A couple weeks ago I was fortunate enough to finally and I guess “officially” meet Ashley Willian. I must say, she is as awesome in person as she is in “cyber form.” I’m sure she won’t mind me mentioning this to the world – as I’ve come to somewhat rely on her for every random diabetic thought/question or concern that pops into my head. I often refer to her as my FB/texting diabetic guru guide. She along with Jennifer (our Medtronic nurse) keep me sane at times of frustration.
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When we have an awful experience inserting the CGM... only to have Saul yank it out 10 min after getting it in... forcing me to go through the entire process again…
When for no reason Saul has days of crazy highs followed by nights of crazy lows…
They're also the folks I channel when life is good, and normal.
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When Saul sleeps through the night and wakes up at 150…
When we have a successful- no (or few tears) CGM insertion…
When he spends the day at the pool swimming and his numbers are good …
Diabetes still sucks and will continue to suck. It’s inconvenient… and expensive… and annoying… and l could spend all day making lists of nasty adjectives but will spare you to say this.
Thanks to diabetes I have managed to become a member of the diabetes parenting club which technically makes me an honorary member of the diabetes club… and while I’ve joined many an organization in my day I’m here to say… this club is like no other.
There's no rite of passage just automatic acceptance, support, guidance and shared experience. A place to express anger over high’s and lows, where sharing recipes, tips and tricks is the norm. A safe space where you can cry over an A1C, laugh about your random carb counting expertise (a useless skill to the rest of the world) and seek advice outside the walls of the medical community. Where it doesn't matter if you're injecting or pumping... cause when it comes to diabetes we all rely on the same thing.
The smell of insulin reminds me of home.
It was a random comment made in passing by Ashley in reference to her sister (who is a nurse and was nostalgically joking ) when we were talking about the effect diabetes has on family members.
It’s been stuck in my head now for weeks.
I like it.
It’s a good enough phrase to be the title of a book… or at least a chapter of a book... or for now just a silly old blog post.
This is especially for members of my D-family… those who’ve come to know and love the smell of insulin just as much as me.
Ashley and Matt, Danielle, Josie and Rachel, Mary, Emily and Dana, CH, Suzanne and Ashley…
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