[cougar07]

Hello, I am very new to being a type one. I am into my second month dealing with it. What worries me is the long term effects I keep hearing and seeing on the web. I'm a very healthy person workout and run constantly, and eat right. But feel like no matter how hard I work at putting my self in the best health I can. My kidneys are going to fail or I'm going to be blind by 40 I'm 23 right now. Does anybody feel the same way I do or can anybody give me words of encouragement.

[dano]

If you can keep your average blood sugar below 140 mg/dl, day in / day out, from now on you will be in good shape. Hopefully, you will be able to do much better than this. The info is on the web, google search it out. Good luck!

[cougar07]

Ok thanks

[splix]

Dano is the one to greet new ones to the forum, but I want to say hi as well. The long time effects and complications come with unattended diabetes. If you get into the routines and treatment and keep up the good work with healthy exercise your chances for NOT having any complications in the future is greatly reduced. Take your time, even if you think you’re on top of things now, there might come a moment when things change for the worse. The honeymoon period is over and your BG might spike some, but hang in there and drop a word in here. There are plenty of people here who have a lifetime experience to share with you. As for myself I’m new so I can't do more then to boost your spirit Good luck !

[RangerN8]

I was diagnosed with T1D 7 years ago this month. I was diagnosed a few months before my 21st birthday. Three major changes happened in my life shortly afterward; I moved out alone, I fell off of my parents insurance plan and I got my dream job as a backcountry ranger for the Forest Service.

All of these things upped the ante on adapting to the diabetes lifestyle. Insurance....I had to learn how to do without. Thanks to Community Health Centers, I am affording supplies and care.
Living alone...meant eating alone. I was learning to cook for myself for the first time anyway, so I did it right. Simple, healthy, hearty meals.
Becoming a Wilderness Ranger...meant being miles away from the nearest person, regularly without communication, always in a strenuous setting. I have had my close calls, 30mg/dL and miles out, but I always had my SYSTEMS in place and always have a backup for my backup.

Get your retinas examined occasionally. They can take pictures of them. I got the service free through a local community health clinic. Get your kidneys checked too. Too much sugar over time will wear those filters out and proteins will start to get through and show up in the urine. I have not always been good with managing my glucose but I have always been super active and my A1C does not reflect my poor management. EXERCISE. Try your best to keep your glucose in check. Don't eat right before bed.

[cougar07]

Thanks Ranger, it definitely makes things a lot harder when you are miles from help. Me and brother just took over my dads oil and natural gas company in south Texas, Freer Texas to be exact. There is no hospital or endocrinologist within two and half hours of us. So making trips to San Antonio is really starting to get old. Do you get your supplies in bulk because of your distance from medical help. I ask this because I can only get my one touch strips in orders of one hundred It would be very beneficial if I could get a couple hundred more every time. This would really knock off some of my trips. Thanks again

[dano]

I will try not to high-jack your thread, but I just wanted to mention, since both of you are located in remote areas, about a insulin cooler that I found several years ago. Do a tag search on insulin cooler if you are interested. Here is the Link. I ordered several different sizes, but I mostly use the two (2) and five (5) pen wallets. It was the best investment that I ever made. High-jack over.

[dano]

cougar07;

Several years ago, I mentioned to my doctor that I wanted to tighten up my control. He wrote my prescription, for test strips, at six (6) per day. This effectively doubled my previous prescription number. It wasn't a mistruth, because sometimes I do test 6-7 times per day, although, most times it is more like 3 minimum. Just some information to consider.

[RangerN8]

I recently asked my Doctor about your issue with test strips. Here in Utah, I can buy test strips off of the shelf, no prescription, at Walgreens for about $1 per strip. I usually buy my strips from the pharmacy without a prescription but discovered that if I have a prescription through the clinic, I don't have to pay taxes on my strips. I am limited to 100 strips at a time with my prescription but there is no limit to how many strips I can buy without it. I save about $4 per 100 strips with the prescription. I use the WaveSense Presto meter. Were you to use the same meter, I could mail you supplies.

[cougar07]

No I use one touch mini. I figured it out with my doctor. My insurance policy deductible is 15 dollars for strips wether I buy one box of strips or ten boxes. My doctor now writes me out prescription for 300 strips. It's very beneficial to have this surplus.