Day 2

I left off yesterday with getting home from the hospital to start my life with T1. I knew of only one other person with T1 in my life at that point. He was a year ahead of me in school and hated to talk about it, so we didn't really bond over that one thing in common.
 When I was diagnosed and educated, it felt like I was being educated for an "old person's disease from the tone of the educator and there being no gestures made to get me in contact with a support group, or anything it was just left unspoken. I was directed to a pediatric endocrinologist who I saw once. The man weirded me out so very badly I never went back, so all my diabetes care fell to my gp. I went years without knowing anything about the JDRF, without knowing about others like me. It was in 2000, and I was not able to access internet unless it was at school or my sister's apartment, and there existed much fewer resources for teens with T1. By the time I learned about diabetes camp for kids with T1, I was too old to even be a counselor. I missed out on socializing with others like me. I went through 12 semesters of college without meeting another T1. I was also ignoring my T1, and ending up hospitalized on numerous occasions but that is a post for another day.
 Today, I know two other T1s in my town. We are all different yet share this diagnosis. One is an athletic, smart, courageous boy who is coming up on his first diaversary, and the other is a gal who is beautiful, funny, and hardworking. We are all different ages, with different families, and none of us did anything to cause Type 1 diabetes to happen.
I tried a "local" support group but it is more than an hour away and the few times I went, there was at least 20 years between me and the next youngest person and the rest were in their 60s and up. I felt out of place. I've signed up two different years to do the JDRF walk. Once was when I had one child, and she was under six months old, and I felt so self-conscious that I was miserable-post baby body, shy, and just out of place among all these children with T1, the only thing we had in common was this awful diagnosis. I signed up a second time to walk with that support group, and it was nice but again, the age difference was glaringly obvious. They have grandkids older than my two. Once we were done with 'betes talk, there was nothing really left to say.
This feels to me like an isolating thing, to have this condition where I can't make plans and stick to them every time because my health goes haywire for no apparent reason.

 I finally found other people with Type 1 with whom I share more than having T1. On Facebook, I have found a few groups. Those of us who use Dexcom, who use Omni Pods, those of us who are moms, and those of us who are females. I finally have found people who understand from my point of view what life is like with this particular chronic condition.
 My family and friends all are supportive. I am thankful for each and every one of them.