Hi,
@Johnny Gant . Good to see you're being upbeat about it.
It's a big shock when that realisation hits you that it's for life. I had a few temper tantrums in the first few months, the usual, oh, this is so unfair, why me etc. But that fades and you just get used to it.
I'd been very active before dx, ski-ing, sailing, cycling, and thought that would be an end to that. Sure, I was a bit delicate for a while after dx. I'd been sent home after being incorrectly dx'd with "exam stress" and taken back the next day unconscious, full on dka. That took a bit of time to recover from. Although after two weeks of final exams, it wasn't that bad having a hospital bed for three days with a sea view being tended to by a Scottish-Italian nurse. Hmm, I've gone to heaven, with a few injections thrown in.
But then I got back on the skis, on the bike, in the boat. It's never going to be a walk in the park, hypos are never much fun, but this is totally do-able. The adjustments were really just that I had to check my blood and carry some sugar around with me - jam on oatcakes worked very well for cycle touring.
I don't think there are limitations. There are just adjustments to be made, mainly making sure you've got sugar with you, and sussing out how much insulin for each meal. The only real complication when I went backpacking in Asia for six months was that glucotabs weren't that easy to find, but turned out you could pick up Mentos anywhere, and they don't melt that much in the heat.
It's not an enemy, just a part of you that's stopped working, so you need to help it out, usually with some sweets and an occasional jab.
I've tested blood sugar with old fashioned colour changing strips on top of mountains in white-out blizzards, and in force 6 gales in a boat. Not exactly "clean hands" situations but you do what you need to do.
You'll likely go through a grieving period, but believe me, you'll get through it. There was a post a few weeks ago from someone saying we not only survive, but thrive. That's true. There's plenty of stories on here from people going wild camping, walking thousand mile trails over months - all just takes a bit more planning and forethought than your average joe.
You'll be taught carb counting. It's an important skill to learn, a good starting point, but don't obsess about it. After a while you'll learn how to wing it - make an educated guess based on how much carbs are in similar foods and past experience with a meal that size. Example: was in Darjeeling once backpacking, popped into a Tibetan cafe, got some momos, didn't have a clue how many carbs, but, hey, they're kind of like tortellini or ravioli, so just made an educated guess. I mention this because there are many posts from newly dx'd seriously wondering whether they will be able to have snacks, eat out, what if it's not in Carbs & Cals etc. etc. All totally do-able with a bit of experience, which you'll pick up as time goes by.
Those grim stories in books are worth bearing in mind. I was hugely motivated to look after myself by a story in my early days 29 years ago by a young woman who'd paid no attention for five years and was about to go blind. I said to myself that's not going to happen to me. It hasn't. Complications can catch up really quick if you don't pay attention to it, run around in the high teens, twenties for too long, but it doesn't mean you need to live like a monk, far from it. I have a few beers at weekends, do a Chinese buffet, an Indian, but just make a few accomodations - white rice spikes like crazy so not too much of that, but egg noodles fine, maybe just the crispier bits of the naan bread dipped in my lamb jalfrezzi. Get the pre-bolus timing right for a meal (about 20 mins for me) and a few poppadoms, fish pakora, lamb jalfrezzi and naan barely shifts my levels.
T1 will p*ss you off at times, hypos are a dog, but when all's said and done, we're pretty lucky compared to people dx'd before discovery of insulin in 1922.
Best of luck!
PS: if you can afford it, get cgm, like libre, dexcom or medtronic. Being able to see sugars shifting in real time so you can pro-actively take steps to keep in range is almost like cheating compared to strips!
