It’s summertime in San Diego, and that means bathing suit time. Like many of my peers, this comes with a little bit of stress: How do I look in a bathing suit? Can people see that bulge? Ugh, cottage cheese! Is this tan line too visible? I almost have abs, if I stand like this — does that count? And then there’s the less normal stress: Does my infusion set look too weird? Can they see the dozens of pockmarks on my tummy? Is it okay to leave my insulin pump in the sun like this? What is my blood sugar? What about now? Is anyone looking at my taped-on Dexcom?
The last question I have an answer to at least: yes, definitely yes. The giant, Tegaderm-sealed Dexcom sensor is even more strange looking than the pump infusion set. In fact, wearing a tank top as I walked down the street today, a homeless man sitting on the sidewalk called out– “Hey baby, did you come to help me? Hey, what happened to your arm?”
I froze. “A continuous glucose monitor,” I spit out, knowing without context that was an incomprehensible answer even to someone who knew I was a diabetic. Somewhere between guilty and embarrassed, I kept walking.
A few minutes later, once I had a chance to get over myself, I decided that all these vain anxieties were definitely first-world problems, and I can handle those. I thrash about, wailing, “Woe is me! I have to wear ugly medical devices!” but really I suspect I just have a certain worry line, and if I wasn’t concerned about my Dexcom sensor, I would just fill right back up to that worry line with frets on my moles, my pudge, my cracked heels, my whatever.
And so I come to the conclusion, as I seem to do annually: screw it. It’s summertime, and I’m going outside. Did I mention that if you squint, I almost have abs?
first-world problems. Hah! Are you ever right since long-term T1D itself is a “problem” that first-world biological experimentation has given us, and I’m glad, cause otherwise the problem would have resolved itself in a horrible death from insatiable thirst a couple of weeks after we started to attract ants, if you know what I mean On the other hand, it’s also possible that there may be an insulin-mimicking substance in an obscure plant somewhere that you could just eat; did you ever hear about that African fungus with the long alphanumeric designation? I kept the newspaper clipping in my wallet for years, but I’ve lost it… Read more »
Was that a Dexcom 7 or G4 you were wearing today behind President Obama! Hope your feeling better tonight! Congrats on your pregnancy! Praying all goes well and you have a healthy baby!
My son is dexing now, he is a teen, i wonder how he does it, he is so brave and cool like you. He whips out his insulin pen anywhere. Hes got it right. If someone is going to judge you for that, heck with them. He has handled his dx at 12 like a boss. Never complains. Takes that extra shot himself if he peaks too much after a meal… He is my Hero.