What Does 7 Years with Diabetes Look Like?

I'm deviating from the NHBPM prompts today because it's Dylan's 7 year anniversary of the day he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

7 years ago today we found out that Dylan has type 1 diabetes (his diagnosis story can be found here).  That's significantly more than half of his lifetime. And while we're not big on celebrating his diaversary, this is how 7 years with diabetes breaks down, from a basic care standpoint:

15,340+ finger pokes

2190 injections (pre-pump)

609+ infusion set changes

1092 lows (avg of 3/week)

4 hypoglycemic seizures

3 hospitalizations

Approximately 63,800 units of insulin

$55,000+ spent on diabetes supplies

2557 days of worry

1 still-broken pancreas in a child only 11 years old

Diabetes is 24/7/365. Imagine what these numbers will look like after 20 years, or 40, or 80...

Activist's Choice: 6 Years with Diabetes

Write about whatever you want today!

Two days ago (Nov 21st) marked Dylan's 6 year diaversary. An anniversary of the day on which we received news that would forever change our lives. 

6 years of living with diabetes! Sometimes I can't believe it has been that long already; other times I can't remember our lives before diabetes.

What does 6 years with diabetes entail? Let me give you an basic idea...

13,158 blood sugar tests

2,190 insulin injections by syringe (pre-pump days)

488 infusion set changes

52,632 units of insulin

1 faulty pancreas

And these numbers are conservative. These numbers represent the basic, essential diabetes care Dylan needed in the past 6 years in order to stay alive; the minimum 6 tests per day, and infusion set changes every 3 days. They don't include extra testing when ill, at night, or at non-eating times. Nor are they representative of  faulty infusion sets or ones that fall off early. And they don't reflect all of the curve balls that diabetes has thrown our way over the past 6 years. They are the basic. The minimum. The life or death requirements.

So as Dylan nears his 11th birthday tomorrow, and continues through year seven with type 1 diabetes, I am grateful for the medical advances that keep my son alive today, but I still hold on to the hope that someday there will be a cure for this all encompassing disease.