3 year Diaversary- January 6th 2014

7,665 Finger Pokes
2,560 Shots
1,095 Days
370 Site Changes
12 Dexcom Insertions
3 YEARS

I have inserted a minimum of 10,607 NEEDLES into my body in the last 3 years. That is just too many. I am tired of being a human pin-cushion, and so are the millions of others who also live with T1D fighting to make the most of each day. I am more committed than ever to finding a CURE so that no one else has to join this gross club where blood and needles are considered normal.

So skinny :( 

Recently, I was watching home videos from Christmas 2010, 12 days before my diagnosis . As I read our annual letter from Santa, I had to take off my glasses because everything was blurry and my voice was hoarse and quivering as if talking zapped all my energy. I looked like a bag of bones. I can barely stand to watch it. In the the time that we opened gifts, I was continually drinking out of my water bottle.  How did I not realize something was wrong? I am so thankful that my diagnosis was made a week and a half later, because it could have been much worse.

I am not the same person I was 3 years ago. In fact, I have undergone a complete transformation. My body is so much healthier now, and I can sustain my weight.  This is something I have struggled with since birth. I have also become more responsible, independent, and organized. You have to be, if you want to maintain control. At the beginning, I only let my mom give me my shots. After my first five shots from her,  I became more confident and took over.  I also gained a voice through diabetes; I love meeting diabuddies, explaining the disease to outsiders, and advocating for a cure with JDRF. Without T1D, I would still be that shy, skinny girl who was scared of everything and did not have her own voice.

Type 1 Diabetes has taught me so much about treating each day as a blessing. I am grateful for all I have learned, but it is time for a CURE! Let's all pray that 2014 brings new technology and research to lead us in this direction.

I cannot change it, so I embrace it 

I understand a cure is still a while down the road, so I always try to celebrate the little victories along the way. Whenever Dexter has a 24 hour BG graph that is completely in range, I snap a picture. These small things help motivate me to continue working hard controlling my diabetes because being my own pancreas is a full time job and sometimes feels like a burden. Every year on my Diaversary, my family and I do something special to remember the day. It is not a sad occasion but a celebration of life and good health. This year I gave my parents and brother a thank you card on my diaversary because this journey involves and effects the entire family. I am lucky to have been born and diagnosed during a time when technology is so advanced. There are so many different treatment options. My grandparents, who are in their late 80's, tell me stories of their childhood when people who were diagnosed with diabetes did not live more than a year.  Therefore, I am truly blessed. Bring on year 4, I won't let Diabetes win!!!!!

-Morgan

Technology sometimes...

Dear Dexter, 
             I thought I could trust you, but today you proved that you may not share the same feelings. I would appreciate more support from you in the future or this relationship may be over. 
Love, 
  Your best friend with hypoglycemia unawareness  

2013

2013 was a year of transition. I feel as if my diabetes grew from a baby into a toddler. I was able to let my guard down a bit and I finally felt as if I was not thinking about it 24/7. I am at the point where I can pretty much do everything with my eyes closed, which can lead to the occasional error since I am not as careful as I used to be. I also feel like I have let go of some of my control and realized that sometime no matter what I do diabetes has a mind of it's own and I should not get too upset about an unexpected high or low, just correct and move on. This leads me to the best and worst diabetes moments of 2013:

The Worst 

1. The most upsetting D-moment of the year was when I forgot to bolus (give insulin) for my bagel at breakfast and I did not realize until 2 hours after the fact. I felt like crap and I had no one to blame but myself. I learned that I need to pay more attention but I should not beat myself of up because it was going to happen at some point and if it only happens once every 3 years I can deal with it. 
2. I had my first encounter with the NO DELIVERY alarm on my pump. This occurs when the insulin is not able to properly pass through the tube into the cannula inside your body. I had to learn how to trouble shoot and was reminded that I always need to bring extra syringes and a vial of insulin with me in case of these situations. 

The Best 

1. The absolute best thing about this year not just in diabetes management but life in general was getting my Dexcom, Dexter. He has allowed me to relax more, knowing that he will alarm when things get a bit hairy. I would never give up this amazing piece of technology. 
2. I also had the opportunity to talk with an older classmate who has T1D about how he deals with social aspects with D. He gave me great tips on how I can enjoy my upcoming 21st birthday safely without D getting in the way of the celebration. In general all conversations with diabuddies are ones that I cherish and never forget because we belong to a special club and they just "get it". 

Below is a short snapshot of my 2013 journey with Diabetes:

Happy New Year Y'all!

-Morgan 

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 

I Won!: A Christmas Story

I will let the wonderfulness of Christmas speak for itself.... 

Happy Happy Happy

Nothing some Chocolate Coins wouldn't fix :)

Moments later I was back to my sibling duties 

This was a blessed CHRISTmas filled with family, friends, joy, laughter, and great food. But as always, I am bit apprehensive to see how all the excitement affects my BG overnight. But this year I am proud to report....

I WON!

Morgan:1 

Diabetes: 0 

-Morgan 

A Life of Numbers

When I wake up every morning of every day, the first thing I see is the numbers on my BG number. Next I see the numbers on my pump, when I give a correction. Then, I move on to the major equation of counting carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are one of the three main nutrients in food and the one that effects BG so insulin must be used to match the carb intake in order to stay in range. When I was first diagnosed, carb counting was on of the hardest aspects of the disease for me to adjust to. During my first year with T1D I was never without my Calorie King book to look up different foods, a note pad and pencil, and my iPhone calculator. Now, it all is second nature and I can usually do it without even looking at labels.

How many carbs? 

Above is a picture of a lunch I ate one day. The main carbohydrate in this meal was the crackers. In order to see how many carbohydrates for the crackers I look at the nutrition facts label on the package. The serving size on this package is 15 crackers, so there is 21 carbs in 15 crackers. To find out how many carbs are in one cracker you divide 21 by 15 to see that each cracker is 1.4 carbs. I had 12 crackers on my plate for a total of 16.8 carbs, which I round up to 17 carbs. The 1/4 cup of trail mix in the lunch is 12 carbs, while the salami and cheese are carb free. So in total this lunch is 29 carbs (17+12).


No that I am so experienced with carb counting I often SWAG bolus and have gotten really good at eye-balling my carb intake. Now when I look at a plate of food, I actually see numbers floating in my head of different carb amounts, crazy I know:).

63g of Carbs 

 It all come with practice and is very important during this time of the year when you are encountering many foods that may be unfamiliar. Cheers and Carb Count On!
-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