Roll call
Hi everyone,
I thought it would be good to get a “roll call” of all the members on the
list, so we could get to know each other a little better. You can introduce
yourself with how long you’ve had diabetes (and what type), and maybe a
little about yourself. I’ll start the ball rolling, even though I introduced
myself not so long ago…
I’m Jen, and I’m currently a 23-year-old college student from Canada. I’ve
had type 1 diabetes since I was 9, and just in the past few months have
really taken control of things (before that I had excellent control as a kid
when my parents did most of the work, but not so good control once I took
over). Once I’m done school I plan on going into teaching, not sure what age
group yet. When I have the time, I enjoy going for walks, reading, writing,
chat rooms and listservs, researching topics of interest online, and
spending time with friends.
I look forward to “meeting” the rest of you on the list. 
Jen
August 15th, 2007 at 2:30 am
Hi everyone,
I’m one of the moderators of the list and noticed that, although we have
200-some-odd members, the list is very quiet. How many of you out there are
active? I wonder if we can start a roll call and get everyone to introduce
themselves, perhaps with your age, how long you’ve had diabetes and what
type, and what you like to do (work, hobbies, etc.).
I’ll start … I’ve had type 1 diabetes for over 15 years now, since I was
9. I’ve struggled with it a bit over the years, but never really had a
rebellion stage like many teeenagers and young adults do (I’m 25 now, by
the way). Much of my emotions towards diabetes have been frustration and
getting burned out, especially when, after having an A1c of 8% for over five
years, I decided to try and get things under control a few years ago. My
parents worked very hard at managing my diabetes when I was younger, and so
we managed to keep my A1c around 7%, despite the two-shots-a-day insulin
regimen of the time, but of course once I started college things began to
deteriorate, and I occasionally “cheated” or forgot shots, but never got
myself into any major trouble. I began seeing my endocrinologist regularly
again, got off of NPH insulin and onto Lantus, which had just come out in
Canada, and that helped a lot. But no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get
my A1c below 7% where I wanted it — the lowest I could manage was 7.1%, and
I only achieved that once. Almost three months ago now I started using an
insulin pump, and it has lessened a lot of my frustrations and kept my blood
sugars steadier than they’ve been in years. I’m hoping that when I get my
A1c done next week, it will be below the magic 7%! I still get frustrated
when, on days like today, my blood sugar swings from a low of 3.4 mmol/l (61
mg/dl) to a high of 18.1 mmol/l (326 mg/dl) for seemingly no reason I can
find, and the daily grind of testing and bolusing and carbohydrate counting
and record-keeping and testing basal rates and changing infusion sets and
all the rest seems overwhelming sometimes, but I know in the long run it all
pays off. I finished university this past December with a Bachelor of Arts
in English and a Bachelor of Education in elementary education, and am
currently working as a substitute teacher for my local school district,
which proves for an unpredictable schedule just to add in some more
variables to blood sugars!
Anyway, enough of my rambling! I’d like to hear from some of you!
Jen
List moderator