Hot Topics - Diabetes from a teen perspective

Name: Madeline & Kelli Edwards

Age: 13 years old

Date of Diagnosis: May 6, 1999

Current Treatment: Presently on the Cozmo Insulin Pump for the last 4 years

City & State: Goldsboro, NC

To find out more about Madeline please visit her website at: www.madelineedwards.com

24 Mar

Dancing Fun!

I recently attended the dance at school with all of my closest friends. No, I didn’t slow dance with any boys or anything like that!

All of us, guys and girls, danced together in a big group, which is good enough for me!!! Beforehand, I got most of my girl friends to come to my house so we could get ready and swap clothes and such. We straightened one of my friend’s hair and my hair was curled to perfection, although all of the dancing made it un-curl. All of the excitement made my sugar drop to 50. I had to run around my house and deliver pizza to my busy friends while they were primping!! I didn’t mind though, and I still got to enjoy my pizza too! We arrived 30 minutes late because we took so much time to get ready, but it was totally worth it. We dressed up one of my friends like a doll and she was gorgeous. She had borrowed one of my dresses and we did her makeup and everything! We danced all night long, well if 9:00 counts as “all night long,” then we did! By the time my mom had picked me up, I was exhausted and hungry because I had worked off all of the pizza while dancing. It is amazing how excitement can cause my sugar to either drop or shoot way up. I will never forget this night, and I will think of it often as one of my happiest moments with my friends( and I got to enjoy a late night snack)!

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24 Mar

The Big Roll

I have been through a lot with my pump these last four years. There have been many good times, many bad times, and a couple of ugly times throughout these.

One of the ugliest of the ugly times was probably one of my most memorable experiences. It had nothing to do with my diabetes whatsoever! It took place one Tuesday during the middle of my dance class. We were learning a new combination in ballet that involved rolling over onto the floor and doing this cool move with it. In my excitement, I was paying no attention to which side of my body I had moved my pump and pump pouch to beforehand. As I rolled over, I heard a huge CRACK ringing through the room. Everyone was looking around to see what had happened that caused this noise. I quickly opened my pouch, only to see that my cap was completely cracked and my cartridge was out of my pump. I examined it more closely and found a few more cracks here and there. I frantically called my mom and explained to her what had happened. Luckily, my pump was able to work until a new one was sent. It didn’t work very well and efficiently, but it tried! Now when I go to dance class, I am more conscious of where I decide to wear my pump during any floor work!!

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24 Mar

Winter Holidays--Oh the Food!!

I love the winter holidays, and I’m sure that many people here do as well. It’s just always so happy, joyous, and heartwarming, even if snow doesn’t decide to come!

The only thing that I can’t fully enjoy during the holidays, besides the snow, is the food. My cousins and other relatives can eat as much as they want during our meal while I have to unwillingly limit myself on the cookies and such. Don’t get me wrong, I am not fully deprived of deserts. In fact, I eat cake at most birthday parties too, as long as my sugar isn’t high. Some people don’t understand that, but that is a whole other story to tell! I can’t say I do a perfect job at limiting the sweets, but I try! When I know there will be a party at school, I will save up the majority of my carbs for that so I will be guaranteed a bit of the food too. I just love sweets all too much. I’m sure most of you can understand this feeling, and it is just absolutely horrible!! Being a diabetic and loving sweets doesn’t always fit well together. I wish I was a vegetable and fruit loving person like my sister, who probably eats better than I do. Although I am not, being a diabetic has taught me to somewhat take control over my love for sweets, to a certain degree….

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23 Feb

A New Pump for 2009!!

Just recently, my four years of having my pump have ended, so it is time for me to get a new one.

The only problem is I have no idea as to which one I should choose. I am currently with the Deltec Cozmo pump, and I love it so much, I don‘t know whether I should switch or not. I just don’t like the bulkiness of the meter that you can attach to it. But anyways, I don’t know whether a switch in pumps will be a good or bad thing for me right now. I think it would be really convenient to have a constant glucose monitoring system for my pump. That is something I am really looking into and that I really feel will help me out. I just don’t know whether it’s as good as it seems or not. Hopefully I will come to a reasonable decision soon that will work out perfectly for me! If any of you would recommend a certain pump, I would like to hear all of your opinions. It is such a hard decision any ways because there are so many things to consider in the process of selecting one. Thanks so much, and wish me luck in making the perfect decision!!

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10 Feb

Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Sol-High-Low!!

This past weekend, I was in an honors chorus program, along with three other students in my school. I was lucky enough to be one of students selected out of the whole state of North Carolina.

In order to get in, you had to audition with the piece of music given to you a few months in advance and sight read a short piece of music, as well as receive a superior score. I did this program last year, so it was very wonderful to get to go back and do it again. I feel sorry for my chorus teacher, especially this weekend, because my blood sugar ALWAYS acts up during our field trips! It was close to 500 at one point, and there was a blockage in my site. Then it dropped to 50, and then was back up again! This puts my chorus teacher in a frenzy, and he hates it when I have any dessert because he is afraid it will shoot up way too high!! While he is freaking out, I am internally giggling because for me all of this is perfectly normal. For him though, it isn’t. Other than that, I enjoyed my trip a lot!! The chorus sounded beautiful, and I learned many new things that helped us become a better chorus. I am just glad my blood sugars have straightened out again, and I don’t have to worry about any blockages, for now!

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10 Feb

Being a "normal" teenager

Just recently, I met up with some friends from summer camp. We were reminiscing the good times we had there together and laughing at the funny memories and pictures.

Attending camp this past summer was a HUGE accomplishment for me. It was the first time I had been to a regular sleep-away camp in my whole entire life. I have been attending Camp Carolina Trails (an ADA camp) since the fourth grade, and the experiences I have had there prepared me for this new adventure. Before I could even consider going, I had to prove to my parents that I was responsible enough to take care of my diabetes on my own because I would be the only diabetic at camp. I knew that I would be extremely active during the day. From my daily experience at home, I was well aware that I do not wake up when the alarm clock beeps. So I had to practice waking up in the middle of the night to an alarm clock that was equipped with headphones in order to check my sugar to make sure I was not too low. The purpose of the headphones was so I wouldn’t wake up any of my friends as well! After much pleading, begging, and hard work, I was finally ready to go to camp. That week, I got little sleep. This was because my counselors insisted on me waking up three times during the night, just to be safe. I can’t blame them for being extra cautious and worried though, because if I were in their place, I would probably do the same! Despite the lack of sleep, I had a great time and learned new things, such as sailing and kayaking. I made many new friends and wonderful memories! This experience has hopefully prepared me for doing things such as going on a ski trip with my friend or attending the North Carolina School of the Arts in the future. I am here to tell you that although your diabetes can be bothersome, there are ways to get around it and enjoy everything that “normal” teenagers do! I am living proof!

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