Surviving the challenges in life without losing yourself.
From my 2022 archive: The most important thing I can think of to tell people with T1D that now have to deal with cancer is to do your best to get an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor (CGM) if you don’t already have them (preferably ones that work together as a closed loop, if possible). Also make sure you have extra supplies and insulin on hand if you can. For me, it was a struggle due to the company that was providing my supplies at the time. Despite calling them to ... Read more
From my 2022 archives: In the short time that I had to prepare for chemotherapy, I looked into the potential side effects that affect or overlap with my type 1 diabetes. Other than the more obvious things that throw my sugars for a loop, like the steroids and potential for nausea and vomiting, we T1d warriors also have to think about things that might make any existing or potential diabetes complications worse. While I was blessed to not have any significant neuropathy after living ... Read more
From my 2022 archive: Instead of having an evening to contemplate the past year and process the fact that I have cancer and am about to have a pretty big surgery, I spent the time picking up three people in my life, a family member with his own devastating diagnosis, a co-worker who needed a friendly ear, and my once again drunk husband, who needed money and supervision to get home safely. I take pride in my role to care for others. It gives me purpose. But I find it impossible ... Read more
From my 2022 archive: It was exactly a year ago today when my breast surgeon who had performed my biopsy called to tell me that she was shocked, but that I indeed had breast cancer. The rest of the conversation was a bit of a blur. Words like hormone positive and HER-2 negative, which I didn’t comprehend then, but now know more than I ever wanted to. Part of me is sad, and part of me is grateful that I’m still here. My course morphed into the unexpected based on the early ... Read more