#how to celebrate a diaversary

[can-of-pringles]

Today is my 17th diaversary. Most non-diabetics get a little nervous when I tell them this because they don't know what to say.

For me the day is not a sad one. I've always celebrated due to how much I've thrived despite a chronic illness. And there's people and friends I wouldn't have met otherwise.

So don't be worried about saying something positive or something similar. That's kinda the focus.

[nilakshipokharkar]

7th Diaversary!!!

Today, 3rd July 2023, I’m celebrating my 7th diaversary!!! 7 years since my life changed forever ♥ . Although the idea of "celebrating" being diagnosed with diabetes may seem puzzling at first, I realize that incredible efforts, unwavering perseverance, and extraordinary bravery throughout this journey are truly deserving of celebration and self-appreciation.

With every heartfelt letter I wrote to myself, I embark on a journey of reflection, tracing the footsteps of my past, present, and future dreams. It is a tender exploration of the hurdles I have overcome and the milestones I have accomplished. Each word on the page becomes a testament to my resilience, reminding me of the extraordinary strength within. As I pen down my thoughts, I am filled with a profound sense of gratitude for the endless possibilities that have unfolded and the dreams that have become realities. With each letter, I embrace the beauty of my journey, cherishing every step taken and every aspiration fulfilled; and this year I decided to share 7 lessons I’ve learned in these past years.

1. You are so much stronger than any crap life throws at you; it is the power of our mindset and the resilience of our attitude that ultimately shapes the outcome. Just believe in yourself and conquer the life challenges like a Boss.😎

2. Shittiest situations can provide you with the greatest of opportunities.😆

3. Through the wild ride of diabetes, I've discovered more about myself and the world than any textbook or lecture could ever teach me. Who needs school when you've got a mischievous pancreas as your professor? 😜

4. Surround yourself with the kind of people who not only motivate you but also celebrate your victories and have the uncanny ability to construct a Lego tower of awesomeness with you! 🙀

5. Explore experiences outside your comfort zone; feel the fear and do it anyway. Prepare to be astonished by the sheer magnitude of your own strength. And maybe some stories along the way! 🥴

6. Crying is acceptable; Tired is acceptable; Stressed is acceptable; Anger is acceptable; But “Quitting IS NOT”!😎

7. Be who you are; speak what you feel; do what you like; because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don’t mind. ❤️

So, on this diaversary, let's raise a sarcastic toast to two vital lessons I've learned:

The never-give-up attitude, because hey, who needs a functioning pancreas when you've got determination that could move mountains? No matter how many glucose rollercoasters I've ridden, I've always shown up, like a superhero.

The beauty of not giving a single drop of insulin about what others think. I've embraced the art of doing what's best for me, regardless of societal norms or raised eyebrows. Who needs approval when I've got my own glucose graph as proof that I'm living my best T1D life?💉💉

Cheers to being the unstoppable force that I am, boldly defying diabetes with a sarcastic smirk and a healthy dose of self-love. Let the world wonder while I keep thriving, showing them what it truly means to be a T1D badass.

Diaversary or not, I'll keep conquering this T1D adventure, laughing in the face of glucose fluctuations, and reminding myself that no matter what, I am stronger, braver, and funnier than this pesky pancreas could ever be.

Here's to many more years of rocking the T1D journey with sass, resilience, and a wicked sense of humor!

Stay fabulous, fellow T1D warrior. Cheers to us! 🥂😎

[inspiringthegirlsblog]

Happy Diaversary My Little Superhero! 

Happy Diaversary my little superhero!  What Is A Diaversary? A diaversary is the anniversary of a diabetes diagnosis. Many diabetics choose to celebrate all the obstacles they overcame in the last year. It’s the perfect time to celebrate the progress you have made and celebrate the daily achievements! Emma’s 1st Diaversary This is a real-life super Hero! One year ago Emma was carried into…

[diabeticlichen-thropy]

Today is my first diaversary. It feels really bittersweet. I can’t believe I’ve made it this far but at the same time the rest of my life is just a repeat of this. Anyone got ideas on how to celebrate?

