Moving Forward . . . .

I’m excited to be participating in Joslin’s National Diabetes Month Blog Project, along with a great bunch of d-bloggers.  We have been given four topics to post about and we’ve been sharing our thoughts on each week’s topic on our blogs.  Aside from raising awareness about life with diabetes, we are also pitching in to try to raise some funds for Joslin’s High Hope’s Fund.  You’ll see a link at the end of this post to their fundraising page, if you’d like to donate.

This week’s topic is: Moving Forward: What tech/management tools/delivery systems have helped you live more normally? How could these things be better?

I guess I kind of jumped the gun, because I wrote a bit about d-technology and management in my Joslin Blog Project post from two weeks ago.  I love the tools we have today.  Carb counting and the bolus features on my insulin pump make eating much more flexible (AND FUN) than it used to be.  (Trust me, the exchange diet was NOT FUN!!)  My CGM helps keep me aware of high and lows that I just might not feel.  I can tell at a glance if I’m good for a workout or need to have a snack first.  I can tell at a glance if I’m good for some dessert or if I should delay it until my dinner carbs and bolus have run their course.  Fingersticks are unbelievably better than urine testing was.

But as for living “normally”?  Well, my normal is still vastly different from the normal of a person without diabetes.  I still stick myself with needles every three days.  I still draw blood multiple times a day.  Diabetes is always in my subconscious, and usually in my conscious most of the day as well.  Oh, and I also always lug around a ton of crap to cover any d-emergency that may arise.  So my normal with diabetes really isn’t that normal at all.

Until we find a cure, things that will make my life better are things that will make it easier.  Devices that communicate seamlessly with one another to stand in for my pancreas.  Devices that can be controlled by things I carry with me anyway.  Yes, I am saying again that I want my smartphone to be both my CGM receiver and also give me the options to do anything I can do from my pump screen.  Tall order, I know, but it would really be great.  I also am looking forward to seeing the Artificial Pancreas some day.  Because honestly, the thought of just sitting down and eating without doing major math equations and timing out boluses seems unimaginable to me.  The thought of avoiding most highs and lows because the Artificial Pancreas has my back seems crazy.

The thought of just living my life without always thinking about and doing the work necessary for diabetes management?  Yup, that is exactly how things could be better.

If you’d like to donate to the Joslin Diabetes Center High Hopes Fund, you can do so by clicking here.