11 Years of Living
Today is the 11th anniversary of my initial diagnosis with Type 2 Diabetes and Congestive Heart Failure. My goodness, what a rollercoaster ride it has been. Many things have changed since that day in late December 2008. My diabetes diagnosis chief among them. I actually live with LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults) or Type 1.5. Wow, eleven years. Eleven years of knowing, caring, surviving, and sharing. Eleven years of knowing that I have two invisible chronic illnesses for which there are no cures. Eleven years of knowing that I’m not alone in my fight. That there are millions of others fighting the same things. Eleven years of getting to know some of the most amazing people around. Lots of…
This Thing Called Diabetes Life
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life.” ~ Prince This thing called diabetes life. That’s why I’m here. That’s why My Diabetic Heart is here. It’s here because I was diagnosed with what was long thought to be type 2 diabetes, and also with congestive heart failure, at age 24. I started writing here as a way to document what I was going through with the scary, life-changing diagnoses that had been dropped in my lap. Writing helped me then and still does when I’m able to find the time and get the words I want to say out of my head. As I continued sharing my story through the blog and other…
Remembering Cherie Rineker
Sometimes, people come into our lives to teach us things. They teach us how to live fully, to love unconditionally, to stand up for our beliefs and for others. And while some may only be with us for a season, they leave an indelible mark on our lives. Cherie Rineker was one of those people for me. I was fortunate to have met her at the HealtheVoices conference in April. Cherie was a multiple myeloma patient and staunch advocate for the cancer community and patients in general. Hearing her speak was amazing. She had such a bright and vibrant personality. So much energy. So kind and warm in conversation. I treasure the time we spent chatting throughout that weekend. I’ve followed…
Choosing Life and Sobriety
As this is Mental Illness Awareness Week (October 6-October 12) and addiction and substance abuse are a part of mental health, I wanted to share something here that I shared publicly on Facebook for the first time last month during National Sober Day. I don’t talk about it much, but alcoholism runs deep in my veins, much like it did my father who was an abusive alcoholic when I was a child. There was once a time when I could and would drink you under the table. The hard stuff was like water in my system. I loved the taste of it and the burn as it went down. But no longer. All of that changed for me when I…
Playing catch-up
So, it’s been a while since I last updated the blog and some things have happened in that time that I feel a need to write about. This will be a bit long, so bear with me. Esophageal ManometryOn January 29th, my new gastroenterologist had me undergo a test called Esophageal Manometry. The test is used to measure the functionality of the muscles and lower sphincter of the esophagus and determine if there are issues. The procedure wasn’t the most pleasant of ways to spend a morning. To begin, I was given a cup of lidocaine gel to swallow and then a syringe full of the same gel was emptied into my left nostril. A thin probe was then passed…
