T1 - Diabetes

Prick Your Finger - Fight Diabetes: Do you have diabetes or does Diabetes have you? That's a question that I struggle with living with Type 1 Diabetes. I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes during my first pregnancy. The morning after I had my twins the nurse had me check my blood sugar ( I remember it was 160, not great but not way over the top) and she said "O.K., order what you want to eat" and I was like "YES" and I ordered what I wanted (including a special K bar, which I had been craving ever since I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes). During the first year after having my twins I had a few episodes of low blood sugar and so a month before my twins first birthday I made an appointment with my physician and after several tests I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Fast forward  6 1/2 years, I am now using an insulin pump (Animas Ping) and things are going good....not great, but not horrible.  I am a freak about testing my blood sugar, in fact a couple years ago my doctor and diabetes educator had to make me cut back on testing...so now I test 6-8 times a day. I've been on an insulin pump for 3 years and my A1C is finally down to 7.1....my doctor wants 7 or less. This is the lowest it has been since going on the pump. It's a disease that runs your life, I constantly wonder what my sugar is, or if I am going to go low (or high)....if I go for a bike ride with my kids is my sugar going to drop or can I really eat that delicious looking cupcake or should I be good and pass on it.  It's not a disease that I can just pop a pill in the morning and go on with my life the rest of the day and not worry about it until the next morning.....it's a disease that constantly has me thinking and counting and dividing and worrying all throughout the day. It's like a full time job. So this is one part of my life, but it's not a part that defines me....it's the part that makes me appreciate what I have and what I want.