Hello! This isn’t one of Gwyneth's or Elaine’s usual post, so let me introduce myself. My name is Kayla and I am one of Gwyneth's diabuddies. I have had diabetes for about 2 ½ years and I take insulin shots. Many people have asked my why I don’t have a pump. I think I was scared that something might be a malfunction with the pump or that it might fall out, but now I am more open to the idea of having a pump. On Friday of this week, I’ll be getting a Dexcom CGM, which I am super excited about. I have been getting low blood sugars at night so I think it will be really helpful.
There’s a bunch of stuff going on with me right now. I just finished my first year of homeschooling, which was a lot of hard work. I also recently became a vegetarian, and though it was a huge a change, even with diabetes, it was an beneficial change to make, for me anyway. Being a vegetarian hasn’t affected my blood sugars, my lows are usually caused by exercise, but I feel I have become healthier overall. I do a musical every summer, since 4th grade, with a community theatre group and this year we are doing a play called: A Year with Frog and Toad (P.S:Get tickets here) based off of the children’s book series. I guess I got one of the “lead” roles but I have a big scene, with me being the main character besides Frog and Toad, and I’m in the background in the rest of the scenes, which is perfectly fine. I am super excited to see all of my theatre buddies again, but I will have to change my insulin dosage for the summer, since I go really low with exercise.
On the topic of new things, I got a few new diabetes devices, which I absolutely love! One of the first devices I got is the Genteel lancing device. It is the “pain-free” lancet and though I wouldn’t call it painless it is definitely less pain. It came with 6 different contact tips and each color of contact tip has a different depth, 1 being the softest and 6 being the one that goes deepest into the skin, and I like using the 2nd contact tip. I like using the Genteel because I can use it on the heel of my hand, my arms and even my legs, but I can still also use it on my fingers. Another new device I got was a new meter: The OneTouch Verio IQ. I upgraded my meter because I found out my previous meter was about ten years old. I really like my new meter. When I put the meter strip in, when it’s ready to take the blood, the top of the meter will light up so I can see where to put the blood. I LOVE that feature, because I frequently check at night. The meter strips also take less blood, which is awesome!
I can’t wait until the next diabetes event I attend! I will be going to Carb DM’s San Jose Bay Pumper’s event and I am super excited! By the time I attend, I will have my CGM and there will be other people with pumps, CGM, and I’ll get to learn more about different kinds of pumps. I love going to events where I can meet other diabetics. I went to Carb DM’s Mother Daughter Weekend, where I met the wonderful Gwyneth, and I got to meet girls my age and hangout with them and also learn more about other people’s experience with T1D. (If you can’t tell, I really like Carb DM:)
That about wraps it up for me! Thank you for reading! Sorry if the post was a bit shorter than usual. Gwen/Elaine will write another post (hopefully) soon! If you want to follow me on instagram, my instagram is @kayla.butterfly I would also like to give a quick thank you to Gwyneth for letting me write on her blog! Had so much fun writing!
- Kayla Villegas <3
