Every chapter of my diabetes has been a team effort.
I’ve lived with Type 1 diabetes since 1990, including the lows at three in the morning when I was all alone, and the rest of the 24 hours of the day with many people around me wondering how they could help.
I’ve been the kid trying to sort out my blood glucose before gym class, the athlete thinking about what my glucose level is going to mean for my pacing around the track, the partner learning how to let somebody in, and the parent doing math in my head while trying not to mess up making dinner. I’ve been the one healing from surgery, knowing that diabetes is stubbornly along for the ride to recovery. All of these roles have taught me something, and I want to share these learning experiences, mistakes and successes, and also learn from everybody else in the community. With that, I had the idea to get things more formally going, and I started writing things down, making apps, and developing what you see now.
Trapper was my mom’s nickname for me. She showed me that the caring and love of a parent can really change everything about living with diabetes: the mindset, the approach, and knowing that you’re never facing it alone. I really wish the things I’ve learned about breaking the ice, making connections, thinking about caretakers and how to bring them in, and building better dialogue and connections across the whole team could have been part of things with my mom. We each held on to our own feelings and our own ways of thinking about diabetes, alone together. We always talked and stayed open with each other, but it never became a team plan. We were each doing our best, and we always knew we supported each other. That love was the thing that made it so obvious. So I write as Trapper as my way of keeping her caring at heart and in mind, and of sharing that spirit of possibility with the many others who connect to Better Together Diabetes.
