Diabetes Gets Dressed Up

Gary and I recently traveled upstate for a friend’s wedding. I was anxious about the trip because it was my first overnight away from Maya. I knew she’d be in good hands with my parents, but still; I’d miss her! Also, I was nervous about what to wear.

I haven’t gone clothing shopping for myself since I was pregnant. Maya is over four months old. I can’t wear maternity clothes anymore, though I’ve tried. I’m left with my pre-pregnancy wardrobe, which is apparently out of fashion. Somewhere between pregnancy and motherhood, I lost my style mojo. I feel like someone needs to slap me in the face and take me to Bloomingdale’s.

Thankfully, I found a timeless dress in the back of my closet to wear to the wedding.

The big question:  would it still fit?

I’ve lost my pregnancy pounds, but I still have some firming to do. I tried it on and… good news! (Mostly.) The dress fit, but I needed a Spanx.

For those of you that don’t know what a Spanx is… well, you must be very trim. It’s a spandex-type short that cinches and flattens. It works wonders.

So my outfit was taken care of. But what about my diabetes accoutrements?

Where does one clip her insulin pump when wearing a dress? I know that a lot of women clip their pumps to their bras. But I personally find that uncomfortable.

I opted for my Thigh-Thing. (It’s literally called Thigh-Thing.) It’s made by the people over at Animas. Essentially, it’s a spandex band/garter with a pocket for your pump.

I was unenthused about wearing it because I was already wearing a Spanx. I worried that I’d exceed some unofficial spandex quota. How much spandex can a single thigh take?

But I didn’t have a choice.

Then I had to figure out the bag situation.

I just have to ask: Would it be so terrible for a designer to create an evening bag that fits more than a pocketful of air? Who made the rule that evening bags had to be teeny tiny?

I suppose, if you don’t have diabetes, one could fit her cell phone, cash, and lip gloss into one of these so-called bags. But what about women with diabetes? Where are we expected to hold our glucose tablets? And our meters? I’ve seen bags that I’d have better luck fitting into my meter case, rather than the other way around.

I ended up carrying a gold bag that didn’t match my dress. But it was roomy – for an evening bag. I was able to fit my meter, lancing device, and test strips by taking them out of the meter case. And Gary held my glucose tablets in his pocket. I guess that’s what husbands are for. 

Meanwhile, underneath my floral print dress was a lot of spandex.

The wedding was outdoors and it was 90 degrees. Maybe it was the heat. Or maybe it was my dancing. But my The Thigh-Thing was sliding down my leg the whole night. I just kept shimmying it back up. I incorporated this shimmy into my dance repertoire.

Toward the end of the night, I sat down at our table and took in the beautiful scenery of upstate New York. I adjusted my Thigh-Thing for the last time, then I placed my gold bag on my lap. I opened it up and looked at the components of my meter, tossed about randomly inside the gold lining. They don’t usually see the outside of my meter case. What an adventure they were having!

I tested my blood sugar. 65. Dessert was served and I ate it.

Jennifer Jacobs

Jennifer Jacobs grew up in Long Island, New York. She was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age twelve. The challenges of living with diabetes have inspired Jen to be creative. She makes “diabetes art,” which can be viewed on her website, www.diabetesart.com. Work from Jen’s Diabetes Revealed series has been exhibited at various events in the NY-metro area. She also writes about diabetes and is putting together an essay collection.

View Author Blog