Hi
everyone! I’m so thrilled to be working
with the Diabetes Monster. It will be
some fun times for sure. Some of you may
know me, but many don’t. Let me briefly share
my story with you.
I am
Kristen. Close friends sometimes call me Kris…my
DOC is considered close friends. I am 27
years old. I have type 1 diabetes. I wear a MM Revel 723 and a Dexcom Seven+
(hoping to switch to the G4 in January when warranty is up). I live outside Boston, MA. I have a strong love for advocating for diabetes and am currently taking online classes for accounting thru my local community college.
I was
incorrectly diagnosed type 2. The doctor
I was seeing was horrible. I do not
remember many details as I was so opposed to him. I do clearly remember one Sunday afternoon
when my blood glucose (BG) was “HI” on my meter meaning greater than 600 mg/dl. I had ketones. My mom phoned him on call. His exact words were “Well she isn’t
following her diet; I don’t know what to tell you.” She was so upset, as was I. No matter what I ate or sometimes didn’t eat,
my BG would rise. Come January 2004 I
had lost over 60 lbs and I was very ill.
For over 6 months my doctors
kept telling me I just had mono. I was
always tired. I could never drink
enough. I never felt full. I had clear symptoms of hyperglycemia.
In college
I met a girl who had type 1. She hooked
me up with her Endo at Children’s Hospital Boston. What a blessing this was. January 22, 2004 I was correctly diagnosed as
a Type 1 diabetic. I was started on
insulin and immediately began to feel better.
At that time my A1c was 14.9%!
Things
over the next few years were going quite well.
In 2007 I had asked my endo to try a insulin pump. In September of 2007 I started pumping with a
Pacific Blue Deltic Cozmo pump. I loved
it. I was able to get much greater
control over my BG levels, my A1c dropped below 8%! The following year I started using the
FreeStyle Navigator CGM.
Since
2008/2009 I have been using a CGM (currently dexom). Since pumping with the cgm I have been able
to keep all my A1c’s under 7%, most in the 5% range without many lows or
highs. It is very hard work however.
I have
neuropathy and gastroparesis because of diabetes. I strongly believe this could have been
avoided if my first few years were properly managed. But I deal with it and live my life to the
fullest. Yes I have had a few bumps in
the road with diabetes, but I do not let diabetes stop me. Yeah I will be honest it sucks, but I accommodate
and make it work for me so I can be who I want to be.
I am
looking forward to blogging my experiences and talking about “hot” topics.
Happy Blogging!
Kris
