Our story started two years ago when Christopher and I met at work. Coincidentally enough he was my trainer and we were just friends for a few years. At this point I did not know anything about diabetes. I couldn’t have told you what a normal blood sugar (BS) range was. I did not know there were two types of diabetes (type 1 and type 2). I was not sure what he was injecting after eating or even why. Now, two years later and I know so much about type 1 diabetes, still learning everyday of course

Fast forward a few years and Christopher took a leap of faith and asked me out and I said yes (to his surprise) and here we are! By the time Christopher and I started dating he was using a pump and no longer using vial and syringe to inject his insulin. A Medtronic pump to be exact. Just before one of our first dates I got a ‘news flash’ moment about diabetes. He was changing his port (where his pump gives him insulin) and as he takes out the needle he starts *spewing* blood. Christopher also hates blood. He gets light headed and almost passes out just talking about it. Yes, he’s diabetic… I promise. He immediately started to try and cover up the mess by taking his nice dress shirt off and using paper towels to wipe the blood while repeatedly assuring me this NEVER happens. He was embarrassed to say the least and I was slightly freaked out. Good news! That has not happened again, yet

Date post bloody disaster

Some of the first things I learned about being the girlfriend of a type 1 diabetic:

• Diabetes is 24/7. No breaks. No days off. Doesn’t matter if you have plans or not, diabetes is there.
• Mood swings are inevitable
• Your purse = his diabetes survival kit
• Diabetes causes other health issues
• Many ways to manage diabetes

Keeping up with the diabetes supplies was tough for me at first; pump, monitor, sugar tablets, insulin and more! To make things easier for me I gave everything a name, they are part of the family after all!

Tommy=Pump, Monica=Monitor, Grayson=Sensor, Tabbies=Glucose Tablets

Let me know if you have any names you use yourself! I can’t be the only one, right…

At first Christopher shied away from allowing me to be integrated into his diabetic life. Diabetes is a huge part of his life though and it has been for over 20 years. He and I both quickly realized, if we were going to be together, I need to know what is going on and to be able to help.