Welcome To Utah!

Good Afternoon Sweethearts! 

The hubby is sleeping, the kiddo is watching a movie, so I figured that now would be an awesome time to share my 3rd close call story. I have to say I have been looking forward to this post because it meant that I could dig into some of my old pictures and revisit some very happy memories from way back when!

(Michael and I in Yellowstone on our way to Utah in 2005)

As I said in my first post, I'm from Minnesota. I moved to Utah in 2005 when I was just 22 years old because I was long distance dating the incredibly handsome man pictured with me above. Moving to Utah to be with my Michael was actually one of the biggest and happiest adventures I've ever been on. We planned the when, of course, and in late June of 2005, Michael flew out to Minnesota so we could drive back to Utah. We packed up as much of my stuff as would fit in my little 97 Mercury Sable Wagon, and we drove across hills, plains, valleys, and mountains, and landed in our new life together. 

Part of what made this a huge adventure was also the fact that I was driving away from everyone in my circle of family and friends who knew about my T1D and who helped me take care of myself.  Michael knew some things about my T1D, but he didn't have the day to day experience of it like myself and my family did. Nobody in his family has it, so I was his only experience in seeing it. Poor Michael got to learn from this experience about just how dangerous and unpredictable that T1D can be.  

A few weeks after I moved to Utah, I was realizing that I was running low on my supplies for my insulin pump. I had started pumping in November of the previous year. Being new to Utah, I hadn't set myself up with a diabetes supplier yet since I was spending all my time looking for a job and a place to live. (I had tried to find a job before the move, but nothing worked out. So all that waited till I got here and it was so incredibly stressful, and the stress was definitely not a help to my blood sugars!) Since I was getting low on supplies, I decided to stretch what I had and it wasn't working out so well. I was one of those people who really should have changed my pump's infusion sets out every 2 days instead of the recommended 3 days. During this time, I was wearing a site for a week or more. I would pretty much wear it till it fell off and couldn't be taped on any longer. My blood sugar checks were also getting to be fewer and fewer as the days went on and as my readings ran higher. In case you aren't associated with the purchasing of diabetes supplies, let me give you an idea of the cost. I didn't have insurance when I bought my pump. I paid $6,000 for it over a time of 5 years. Without insurance, infusion sets and other pump supplies can cost over $1,000 per month. Test strips without insurance can cost well over $50 for a box of only 50 strips. And don't even get me started on the cost of insulin! It is insane! With insurance it is cheaper, but if you are an insured pumper you are usually still spending hundreds out of pocket each month for everything. 

One night, I was down to just a couple of infusion sets left. My blood sugars had run pretty high by this time. My infusion set's tubing had gotten caught on something and my set came out about halfway. I was so discouraged and not sure what to do. So what did I do? I acted on panic in the moment and it was stupid. I pushed the site back in, and taped it on. I know many of you are shaking your heads in horror, but remember I was new to pumping at that time. I had been doing it less than a year. Since the set is made of plastic, the insulin delivery part (cannula) bent when I pushed it back in. My body wasn't getting the insulin. 

 I got sick again, as tends to happen when stuff like this strikes. We went to the doctor and he sent us over to the hospital. We got there and I was in the beginning stages of DKA. Poor Michael, nothing like bringing your girlfriend all the way to Utah just to learn the hard way about her disease! The hospital had given me some medication. I don't remember what it was, but it started making my body extremely restless. I couldn't sit still and my arms ached. After telling them they needed to give me something to make that stop, they must have given me a sedative of some kind because I don't remember anything till waking up in my hospital room. I was only there for a couple of days thankfully. We had gotten me there in time before things got too out of hand like before. 

After I got out of the hospital, I knew I needed to figure things out. I knew I had been stupid. I knew I couldn't put myself through that and I especially couldn't put Michael through that again. As much as I didn't want to do it, I went to my church to assist me in getting my supplies until I found myself in a better financial and employment situation. I had found a job by then, but I didn't have insurance yet and it was a job I hated. I knew I just needed to be in a job with good pay and good insurance. I was at that first job for a very short time because I had found a different one working with a diabetes supplier. They had excellent insurance and I finally got myself on track with making sure I had what I needed. There were some tight times no doubt. I had to stretch things sometimes. But I never went without and I never made myself stretch nearly so far as to make it unsafe for me. From that point, and till now at 10 years later, I have never had to go back to the hospital. I have had times where I've had ketones, and I've been pretty sick, but it never got to the point of DKA again. I treated at home as best I could and thankfully it was good enough to keep me out of the hospital. Sometimes even when you work so hard to keep T1D things on the straight and narrow, DKA will still sneak up on you. It isn't always because of some mistake you made. I just ended up learning the hard way! Lucky me....Ha!  

Michael began to learn so much about T1D after he saw the seriousness of what can happen, and how fast things can turn life threatening. He's been such a support to me. He is always asking me what my blood sugar is, he smiles with me and shares in my high five when my A1C is good, he truly wants to know what I do to stay healthy. Heaven definitely smiled upon me when Michael was given to me. He's blessed my life in so many ways, and I am glad I can depend on him to support me through this journey as a T1D! 

I am no longer on the pump. Mine broke after the warranty was up, and so I am back to injections. But I am doing better now than I ever have before. I think I might make that my next post after all of this extreme seriousness. You might wonder why I chose to share these 3 stories first in this blog. It is a lot of reality to begin with! My reason is for awareness first and foremost. However, my biggest reason is to show where I have come from personally. I know more now. I work harder to stay healthy now. I have a supportive doctor now who makes me accountable while not making me feel like a failure if I mess up. I have explained to people before that T1D can kill you. It effects every single aspect of your life and of your body's function! I have had situations in life where I've had to fight with the insurance company or where I have had to stand up for my need for my medication and supplies because I refuse to go backward in my T1D. If I don't have these things, this disease will kill me. I have said that before, and felt like it fell upon deaf ears. People treated me like I was being dramatic and inflating the seriousness of the situation. I know all too well what T1D is capable of. I have learned a lot. I at times learned through making EXTREMELY stupid mistakes, but I learned. 

Now I get to be a voice for others who are struggling like I did! It makes me happy to do that.

Have a great afternoon Sweethearts!