My favorite gift when I was diagnosed with diabetes....

     Being diagnosed with diabetes was one of the scariest and most life altering things that happened in my life. At the age of 9, I didn’t fully understand what was happening, I just knew that my life looked a lot different than everyone else's. One of the most challenging things for me was carrying all my supplies at such a young age. At such a young age, I wasn’t carrying a purse with me everywhere I went, and I was diagnosed in the summer, so I wasn’t carrying a backpack to school every day. I had all this stuff to keep up with and no idea how to do it. That’s when my mom found Sugar Medical.

     The best gift I received after being diagnosed was the Diabetes Supply Case II. At the time, I had the original supply case in a polka-dotted pattern. My mom chose this bag for many reasons. First, it was small enough to not be too much for my 9 year-old self to keep up with, but large enough to hold my supplies. In this case I could hold a bottle of test strips, a vial of insulin, alcohol swabs, lancets and the lancet injector, extra batteries, and my meter. When I got my Omnipod, it was still large enough to hold my PDM. It also came with a wrist strap so that I could easily carry it wherever I went.

     Second, it had a trash can for my used test strips. At such a young age I wouldn’t say I was the most responsible and I definitely did not clean out my case as much as I should have. I would unzip the case and be prepared to catch falling used alcohol wipes and test strips. Clearly, this was a problem. My mom noticed the trashcan in this bag and thought it was a good solution for me at such a young age. This kept the bag more organized and free of germs from used test strips.

     Finally, my mom and I chose this bag because of how cute it was. The transition to living with diabetes was hard enough as it was, and my mom wanted to find a way to carrying all these supplies easier and more comfortable for me. Sugar Medical has always had such a great selection of fun prints and designs to fit all different interests. Having a fun print made going to school and pulling out my case much less uncomfortable. Friends would complement me on the case and ask what was in it. This gave me the opportunity to share my story and educate others. I don’t think I would have been as open to sharing or had the chance to share as much if I didn’t have a supply case. I was excited about having it out around other people.

     If you know a diabetic who has been recently diagnosed, I highly recommend giving them a Diabetes Supply Case II. This bag holds everything they need on a day-to-day basis, without being too large and intimidating. It also comes in so many different fun colors and patterns, which makes living with diabetes so much easier!

By: Amy Powell, living with T1D since 2009