Diabetes Blog Week - Day 1

Hello readers!

Welcome to my first post for Diabetes Blog Week! Today I'm going to talk about "a day in the life... with diabetes."

The truth is, I like to ignore the disease. I like to pretend that it doesn't play a large role in my life. I often find myself downplaying how serious it is because I don't want anyone to think differently about me because I deal with diabetes on a day to day basis. Sometimes, I don't check my bloodsugar when I should because I don't want people to see me do it. It's not that I'm embarrassed. (I got over that in elementary school. Eating out and giving myself a shot of insulin at the table will do that to you.) I think it's more about showing my coworkers and friends that I, too, have a "normal" life. In reality, diabetes plays a big role in the way I live. Here's a look at a "typical" day in my life. We'll pretend it's a Monday and I had to change my insulin pump site this morning. So here it goes:

5:00am: Alarm 1 goes off; turn it off.

5:15am: Alarm 2. Get up. Begin the getting dressed process by grabbing the supplies to change out my infusion set: syringe, tubing set, and skin prep (alcohol) pad. I keep these things in a "diabetes drawer" in the closet. The other thing needed to change out the infusion set is the spring-loaded inserter, but I keep that in the bathroom already. I draw up the insulin before I get in the shower, so the bubbles have time to rise to the top by the time I get out. I take my shower, and insert the new set when I get out. It goes a little like this: remove bubbles from syringe (this process takes anywhere between 30 seconds and 10 minutes, usually dictated by the age of the bottle of insulin: I get smaller and more bubbles when I first open a bottle); rewind the plunger in the pump; connect syringe to tubing; insert syringe into pump; prime the air out of the tubing; clean the site on my abdomen and allow to dry while placing infusion set into inserter; remove protective covering on infusion set; cock inserter; place inserter on site location; hold breath; count: one, two, and click release on three! Then I smooth down the tape to make sure it adheres correctly, the needle comes out, and prime 0.3 units. Phew! Breath normally. :)

Get dressed, go downstairs to make my lunch for the day and grab something for breakfast, and head to work! It's now 6:15am.

6:30am: Get to work. Check email and do work things. Eat breakfast around 7:00am.

10:00am: I usually check my bloodsugar around now.

11:30am is lunchtime! Check bloodsugar; eat lunch at my desk (usually).

12:00pm: Get back to work! I have a tendency to go low in the afternoons, especially if work is significantly hectic or if I'm stressed out in some way. I always keep snacks at my desk in case this happens.

4:00pm: Done with work! Head home. Check bloodsugar when I get there.

The evenings are tricky. In the past few weeks, I haven't been on a good workout schedule, so I haven't been going to the gym much. If I am going to the gym, I usually change and go right when I get home from work (4:30pm). Then, hubby and I will make/eat dinner and watch something we've DVR'ed or spend time on our computers until it's bedtime. Oh! I like to catch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! on weeknights. :) I like to start winding down for bed around 8:00pm so I can get in bed at 9:00 and fall asleep before 10:00. Then...... restart!

There are many times when diabetes interferes with my life that aren't reflected in this "typical" day, but I'm sure those will be revealed later this week. Stay tuned!!