[beautyandthebetes]

My 1st diaversary was a few days ago

and that's fucking wild because I lost my brother to diabetes only a few weeks ago. I'm trying to think of it as a year of living versus not dying, but it was hard when I got to celebrate with mutual friends at a festival he should have been at. I went because I now know that my life is short and can end at anytime - I've had a few close calls - and I want to make the most of it... but I broke down crying because it felt wrong to be happy without him there. I've been trying to enlighten people to the insulin crisis in this country since my diagnosis, but now I get to tell them my brother died because he couldn't afford health insurance to get insulin and we watched him waste away for years. It's fucking awful that losing my brother seems to be the only thing that makes people understand how screwed up big pharma is, and how what happened to him is my worst nightmare. It's all of our worst nightmare, I think.

So yeah, I've lived for a year with t1d... and I've had to live for three weeks without my brother.

[chronically-illest-chronicles]

10 yr Diaversary

June 9, 2019 marks the 10 year anniversary of the day I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

To "celebrate" I made my family temporary diabetics for our pancake breakfast. I gave them fake blood sugars so they needed the equation for correction dose.

Then I told them how their pancakes were different than the box nutrition facts (one person theoretically used almond milk and the other person theoretically had flax seed to increase the fiber and decrease the overall net carbs.) They needed to use measuring cups for everything from syrup to creamer in their coffee. Then they used my insulin to carb ratio.

Plot twist! I said my brother was on his period (lol) and needed to research how menstruation affected blood sugar, and I said my mom spiked her coffee with a ton of Bailey's and had to research the effects of alcohol. I then told them that they were both going for a 2 mile jog after breakfast and needed to take exercise into consideration when dosing.

It was a lot of fun to see how frustrated they got, especially since it took them so long to figure out their injection dose that their pancakes had gone cold by the time they were ready to eat. In the end, my brother overcompensated and would have theoretically gone low, while my mom forgot to take her jam into consideration and would have gone high.

They have never been so compassionate and appreciative of me as they had been this morning. They got to experience what one meal involves (though I admittedly threw in more hurdles than what usually happens.) A ten year Diaversary isn't fun and certainly has a somber undertone but this experience put a light-hearted twist on educating them about a day in my shoes.

So, Happy 10 year Diaversary to me and here's to surviving another 10.

[insulinfandom]

A diabuddy of mine was talking about how she celebrates her diaversary each year, and I thought that was kind of a nice idea. My first one is coming up, the week before finals actually, and maybe I’ll try to do something fun or cool instead of just thinking about how weird that night was

[realyogareallife]

Take that diabetes!

Yesterday, somewhere above Antarctica I celebrated my diaversary, the day I was diagnosed with diabetes.  11 years ago my life took on new meaning. At the time I had no idea why or how. I was stunned, shocked and miserable. I can honestly say that 11 years later I am the happiest I’ve ever been.

My life didn’t take a turn for the better just because of diabetes, at diagnosis my marriage was also…

[type2diabetestreatments-blog]

Beating the Diabetes Management Blues

New Post has been published on http://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-mellitus/beating-the-diabetes-management-blues/

Beating the Diabetes Management Blues

Spring has sprung once again, and with the new season I'm working to make my diabetes management more of a priority and bring it out of its winter hibernation, so to speak. Burnout's been an issue these past few months, affecting my mood -- inevitably leading to slacking when it comes to taking care of myself.

This psychological factor is certainly a big part of why I haven't been following Amy's so-called "Golden Rules" of D-management recently (see yesterday's post). As our friend Kerri puts it, there have been many signs of Distractabetes.

After marking my 33rd Diaversary in March, I had an endo appointment that revealed a somewhat alarmingly too-high A1C and a down-to-earth chat about what needs to change.

Apparently, that was the nudge I needed.

In the past couple weeks, I've found myself experiencing a surge of energy regarding managing my diabetes -- from getting back into the routine of regular-timed basal shots and keeping close tabs on my carb counts and meal planning, to actually seeing better blood sugars.

