New Member Introduction

[stangpride]

Hi there,

My name is Kathleen and I've been an insulin-dependent diabetic since
age 2. I am now 34, so I've had the disease for a while. I just became a
pump user as of June 2005 and am very happy to have been introduced to
the technology. It has given me the flexibility I've wanted for many
years. No more waiting to eat dinner or basing my insulin on the
time I expected to eat.

I'd be more than happy to talk to folks with diabetes in their
families. I am a well-living diabetic and can be very helpful with
coping and with other stresses of living with the disease for 33+ years.

Feel free to contact me with any questions...I look forward to talking
more with forum members and their families. I've lived a long,
fulfilled life and expect to live a whole lot longer. I'd be happy to
do presentations and discuss my accomplishments in life, given the
fact I've been limited in what I can and cannot do.

I look forward to meeting everyone and am very excited to be a member
of this forum! :D

V/r,

Kathleen

[jwk's mom]

Welcome Kathleen
Glad you joined us

[StillMamamia]

Hi Kathleen,

Thank you for your positive post.

It's nice to meet you!

[OSUMom]

Hi Kathleen! You sound like a great role model. Glad you found CWD! A warm welcome to you!!! :D

[stangpride]

jwk's mom, StillMamamia, and OSUmom,

I just wanted to say thank you for the very warm welcomes! I look forward to conversing with you and a bunch of the others in this forum. I'd love to meet folks that share my hardships, and their children. I know I can definitely help if you have a stubborn child. I am still a kid at heart, and I love kids, so we usually get a long great. :)

Look forward to chatting some more with you soon. :)

V/r,

Kathleen
ID-Diabetic, 32+ years

[rachael24]

Welcome and awesome to meet you!

[Thoover]

What a nice positive side. And having diabetes for such a long time and in great health is very promising to all of us. Thanks for posting and welcome to the boards.

[RosemaryCinNJ]

Hi Kathleen...My little girl was diagnosed at 13 mos. old (she is now 2) Welcome to CWD..Have you seen a lot of new technology over the years of your type 1?..and I am hopeful the next technology will be a cure.. Again welcome :)

[stangpride]

I appreciate your warm welcomes rachael24, Tracy, and Rosemary! Getting the positive feedback reinforces my eagerness to help others. I am always willing to lend a hand. Thanks again!

Welcome to CWD..Have you seen a lot of new technology over the years of your type 1?

Rosemary,

Yes, I have seen a lot of new technology since being diagnosed with Type 1 at the age of 2 back in July of 1976. The first thing I saw and loved was the Glucometer...remember those old testers? They were so large back then! LOL...I know I had seen my first insulin pump back then, too and it was as large as a desk phone and now they are no bigger than a pager. My how times have changed!

Some recent things that I've seen coming out are the GlucoWatch® G2™ Biographer Glucose Monitoring System [not so recent for that one, I know] (I did not realize the CGMS existed until joining this forum; nor did I realize the GlucoWatch had been discontinued. Interesting!), the ability to download your test results into a computer program and make graphs with the data, plus being able to download all my pump activity into another software program and seeing any patterns that developed. I use every single button and feature on my pump, as well as having about 6 OneTouch Ultra Smart blood glucose machines around the house and my job, also with many features I use. The OneTouch Ultra Smart machine can store so much information and I utilize them all such as exercise, illness, health checks at the doctor, and all can be downloaded into my pc. I take these results to my nutritionist and to my PCP when I am having any issues. Not to mention, I've followed the numerous advances in medicine, such as successful Islet Cell Transplants over the years and am really excited to see all this happening before my eyes. I have to be honest, I am not so sure I'd jump to have this disease taken away, as I've lived with it so long, it's become a part of my daily routine and could not imaging life any other way. Not to mention, it's been a huge motivating factor to keep my weight down in a decent range because I don't require near as much insulin when I exercise 2-3x a week! LOL I'd probably get the transplant if my supplies were no longer covered by my health insurance, though. :)

At any rate, thanks again for all of your warm welcomes. If you'd like to talk, just IM me at stangpride for AIM, Yahoo, and Windows Live. I'd be happy to discuss anything with any one. I live near Dulles Airport, so perhaps if any of you are close by, we could meet for a cup of Joe or dinner sometime. :)

V/r,

Kathleen