National Diabetes Awareness Month
Because it’s National Diabetes Awareness Month #NDAM I’m going to share a little bit about my Type I Diabetes journey.
Hi I’m Mary, a person with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) diagnosed at age 3. I’m a pump and cgm user. I don’t know what it’s like not to be a T1D but I know my experience created a deep level of inner strength and resiliency. Although having T1D wasn’t my choosing, I do believe we get to decide how diabetes affects us; we have the power.
Because I was diagnosed at age 3 and dealt with some very adult responsibilities (with the support of my family) at a very young age. The thing about having T1D is that you are replicating the function of the pancreas. And that’s pretty major! The pancreas produces insulin which is essential in: metabolizing food, feeding your cells, and keeping you alive.
Being diagnosed with T1D, you learn how to test your blood sugar and inject very calculated insulin doses (or if you’re an insulin pump user setting your basal rate, finessing your insulin to carb ratio, and learning that your bolus time is everything prior to eating).
You begin to learn about the intricate dance of sorts between food=carb, exercise, and blood sugar levels. And if you are vegan like myself, it requires learning my response to plant based carbs, subtracting fiber etc...Lots of math here for a Therapist. Lol 😆.
You find learning these core concepts must be understood rather quickly and cannot be ignored because your life depends on it.
You learn your innate strength, resiliency, patience and your ability to multitask much sooner than most.
I hope you know how strong you are and that strong people in fact do ask for help and need help. We all need community. I am so glad you are here.
In my journey as a TID I’ve had the opportunity to see life from a different perspective which in part drew me to my passion of supporting others in their healing journey.
My mission is to be a therapeutic resource for T1Ds serving kids, teens, adults, and families in their journey to mind and body wellness, and helping them in developing insight into their innate strengths.
Diabetic Organizations to follow:
PADRE Foundation
https://www.padrefoundation.org
JDRF
Photo credit
📷: @maxine_machina