I achieved my first 24-hour "No Hitter" (no extreme highs or lows) in months on a recent Wednesday, which made me happy but also sad, noting how very long it's been since I've had such a good D-day.

And did I mention that for the first time in probably four months, I finally plugged in my Dexcom receiver and downloaded my data to review and analyze trends? Using the online data program Dexcom offers, I was floored to see the numbers -- not surprised, mind you, but just reeling seeing actual proof of how poorly I'd been doing.

My average for the past week was 150, and while a number of higher BG trends were clearly visible, that week was looking pretty great compared to my average for the preceding 90 days, which clocked in at a glaring 268 (!) with pretty much all of my BGs on the higher end of the graph.

YOWZERS! (growled in Shaggy voice from Scooby Doo).

So, aside from the pep talk from my doctor and my rising A1C, what specifically has helped get me back on track these days?

These are my Big Three changes that have brought me back into the fold of better D-management:

Food and Carb Counting: Simple, yet SO EASY to slack off on this. Not accurately counting the carbs I've consumed and not dosing as I should had created a whole ripple effect that spiked my BGs and caused me to remain on the higher end more often than not. I am now doubling down on more accurate carb counting.

Regularly Scheduled Basal Dosing: Again, it SHOULD be such a minor task to take my Tresiba basal dose every 24-30 hours, but one I found myself slacking on regularly. It seems like Tresiba's dosing flexibility that I originally loved gave me just enough wiggle room to take it too far -- "give an inch, I'll take it a mile," you might say. As soon as I hunkered down and made sure to track my dosing schedule and stay within that 24-30 window, the basal created a foundation in my system after a few days, and I quickly saw a significant change in my BGs.

CGM Wearing: Out of sight, out of mind... This has been a theme at many points in my life while experiencing diabetes burnout. But once I inserted a new CGM sensor and finally had that handy display of constant D-Data, this brought my control into focus and helped me get back on track in gauging what works and what still needs to be changed.

In Case You're Curious: This doesn't change my desire to stay on my current combo-regime of Multiple Daily Dosing (MDD) with Afrezza inhaled insulin and also daily injections of Novolog and Tresiba.

I did ponder going back on the insulin pump back in February, in a fit of frustration about higher basal amounts not alleviating the Dawn Phenomenon in the early morning hours. But after some recent consistency, I've tackled that problem and seem to be back on the wagon of better early morning BG levels.

But I am still describing my current regime as a pump vacation that's only temporary (aka #PumpHiatus). Next month on a week-long vacation to Niagara Falls and the countryside of Canada, I may opt to briefly reconnect my insulin pump just for the convenience of less gear to fuss with. But that's TBD.

At some point, I do plan to reconnect to an insulin delivery device -- hopefully, ASAP once a Dexcom-integrated closed loop system like Bigfoot or Beta Bionics' iLET are available. If their timing works out as planned, at least one of these new systems could hit the market in the latter part of 2018, which is not too far off. I'm fine waiting for that next-generation tech, which I certainly believe will be superior to anything available now or in the near-term.

In the meantime, I am happy to be on the upswing with better BGs, at least for the time being. We all need to celebrate small victories, right?

Here's to maintaining my improved D-management week over week, month over month, as I'm able.

Disclaimer: Content created by the Diabetes Mine team. For more details click here.

Disclaimer

This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a consumer health blog focused on the diabetes community. The content is not medically reviewed and doesn't adhere to Healthline's editorial guidelines. For more information about Healthline's partnership with Diabetes Mine, please click here.

Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Type 2 Diabetes Diet Diabetes Destroyer Reviews Original Article

[charliecraven]

Taking part in the Tough Mudder Half to raise money for #Diabetes UK. My 5 year old niece was diagnosed last april with #type1 diabetes, she is my absolute inspiration, I wish I could be half as brave or strong as she is. People don't realise just how much this illness effects not only the person diagnosed but everyone who touches their lives. This year has been the toughest year ever for my sister and her family after my niece was diagnosed, but she too has been so so brave. We're ready to celebrate her first Diaversary in a fun and positive way and and to applause Caitlin for her first year of survival, and here's to many more! This is just the start for my fundraising #cureforcaitlin PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE donate anything you can, every penny will be worth it... THANK YOU! ❤️

[can-of-pringles]

Diabetic OC Ask Game

I haven't ever seen any ask games revolved around this so I thought I'd make one myself.

