Sounds great, i enjoy seeing positives much more than the negatives to it's good to read.
Many companies will be happy to sent out free meters if you mention your Type 1 and test ALOT, they obviously want you to get your GP to order their test strips! I for one have taken advantage of that on some occasions to test different meters to find which one i liked best and every time i mentioned i was T1 and testing 4+ times a day they were happy to send whatever i wanted!
I'm glad you found support in the forum at a difficult period in your life and it's great you hear you've clearly come out the other side a happier person!
Hope all continues to be well and best of luck when they let you off the sparky leash :lol: