Hey, all, from a new member

[polyendocrinegirl]

New member but far from new to diabetes.

I was diagnosed in 1978 with gestational diabetes, It ended up sticking around.

My mother was type 1 (she died at age 36 of complications of diabetes), I was diagnosed next. Then one of my two siblings, a brother, was diagnosed with type 1 (he died at age 48 of complications of diabetes). My other sibling, a brother, was diagnosed type 1 in 2012 (well, diagnosed type 2 in the UK, diagnosed LADA type 1 in the US following admission to the hospital with DKA when visiting my husband and I, and at a recent UK clinic appointment he was told he was type 2 again purely because a single fingerprick ketone test result reported zero ketones with a separate fingerprick reporting high blood glucose. Discussions are ongoing. My money's on his being type 1 as he has GAD-65 and C-Peptide results from the Mayo which confirm it.)

In addition I have 15 close relatives (cousins, uncles, aunts) who have all been diagnosed with type 1. So, yup, there's a very definite familial tendency to the condition

I have four other autoimmune conditions - primary Addison's disease, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, vitiligo, and oral lichen planus. I guess I've taken a hammering from the autoimmune stick. I have a boatload of other conditions non-autoimmune conditions but I'm still kicking.

I was happy to stick to using insulin syringes and fingerprick testing ten times daily (needed because as well as diabetes, Addison's disease affects one's blood glucose) for donkey's years, with my husband helping out with occasional nocturnal hypos, but I've been recently widowed. Lack of nocturnal hypos = a big problem now that I'm on my own and I was granted funding for a Medtronic 640g pump and associated sensors and transmitters about three months ago. I think pumping is great.

Last A1C was 57 but I'm hoping to see improvements now that I'm pumping.

So. That's me. Hey, all!

 

[kitedoc]

Hi @polyendocrinegirl, Welcome and thank you for your introduction. I am very sorry for your loss. Having a partner by one's side is a blessing in so many ways.
As indelicate as this may sound: Have you thought about a service dog, one who could recognise when you are going hypo ? Technology cannot replicate the instincts of our best friends and companionship of some type is health-giving.
And I hope your brother with LADA had his condition properly sorted. Sometimes it takes an advocate organisation to assist in someone's true and proven condition established. As they say minds are like parachutes, they only work when open !!
With your condition and family history do you ever wonder which past ancestor to blame?
Not that that is going to alter your current situation but sometimes it is useful to have somewhere to direct one's frustration even as a humourous pastime.
As if T1D was not enough to deal with you seem to have copped most everything endocrine.
To juggle all that is a monumental feat, one worthy of an award !!
I am glad the pump is helping you. And just to know that there is a pump in development which will release both insulin and glucagon when appropriate. The hope is that the pump, with the aid of CGM, can spot the downward trend in BSL and pre-emptively release some glucagon.
As the loop systems improve there will also be pumps initiating correction doses of insulin when a BSL rise is detected.
Brave New World !!
I am in South Australia and just converted from the now defunct Animas pump to a Tandem pump.
Not as advanced as the Medtronic yet but is getting there.
I was diagnosed 52 years ago so am well aware of the scarred fingers from lots of finger pricks! Having CGM must be a welcome relief!! CGM is too expensive for me to contemplate at present so I am rotating through the fingers, no toes or ear lobes yet !!
Please share how you manage your conditions if you feel inclined to do so, all experience is so valuable.
My experience is more about knowing what not to do !!
And please know that, though we are all separated to varying degrees by the tyranny of distance, we are here to support each other (and your other family members if they wish to join).
Best Wishes to you and your family, for hypo-free nights, settled days and the best future.

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