When was your oc diagnosed?

Does your oc celebrate their diaversary?

Does your oc have any Diabetic friends?

Has your oc had mostly good or bad experiences with endos?

Does your oc use a CGM? If so which one?

Is your oc on a pump? If so which one?

Was your oc affected in any way by Animas shutting down?

Where does your oc prefer to put pump sites (or sensors if they have a CGM)

Does your oc wear a pump pack/bag thing or just put the pump in a pocket? Something else?

Does your oc decorate their pump with anything like pumppeelz? What style of sticker do they usually like?

Does your oc use decorative sensor covers to hold on their censor (or site) better?

What annoying stereotype or bad joke does your oc hate the most?

Has your oc been to any Diabetes camps?

Does your oc handle their site changes/sensor changes/injections by themselves or does someone help them?

Does your oc prefer to deal with lows or highs?

What candy does your oc prefer when low?

Has your oc ever been to a walk event? (Like JDRF)

Was your oc the only kid at school to be Diabetic? If not, how did they get along with the other Diabetic kids?

Did your oc's parents do The Great Pumpkin during Halloween? (Instead of eating all your Halloween candy you'd "give" it to The Great Pumpkin and pick out a toy instead)

Has anyone ever touched your oc's pump/tubing/site/sensor/CGM without permission?

Is your oc mostly responsible with their Diabetes or tends to take more risks?

Does your oc have any favorite characters who are also Diabetic?

Did your oc ever name their pump?

Does your oc ever have any odd food cravings when low?

Does your oc prefer a more customized bag for their kit? (meter, test strips, lancet) or just the standard plain one they usually come with by default

How many pump replacements has your oc gone through if at all?

Is your oc pretty prepared for lows every time they go out or not?

Does your oc have a Diabetic Alert Dog?

Does your oc have a good support system to help them with their Diabetes?

Does your oc have a Rufus bear or Lenny the lion? Some other Diabetic stuffed animal?

Blank space to put anything you want to add.

[type2diabetestreatments-blog]

26 Years with Diabetes: Let’s Go

New Post has been published on http://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-type-1/26-years-with-diabetes-lets-go/

26 Years with Diabetes: Let’s Go

Well, it’s happened again. I’ve managed to check off another year of living with type 1 diabetes.

The official milestone occurred on January 30/31 (it’s a long story). I went to work, where things were crazy busy, but I managed to get through it. After work, I went home, had a modest dinner, and wrote a little. Kinda boring, right?

That’s the thing this year. It’s not that announcing that I’m still here after 26 years isn’t wonderful. But I think I may have moved over from the “how many years can I rack up living with diabetes?” phase to the “how much more of my life can I live with diabetes?” phase. So far, I’m a little over a year short of diabetes being with me for half of my life.

Go ahead… do the math… I’ll wait.

I guess it would be natural to wonder, since I’m almost in my mid-fifties, if I should be worried about whether I’ll be around much longer considering my chronic health status. But I don’t really think in those terms.

It’s a normal thing to consider, but I also try to remember that the time spent worrying about what might happen (and when it might happen) takes time away from the time I have left to make the rest of my life meaningful. And fun. And spectacular. Besides… who, other than a teenager, thinks of someone my age as near the end?

26 isn’t a big diaversary, and I didn’t do anything fantastic to celebrate. Not that doing so isn’t okay. To be honest, I’m happy as hell to have made this milestone. But I’m more interested in what year 27, and 37, and 47, and all the years in between have in store. I’m not afraid, and I’m ready for the experience. Let’s go.

