D-Blog Week: Day 3 - Memories

Today's topic:  Today we’re going to share our most memorable diabetes day. You can take this anywhere.... your or your loved ones diagnosis, a bad low, a bad high, a big success, any day that you’d like to share. 

I have been struggling with what to write for this topic.  I was diagnosed as a Type 1 diabetic just over a year and a half ago at the age of 32.  I have to be totally honest and say that a lot of it has been bad memories.  The first six months after being diagnosed were hell on earth for me.  If you have read my blog entries surrounding my diagnosis and the complications I suffered after diagnosis you will have a pretty good idea of what happened to me.  Long story short within a few weeks of starting on insulin and having my blood sugars come down I began to suffer with tingling and pain in my feet, hands and chest. This progressed into severe insulin neuritis which resulted in me being in the most pain I can imagine (mostly in my feet) and I ended up being unable to work for nearly four months. I could hardly walk let alone run which was a big blow to me.  I still suffer with my feet to this day but it is very manageable.  I also ended up with cataracts in both of my eyes which required two surgeries.  My teeth have suffered terribly (something I am working on) and to top it off I was then diagnosed celiac last spring. I don't want to talk about these memories as they are too raw and to be honest I have never really shared the emotional toll it has taken on me.

Therefore I am going to concentrate on a very positive and pretty recent memory.  The day I started pumping insulin.  I remember walking out of my Endo's office feeling like I was on cloud nine.  I was like a kid at Christmas that had just received the gift they had wanted all year.  I had wanted to start on a pump since being diagnosed and was overjoyed when it happened.  My main reason for wanting to go on the pump was to help me achieve my athletic goals.  In the six months since I started pumping I have began to see these goals come to light. I love the freedom it has given me and find that it has helped lift the depression I was in.  It takes a lot of work to get it right, and trust me it does not always go right, but it is worth it for me.  Two weeks ago I found out my A1C is 6.0 and I could not be happier!  It is helping me get back to this: