What it's like...

        I am very open about my T1D, sometimes I even talk about it too much. I usually announce when I am having an extreme high or low, so now many of my friends can recognize my symptoms. That is very comforting to know that they are watching out for me. Usually that's where their curiosity stops.
       But once in a while I find people who want to know more. They want to know what it is like. How I feel when I am high or low. I try my best to explain, but there really are no words. It is an out of body experience where you are no longer in control of your actions. But that description does not do the awful experience justice, you have to feel it for yourself. One day I simply told my friend, "I wish you had diabetes for just one day, so you can see how it feels". Her response: "me too, I want to know what it's like". And that is just what I needed to hear. Thank goodness for best friends <3

Blessed with the Best

I love winter break because I get to catch up with my long lost best skating friends that I do not get to see much because we are all busy with college and our "new" lives. It is amazing to see how when we step on the ice together, we magically turn in to our "old selves" and it is almost as if nothing has changed. I felt as if I was in a time warp on the ice as jumps seemed to come back easily and laughter filled the rink.

This girl <3 

I also got to catch up with my BSF (Best Skating Friend) over dinner. When we get together you can bet on there being a lot of pink and purple, diet coke, and all-around silliness. We got to discuss skating, college life, and the excitement of our upcoming 21st birthdays!!!! Of course, the D-monster got in on the conversation too. I am so LUCKY to have someone to discuss the effectiveness of different insertion sites and the feeling of lows with, otherwise I would be a sad lost puppy.

Paradigm 523 on top, Paradigm 723 o the bottom 

We even found time for a in-depth comparison of the medtronic Paradigm pumps. The smaller one is the 523 and it holds up to 180 units of insulin. The larger one is the 723 and it holds up to 300 units. That is the only main difference, as they have identical features when you go through the menu. One visual difference I discovered is that the reservoir for the 523 has a medtronic logo on it that you can see through the little reservoir peep hole. The 723 reservoirs do not have that because the pump has room for the medtronic logo on the front. The debate is still out on which one is more practical, but in the end it does not matter because they both do their job and are a heck of a lot better than shots. I continue to be in awe of the journey I have been on for almost 3 years now and am so blessed to have such wonderful people to share the up's and down's with.
-Morgan 

It brings me down, they pick me up

Diabetes has an incredible talent for screwing things up at the worst possible times but I always try to make the most of these situations.  A few months ago, my college Figure Skating team had it's first competition of the season, and my dear old pal, the D-monster was by my side the ENTIRE time. When we entered the hotel, I knew that this would be an interesting weekend because I was welcomed by a ripped out insertion site, wonderful.

A roller-coaster weekend 

The morning of the competition started out really well, but about an hour before my first event, Dexter began flashing those lovely ???? showing that it did not have a strong signal. This was very disheartening because the entire reason behind getting Dexter was to use him during these events where adrenaline causes bizarre BG spikes. So since the sensor was 8 days olds, I decided to yank it and insert a new one right there in the locker room. I was not sure what the reaction of my teammates would be but most of them treated it like an interesting science experiment and wanted to watch, as many of them are science majors. The joys of being a human pin cushion:).

After my event, I was feeling a bit icky but that it is not unusual to be fighting high BGs at a competition. When we went back to the hotel, I ripped out yet another set while taking off my dress. When went back to the rink, I was still a bit off but these girls are just the sweetest and actually were interested in the process and why I filled up my water bottle about eight times that day and could not stop peeing :/ I literally felt like I could not stand up straight because my stomach was hurting that bad, so of course I was nervous about going out and skating elements for the team. We gave Dexter another name, "the crying baby" as he just was very whiney that day. They helped me find humor in a crappy situation, which is something that I love. The weekend ended on a high note with our team placing 4th overall out of 12 teams. But, the results were not important as the friendship and understanding I gained that weekend. OUFSC rocks!

These peeps are just the best!

-Morgan