Diabetes Type 2 Treatment 800 Calorie Diabetic Diet Diabetes Destroyer Video Reviews Original Article

[type2diabetestreatments-blog]

18 Years with Diabetes: A Diaversary Post

New Post has been published on http://type2diabetestreatment.net/diabetes-mellitus/18-years-with-diabetes-a-diaversary-post/

18 Years with Diabetes: A Diaversary Post

Today is my 18th diaversary. That's DOC slang for the anniversary of my diagnosis. I used to think 18 years with diabetes sounded like a looooong time. Growing up, most of the people I knew had diabetes for about as long as me, because most of my D-friends were the same age as me and were diagnosed around the same time as I was (at age 8). Now that I'm older and have had the privilege of meeting so many wonderful people with diabetes, 18 years no longer seems that impressive! I know people who have had diabetes for 30 years, 40 years, 50 years — and last summer I met a man who has had diabetes for 85 years!

Most people I know have a sharp picture in their minds of when they were diagnosed with diabetes. They almost always know the year, usually the month, and sometimes the day. I remember my diagnosis very clearly, even though I was only 8 years old. I remember waking up with an ear ache, complaining to my mother and begging to stay home from school. I remember her deciding to take me to the doctor to get checked out. I remember sitting in the waiting room of the doctor's office. I remember listening to my mother tell my pediatrician that I was going to the bathroom a lot. I remember the low yellow light of the bathroom where the doctor told me to go so I could pee in a cup. I remember waiting at home for the results. I remember the phone call came at 4:00 in the afternoon and I remember my mother flipping through the yellow pages looking at hospitals to take me to. I remember my dad coming home, and I remember looking up at him while I laid on the sofa in our bonus room, and I vividly remember remember telling him, "I'm a diabetes girl now."

December 1993 - One month before my diagnosis

I remember starting to feel nauseated. I remember the drive to the hospital and how I couldn't eat or drink anything except water before being admitted, but we didn't have water in the car and I was very thirsty. I remember the Intensive Care Unit. I remember throwing up all over myself and the nurses. I remember my first endocrinologist standing at the foot of my bed, with my mom on my left and my dad on my right, explaining to us what the hell just happened.

The next day, I remember watching the clock from my bed, telling the nurses what my friends at school would being doing that day. Reading, Writing, Math, Recess. I'm sure that was really fun to listen to. I remember having to go to the bathroom in a little plastic bowl because they needed to measure it for... something. Ketones? That I don't remember. I just remember that I hated doing it! I remember my parents coming to visit, and I remember the workbook It's Time to Learn About Diabetes by Jean Betschart Roemer (whom I interviewed many years later!). I remember the nurses teaching me how to prick my finger and I was terrified. I think I made them do it at least two or three times each themselves before I had the guts to do it to myself. I remember injecting insulin into an orange. And I gotta tell you, I remember thinking that my skin and an orange were very, very different.

I remember being discharged from the ICU and staying in a regular hospital room. I remember the nurses waking me up every four hours to test my blood sugar, and I remember being very excited when it dropped from the 300s to the 200s! I remember the other girl who was in my room. She'd had several heart surgeries and she had to pee into a bag because she couldn't walk. I suppose being her roommate gave me a bit of perspective on my situation.

I remember being discharged and going home. I remember going to school on Monday, not to go to class but so that we could teach the secretaries about my diabetes. The principal was there, too. I had an awesome school staff and it is one of the many reasons I think I turned out as "normal and well-adjusted" as I did. I remember checking my blood sugar in front of everyone and I remember the secretary gasping, "It's dropping!" But in reality, she was just watching the meter countdown the 45 seconds it took to get a reading (those were the days!). I remember laughing and going, "No, no! It's just the timer!" I remember calling my best friend Jenny and telling her that I had been diagnosed with diabetes. Her mother immediately started buying Diet Coke to keep at their house, and Jenny still blames me for her Diet Coke addiction (I plead the Fifth).

Summer 1994 - six months after my diagnosis

I don't remember much after that, actually. The diagnosis is a very clear, distinct series of memories that occurred over a period of maybe five days.

Later memories all blend together: I remember phone calls to the doctor-on-call late at night. I remember my mother accidentally mixing up my morning and evening dose once. I remember my parents arguing about whether or not I needed a snack. I remember my first trip to camp, and I remember my first insulin injection in my stomach. I don't remember my first low blood sugar, and I don't remember even hating diabetes that much at the beginning. Although I remember a doozy of a temper tantrum that came when I was about 12 years old, and I do remember crying occasionally when an insulin injection stung just a little too much.

