I have never felt so diabetic until this moment…

So this weekend my husband and I are getting the house cleaned up and organized as my sister is coming in from Italy to visit soon. I have learned a valuable lesson here, I can almost hear my mom’s voice telling me “if you do a quick clean once a week, you will always have a tidy house.” Three years of grad school, a full time job, a rebirth in diabetes care, and life in general kept me from the weekly task of cleaning the apartment. What a disaster of a house we are now trying to clean up! As usual, I am spinning off topic here (I am prone to that).

So in cleaning and organizing the house, we decided that we wanted some prime real estate back in our hall closet. The top shelf held piles of infusion sets, reservoirs, and DexCom sensors, just scattered about. My other supplies such as strips, lancets, syringes, and other medicines were scattered in the bedroom and living room. So I get this idea that I should buy a cabinet and put all my diabetic stuff in it. Then things would be easy to find and to get to, as well as allowing me to see what I am running low on in a quick look.

So I go to my local Target (as if I need an excuse to go to this store) and pick up a small cabinet. I get it home and my husband goes to put it together and what do you know? One of the pieces of wood is broken inside the box. So we hop in the car, go back to Target, and exchange it for another one. My dear husband spends the next couple of hours trying to follow the world’s worst and most conflicting directions to put the darn thing together. Success! We have a cabinet now!

I start gathering all my supplies and stacking them neatly in this new cabinet. As I finish and take a step back, I realize I have never felt so diabetic in my whole life until this moment. The millions of shots, finger sticks, doctor’s appointments, measuring of food, etc never made me feel as diabetic as looking into this new, shiny cabinet that is now completely full. Seeing all the medical equipment and supplies I use to stay healthy shook me a bit. Is this what my life has turned into?

Stacks and stacks of prescription items? Maybe living in diabetic denial wasn’t so bad. After all, back then all I kept in the house were syringes and insulin, that was it. Then my rational side kicks in and reminds me, “you are healthier now, you feel good now, you have this diabetes thing under control! You will live a healthier, happier life this way.” I turn to my husband and share how I am feeling at this moment. He just smiles and says “well shut the doors then and don’t look anymore. Go play on the PC.” So I do as he suggests and I enjoy the feeling of being in control of my life and health. I bask in being thankful that I have such an understanding and caring partner in life.