I have a great life with my partner, our eight-year-old daughter, and our five-year-old son. I work part-time. I’ve been living with diabetes for the past ten years. Getting diagnosed with diabetes is always a shock, but I think I’ve given it a place in my life. That doesn’t make it any easier…
Having diabetes and being a parent to young children is not the easiest combination. A low bloodsugar is always urgent, but it’s not easy to wait just a little while when your kids need you. I know I should pay more attention to myself at those moments. Fortunately, my children understand that I need some time to myself when I go low. My daughter says she can smell it on me, which means she sometimes notices it before I do! She’s old enough now to understand the disease a bit better and plans on presenting about diabetes at her school. My son also understands that I sometimes feel unwell; we’re very open about it. Diabetes doesn’t rule our family, it’s just a part of it. It’s a bit different for me personally, but I’m happy my family doesn’t experience it as a burden.
That said, diabetes does get in the way sometimes. I love going to festivals in summer, but I always have to take a bag of supplies with me, like a sports drink or cookies or something. If they take issue with it at the entrance, I have to prove that I have diabetes. That’s why I take my diabetes passport with me everywhere I go. Every now and then I’ll feel like having a night on the town with delicious wines, but I know my blood sugar levels will be all over the place, especially the next day. These days, I limit nights out to once or twice a year.
Why Kaleido
I’ve been using Kaleido since last summer and I couldn’t be happier. To me, it’s more than just a pump. It’s a lifestyle product. I chose silver and gold for my Kaleido, so my pump always matches my jewellery! I’m still happy to have it every day. Kaleido gives me a lot of freedom, especially when I’m on holiday. I used to have to clip my pump to my bikini bottoms, but it was too heavy and would make them sag off. Not ideal! Now I can just wear my Kaleido on my arm without a care in the world. It’s perfect!
In fact, sometimes I forget I’m wearing it at all. A while ago I was headed out to dinner and grabbed my handset, but it couldn’t find my pump. I waited for a while and kept trying, knowing that sometimes it takes a bit longer. But it still wouldn’t connect. I started to get a little worried and walked upstairs to tell my husband that my handset couldn’t find my pump. Of course, the handset found the connection right away when I was upstairs! But when I went back downstairs, I’d lost the connection again.
So I called Kaleido Care, who told me they were going to send me an emergency kit. But I suddenly realised that I wasn’t wearing my pump: I’d forgotten to put it back on after my shower. No wonder I had no connection! Kaleido is so small and light, you forget you’re wearing it sometimes. Other times, you may even forget not wearing it!
The last carefree day
As happy as I am with Kaleido, it doesn’t take away the impact of the disease. That’s what’s so hard about diabetes: there’s no days off and it’s always in the back of your mind. I was diagnosed the day my younger brother got married. The doctor told me to go to the wedding and that I’d start treatment the next day. He told me to really enjoy that day, but I didn’t really understand what he meant until later. It was the last truly carefree day of my life. Fortunately, Kaleido makes having diabetes a little more bearable.
About Cindy
Cindy is forty years old and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes ten years ago. She joined the Kaleido family in the summer of 2018. Cindy has two children and lives life to the fullest, despite her diagnosis. She enjoys going out to dinner with her family and friends and exercises four to five times a week, which makes her feel healthier and happier, and stabilises her blood values. She prefers to wear her Kaleido on her arm and doesn’t mind at all when people notice it or ask her about it.