It might seem strange, but most of my memories of my childhood don't have much to do with diabetes. Well, maybe a little bit. When I think about school, I only have a few memories of diabetes. I remember telling my gym teacher I was low so that I could get out of playing tennis. I remember having an insulin pump site fail and shooting up to 500 mg/dl and thinking I was going to die or collapse or something. I remember my friend Julia bending over to check the time on my insulin pump. I remember my friend Josh asking if he could try one of my glucose tablets and he liked it. I also remember him asking me if you could put heroin in an insulin pump. To which I replied cautiously, "I suppose..."

Oddly, I don't remember diabetes on the day I got my driver's license. I don't remember diabetes at either of my school proms (although the guy who took me was a PWD whom I'd met at diabetes camp, so, you know, there's that). I remember that I had a two-piece prom dress, and the top part was a corset, so we clipped the pump to the back of the skirt and it just sat there. That's all I remember. I don't remember diabetes on my graduation day, although our Senior Night party involved a ridiculous amount of ice cream, candy, and snacks and I'm pretty sure I floated around 300 mg/dl the entire time. I don't remember diabetes on my first date (OK, again, technically a lie since my first date was the brother of a guy with diabetes, and his father was the former President of our local JDRF chapter, but, you know, minor details). And the only reason I remember diabetes on my wedding day is because I knew I'd have to blog about it.

The older I got, however, the more I remember my diabetes in my life. Diabetes became a "hobby" when I was about 16 years old. I started getting involved in diabetes advocacy stuff. I remember finding out I was selected to go to JDRF's Children's Congress. I remember meeting Mary Tyler Moore. I remember thinking about my own mortality more and more. I remember being frustrated with my diabetes in college, and I remember how much I didn't remember how to take care of myself. I remember how it introduced me to friends and how it got me my first job, and I remember how I slowly started appreciating the fact I had diabetes, because it actually brought some good into my life. I remember how my father told me that my diabetes gave me purpose. I remember thinking that was true.

I also remember most of my diaversaries. I don't think the date would have made an indelible mark on me if it weren't for the fact that the first was the day my mother finally said that I could get my ears pierced. Now listen, I had spent weeks working on my mother so that she would let me get my ears pierced. I can't remember what her rationale was for preventing me from doing it, but I remember her being very insistent that I should not get my ears pierced. I remember that night I was sitting in the car, listing out (again) all the reasons why she should let me get my ears pierced. I remember our car suddenly pulling up in front of the piercing salon and being so excited — and yes, I even remember how much it hurt.

And that's how the tradition of celebrating my diaversaries began. It didn't even occur to me, after several years of doing this, that other people might not want to celebrate their diaversaries. I remember on other diaversaries, my parents would include a card with a little gift, and inside it would say something sweet about how proud they were of my ability to take care of my diabetes every day for the past year. That's really the point of celebrating the day, you know. It's not to celebrate the fact that I have diabetes. Having diabetes blows. But living well with diabetes? Managing the everyday minutiae of testing blood sugar, counting carbs, and dosing insulin? Having an awesome life, never letting diabetes hold you back and accomplishing all your dreams?

That is totally worth celebrating!

January 2012 - 18 years after diagnosis

So, whether your diabetes diagnosis was January 27, like me, or whether it's another day of the year or even a day you don't remember, happy diaversary to you too! Here's to long life with many happy memories.

Thanks Allison - sending lots of DOC love your way!

Disclaimer: Content created by the Diabetes Mine team. For more details click here.

Disclaimer

This content is created for Diabetes Mine, a consumer health blog focused on the diabetes community. The content is not medically reviewed and doesn't adhere to Healthline's editorial guidelines. For more information about Healthline's partnership with Diabetes Mine, please click here.

Type 2 Diabetes Treatment Type 2 Diabetes Diet Diabetes Destroyer Reviews Original Article