Oh hey — how have you been?
I learned to knit two weeks ago. I learned to purl last week. I did not know these were two different things. This week, I’m both knitting and purling in an alternating pattern, and it is humbling. I am restarting projects like they’re Dexcom G6 sensors (haha diabetes humor also I can’t restart my sensors so it’s sad diabetes humor). I also learned by way of the reflection in the yarn shop’s window that I make highly intense faces while fighting with yarn. The furrow of all furrowings. Knitting my brow …n yarn. The lady teaching the knitting class said it will be “relaxing in the future.”
For the record, I am still in the present. But I made this pattern emerge! And it only took me seventeen tries.
On the thyroid front, I’ve beaten it into submission and I’m no longer producing too much thyroid juice. (Ew.) I’m producing the normal amount. Still taking the medication that was prescribed but the dose has been cut. I see the phlebotomists at the lab every four weeks and I have a favorite vein now, a disgusting realization. I’m hopeful that my future includes a very boring thyroid and maybe stopping the medication that I regularly forget the name of but it starts with “meth” and I’ve inadvertently said ‘I’m taking meth,” and not intending the consequences of such statements in public settings.
Looked it up. It’s methimazole.
Circling back to my pancreas, it remains partially functional except for the beta cells, so there’s that. My pharmacy benefit manager just flopped my Humalog prescription over to Insulin Lispro. The Internet tells me that they are same active ingredient and could be interchangeable in my care but I won’t know until I start taking it. I have taken Humalog since 1999 and have no idea how my blood sugars will respond to the generic-branded Insulin lispro, but I’m sure my insurance company will be helpful and not require extensive paperwork and appeals if my numbers indicate the need to switch back to Humalog. I’m sure they’d work alongside the generous insulin manufacturing companies to make sure we can afford access regardless of insurance coverage. I’m sure I’m being sarcastic. I’m also uneasy about this change because insulin is required to stay alive, so running ragtag pharma experiments on my body in order to save companies money is frustrating.
On the plus side, I received another 90 day supply of Dexcom G6 sensors AND a shiny new transmitter, and that delivery felt like it came directly from Santa Claus because it pushes me into 2027 with the G6 by my side (or technically on my abdomen, which is the only place I wear my sensor wink wink).
I don’t know why I’m so reluctant to switch to the G7 but I am.
… actually, I can guess. It’s because what I’m currently using is working fine. The Humalog insulin, the Dexcom G6 are all holding things together enough so that I’m not actively falling apart. Adding in a new insulin or a different CGM introduces unfamiliar variables, complicating a workflow that is fine at the moment. Sometimes when people outside of the diabetes community bubble ask me what the most frustrating part of diabetes, I think they might expect it to be something whispered and profound like, “I have no idea what my future might hold,” but honestly it’s that AND the frigging paperwork.
Writing group has been meeting regularly and while I’m sick and tired of the book I’m planning to query within the next few months (fingers crossed but then uncrossed so I can type), I’m sticking to a regular writing schedule with a dedicated team of wordcrafters and the pages are adding up. I’ve found that doing voice-to-text for writing has been helpful in churning thoughts out, and it’s exciting to talk so fast that the transcribing technology occasionally throws its virtual hands up and says, “What the hell, lady. Slow down!”
And I laugh maniacally and say no way, fucker.
Between writing group and knitting class and fall sports for kids and the ten thousand apples we picked and the bellyaches we all had from eating too many apples, it’s been a month of knitting yarns and spinning them onto the page.
That’s a pretty perfect start to fall, y’all.
My computer keeps asking me if I want to use AI to spellcheck this post. I don’t want to use AI for anything at all, so please enjoy any typos you may see here.
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