Adulting?

Hey y'all!

I know it's been a while since I posted... sorry about that.  I guess there's just not much to write about during quarantine, ya know?  I hope everyone's doing well and staying safe--we're all good here; I've left the house a few times recently but I'm still staying pretty isolated.

In other news... I just turned 18!  Ahhhh!  I still can't believe that I'm legally an adult. Technically speaking, not a lot changes between 17 and 18, but there's something mind-blowing about the realization that I'm not actually a kid anymore.

Of course, diabetes doesn't care that I'm 18! I went low twice the night of my birthday, and twice more the night after. (For those of you who haven't had the misfortune of hearing me rant about this yet, overnight lows are the bane of my existence.) And my birthday cake shot me up to 250, because of course it did.

Any PWD knows that adulting with T1D is a whole different kind of adulting. And since I'm now an "adult", I've been thinking about that a fair bit lately. Like... I'm going to college in a year, and with any luck, I'll be going somewhere far from home. As excited as I am to finally have a bit of freedom and independence, I'm also anxious about managing my T1D on my own. Obviously, people with T1 can be totally independent, and I have plenty of friends who have successfully transitioned to managing their condition on their own. But there's something disconcerting about it, because it's so easy to make a mistake when there's no one around to double-check for you.

Like, when I go to college, how will my roommate react to my Dexcom alarms?  Will I have to turn my phone off at night like I do at home?  What if my blood sugar goes low during a college exam and my teacher isn't willing to let me retake it?  Ugh.  I know these are things that every PWD deals with, but for some reason turning 18 makes them feel a lot more real.

In times like this, I'm more grateful than ever for the DOC. My Pin Cushion group chat, the people on TypeOneNation, and everyone else who has reassured me that it is possible to live independently without my T1D holding me back. There are so many amazing people who have offered advice and reassurance, and I have no doubt that when I go to college, those same people will be there to answer my questions and make me feel less alone.

And don't get me wrong--there's a lot that hasn't changed!  I'm on my parents' medical insurance until my 26th birthday, which is honestly such a blessing.  But as of the 14th, my parents can no longer view my medical records without my permission, and I can make treatment decisions without consulting them. (As though that's gonna happen, lol.)

So, bottom line--I'm an adult, kinda?  It's a work in progress.  But then again, with T1D, most things are a work in progress.