1. Glucometers...where would I be without data???
2. Cozmo Insulin Pump...I love my son's pump. My son loves his pump. I hate to think about the day when we have to move to a new brand of pump. We love our Cozmo. We will live with a new company's pump but oh how we love our Cozmo!
3. Ketone Meter...its weird but hey I like being able to see real time ketone levels.
4. Insulin...how could I not have put this first?? Without insulin my son would be dead or emancipated at the very least. Insulin allows him to live a full and healthy life!!
5. My online friends...The Internet connected me to the most amazing people that I have grown to call my diabetes family. Many of these people have known me and my children for over 11 years now. They have been with us through the good times and the bad. They have shared milestones that only families with diabetes could understand.
6. My "therapy" group...a group of women who came together with me to talk, to laugh, to drink, to complain, to advocate, and most importantly to just be ourselves. We were united by our children with diabetes and stayed together because of the incredible friendship that we created.
7. My internal alarm clock....I go to bed and tell myself that I need to wake up at 1, 3 or whenever. For some reason, my body gets me moving at the required hour. I know that I wake because of 18+ years of restless nights but the fact that I wake when I chose continues to amaze me. On the rare time that I oversleep, I know that my body has simply said, "you need sleep more than you need data. Someone else will watch over him for a bit." That brings me to #8...
8. The guardian angels that watch over us at night...It might sound hokey to some but I firmly believe that someone (or more) watch over myself and my son at night. There have been too many nights that I have woke up at the "wrong" time only to test and find a problem. Those are the nights that you argue with yourself about getting out of that warm bed but do anyways and say a prayer of thanks afterwards when you catch a scary low.
9. Diabetes Coverage...I guess we could live without it but the stress that you live under when you have to worry about the cost of each test strip and every infusion site that falls out is incredible. Having that burden lifted is such a blessing and one that I hope will ultimately be bestowed upon everyone living with diabetes.
10. CWD Conferences...Its the one time when you are surrounded by others who "get it" completely. Spending a week with experts who truly know and understand has a value beyond words. For me, this is also a time to reconnect with my diabetes family. We talk, eat, enjoy a glass of wine and catch up but its always as if it has only been a few days since we last saw each other instead of a year or more. I meet new people, make new friends, and put faces with names. The experience is vital to my limited sanity.
Wow! I did it. 10 things that I could not live without when living with diabetes in no particular order.
I love 7 & 8. Many years ago I had a tarot reading done. It was mostly about me, but she did mention that my daughter had a very strong guardian angel watching over her. She said all children have a guardian angel, but that my daughter's was unusually strong. It was years ago, but still gives me a little bit of comfort.
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