyes in the morning when she thought, "Maybe this was a nightmare." And then she opened her eyes to us in the hospital. She always managed her emotions so well that it's hard for me to imagine what she was feeling. I only know that her ability to let me always, always control my own diabetes and to support me in the ways I most needed her support was incredible. So, I think the tribute should be as much to her as it is to me.

Happy 21st Anniversary!

Stem Cell Victory

Yes, I am excited about the stem cell news!!! With three exclamation points. I already love Obama, and this makes me love him more.

Do I think it will lead to a cure in 5 years? Um, no.

Like many others, I was told upon my type 1 diagnosis that we would have a cure within 5 years. That was 21 years ago.

Let me be clear: I am not bitter.

I'm thankful for all the incredible advances that have come along in those 21 years. I'm thankful that I'm not dealing with diabetes 100 years ago or even 50 years. It was a very different Diabetes World back then. I'm thankful that I'm healthy and happy, that my family and friends are loving and supportive, and that when he sees me grab a baby Dr. Pepper out of the fridge, my husband doesn't think twice before saying, "Is your blood sugar low?"

But mostly, I'm hopeful for all the kids with newly diagnosed diabetes. Maybe someday stem cell research will help a little girl who is diagnosed on St. Patrick's Day, like I was. Maybe someday stem cell research will save the lives of my kids. Maybe it will improve life for my friend, N, who was diagnosed with MS at age 26.

Am I unrealistically optimistic? No.

Am I hopeful? Excited? Thinking this is a step in the right direction? Yes, yes, and yes.

In the Beginning

Here I am, a kid with a shiny new blog in a sea of blogs.

Actually, I'm not a kid anymore. And I'm thinking about a kid of my own! Which is part of why I'm writing this blog.

I'm 30 years old and got married almost a year ago to the sweetest boy in the world. And even though we have our hesitations, worries, and many, many fears, we're thinking about having a baby.

The only hold up is that I have type 1 diabetes. Last May, I visited a high risk OB who came highly recommended by my gynecologist (who I love) and a Minimed rep (who often know the best in the business). I figured that combination must make her awesome! She's at the state university's teaching hospital. Which made me nervous at the time, because I worked in the building next to the hospital. I want friends and coworkers to visit me when I have a baby. But having a baby next door?! Kind of strange. Do you go into labor at work and walk to the hospital? Are your coworkers the first ones at the scene? Does your boss cut the umbilical cord? Too weird.

In any event, now I work for a nonprofit miles away from the teaching hospital and no longer have any concerns about delivering there. Of course, walking to prenatal appointments (which I hear are weekly for type 1ers) would have been nice.

Anyway, Dr. Awesome OB spent a good two hours with me. Going over my history. Talking about nutrition. Prenatal vitamins. Bloodwork. Risks to the fetus in type 1 moms. You know, the usual.

The bottom line is that she recommends (and most endocrinologists and websites I've seen concur) that while pregnant, you keep pre-meal blood sugars at 60-90 and post-meal blood sugars below 120. She also recommends (and again, the medical community concurs) that having a HA1c under 7 for six months prior to conception is the key to a healthy pregnancy.

"Oh, lord," you say. Or rather, I said. How am I ever freakin' going to get my blood sugars that low?! How will I ever be at 60 and not feel like I'm having a reaction? Dr. Awesome OB had lots of practical tips and advice, and a Minimed rep was there to go over my recent numbers.

I'm off to a good start, and decided to throw my hat into the blog world. Here goes!