The past couple years have been an incredible journey. I can’t believe how much I’ve grown as a person since I started taking back control of my diabetes and bringing down my a1c. At my last endo appointment my a1c was 7.9. I’m almost there. My goal is to get to 7 and I’m less than a full percentage away!! Once I’m closer to 6, kids might even be a possibility!

I can’t even believe I survived for so long in denial. I say survived because lets be honest, I wasnt living. I was barely surviving. I think about my self-destructive behaviors and I cringe. Days without checking my blood, NEVER bolusing!!!!, running out of insulin and waiting until the next day or two to change my pump, eating absolute crap every single day. It’s a miracle I’m still alive.

I meet people all the time who struggle day in and day out like I do. We understand eachother and support eachother and have the ability to share tips and advice. I’ve had this disease for over 20 years, but I learn something new all the time!

I’m very fortunate that my dad understands exactly what I’m dealing with. I wouldn’t wish t1d (or t2d) on anyone, but it helps that someone close to me knows the struggle. Everywhere I’ve been with my diabetes, he’s been there too. His a1c is right around 7.5-8, just like me, so we have a friendly competition to see who can get to 7 first!

One thing I just started doing is training Wilfred to be a diabetic alert dog. He’s with me all the time anyway, I figure I might as well make him useful! Haha. It’s a long process, tons of work and I’ve been doing loads of research, but I think I can do it. Hopefully if I’m successful I can help other people train their dogs too. D.A.D’s are so expensive, I’d love to be able to help make service dogs for diabetics a little more accessible.

While I train Wilfred, I’m also working on eliminating as many variables as I can in my day to day life. More consistency equals tighter control. If it means my numbers will be better, then I’ll eat the same thing each day (or series of things) for breakfast and lunch. I will exercise for the same amount of time, at the same time each day and try my hardest to get the same amount of sleep each night. All that, in addition to my doctor monitoring my pump settings, is sure to bring me to my goal!

Now, for the weekly dog pic 🙂