I was blind.

My very first week with my brand new buddy, Dex(com G4), has come to an end, and wow! Just wow.

Most people say they don't know how they lived without it, and I completely agree. Some of my friends asked me what it was like - I told them I think it's like I've been blind for 18 years, and now I've been given the gift of sight again. Up until seven days ago, I had little to no idea of how food and insulin in particular affected me and my glucose levels. Sure, you can check your blood sugar before meals and after them, but you otherwise have no idea how you got to the number on the screen, and also YDMV (your diabetes may vary).

With my Dex I now have the insight I've been missing out on for all these years, and I've been able to stay within a range that I've never been able to, because as it turns out I was taking TOO MUCH basal in the morning! WHAT?! I'm now taking less, and my graph is looking less like a roller coaster than what it did my first two days :)

Another major health impact that the Dex has been responsible for is the improvement on my mental health. I've known for a while the weight of a chronic disease didn't just affect me physically, but also mentally, which in turn again affected me physically - it's a vicious circle that one.

Since my first pregnancy, I've also struggled a lot with hormonal imbalance, which for one drives you absolutely crazy and affects you negatively in so very many ways. For me, it manifested (in extreme ways) a lot in how I felt emotionally, I was extremely short tempered and stress could take me out in a second. That on it's own is hard. When you pair it with staying at home with a loveable, but active and stubborn two year old, trying to study, trying to accomplish something more than getting dinner on the table (which was so difficult for me most days), it's pushing it towards needing some serious medical intervention.

But I tell you, the very first day I had my Dex, it was like that cloud lifted the moment I also got my sight back. I have never felt lighter. Being able to see where I am, where I am headed, instead of most of the time winging it, is the greatest gift. Being able to know that ok, I took too much insulin, or I ate too much, or I should eat before I sleep/drive/exercise, is like giving me my life back. I never felt like diabetes was holding me back from living life, but I do on some level feel like I've gotten my life back.

If you're considering getting a Dexcom, but the cost is putting you off. Don't let it. It honestly is the best thing I've ever done, and we have to pay out of our own pockets for it.

Knowledge is power, you guys. And that's exactly what this is.

Much excitement!

My Dexcom order is being made TODAY!! My very first CGM is coming, and I'm so beyond EXCITED!!

The Dexcom dance

You know, I'll be real with you, I have not been paying attention to the advances in diabetes technology and therapy for basically my entire 'diabetic career'. I started out as an 8-year old, so my parents cared for my diabetes for a few years, and when I took over in my early teens neither me nor them really looked into what was developing and happening. 

It was only earlier this year, when I also found that there are people out the on the world wide web that know exactly what I'm going through, that I realised that while there's no cure yet, there are amazing devices and therapy out there that will significantly better my overall health.

The first and most attractive one, continuos glucose monitors (CGM)! My mind was blown, firstly by how little I felt I knew about my diabetes and the advances in research. Secondly by this device that could do a very good job of acting as part of my pancreas!

Since then I've spent hours on google, tumblr, instagram, DOC forums, reading journals and research, asking questions of people who use a CGM, finding out which is the most reliable one. And my heart is now set. On a shiny little rectangle - Dexcom G4. Thus started, the Dexcom dance.

First step of the dance, finding out the staggering cost, which is in no way covered by public or private health care in Australia. 

Second step, showing husband the incredibleness of the technology and research involved in CGMs and Dexcom. Lucky for me, I have a husband who very much cares about my health, and doesn't question whether or not it is worth the cost.

Third step, over coming the staggering cost and deciding that the health benefits definitely far outweigh the extreme stretch our budget will need to take.

And finally the current and fourth step, get in touch with the Dexcom rep here in Australia, meet with her and see this gadget in real life! 

I had a lovely meeting with the rep, she was type 1 herself and used a Dexcom G4 and Animas Vibe CGM/pump combination which she took the time to show me around, and left me with a lot of information booklets, and a hunger in my diabetic soul for my very own CGM.

There are many diabetes-dances to dance, the up and downs of lows and highs, the never ending HbA1c dance, or if you are a parent of a type 1 child, the inserting a new pump/CGM site dance. But I am loving dancing this particular dance, because I know it's headed towards a better control of my blood sugar, and overall better health. And that, as I'm sure most diabetics can relate to, is all I really want.

(and soon, you can call me half-bionic-woman)

First!

Well, here I am! Ready to take on sharing around the topic of life with diabetes. Hopefully along the way have a chance to educate about type 1 diabetes, and break some of the good ol' myths.

I'm in the start up phase of setting things up around my blog juuuusst the way I like it (perfectionism is a real problem), so for now, bear with me please :)