Monday 24 September 2012

Meeting another PWD (Person with Diabetes)

First I have to say that we had an amazing holiday! I have a post in progress about the trip and will post it shortly.  We saw so much...I fell in love with California :)  However this post is about meeting someone else with Type 1 diabetes.

We were in the town of Napa in Napa Valley and were picked up by our wine tour bus at 10:30am.  Altogether there were twelve of us.  We made our introductions and then shyly kept to ourselves.  When we were about 1/2 hour away from our first, of four, wineries and tastings I checked my blood sugar.  One thing I can say since being diagnosed is that I never hide it.  I am not embarrassed or ashamed and feel comfortable testing in front of strangers.  I do it as discreetly as possible however as I don't want to make others feel uncomfortable.  Anyway, I quickly tested my blood and noted that it was somewhat high.  I injected a correction and was confident the day would go well.  When I looked up I saw an older couple watching me.  The wife gave me a nod and wink and said to her husband "See, there is someone else".  Right away I was intrigued.  At the first winery we were served what they liked to call a Breakfast Wine (yes, they should market this!) and we started our first winery tour.  I saw the husband check his blood, make a face and then pull out his insulin pump to make a correction.  Well...I could not help myself from here!  I had just seen other bolus though an insulin pump!!  Something I had not see to date.  I cannot explain how giddy I felt. 

After lunch I hooked myself onto the couple whose husband had Type 1 diabetes and asked a bazillion questions about the pump.  My new found friend so graciously show me what the medtronic pump and CGM looked like and how they worked.  I got to see for the first time what a pump looks like, what the insertion site looks like and what a CGM looks like.  I was on cloud nine.  We had a great conversation about the benefits of he pump and also most deeply about the effects it has on our loved ones.  I listened to his wife tell me about issues he has had while being low and she explained how scary it is. It was good to have Ryan there to relate.  I am so very excited now to get onto my own pump!

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