I remember the day Charlie was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.  It was November, 2003.  Carey was giving a then 3-year-old Maeve a bath upstairs.  I was holding Charlie in my arms as he slept. He was 20 months old.

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Can we be better caregivers? I guess. We can always be better. We were thrown into this diabetes life without much warning just like many of you. We were caregivers merely by having children, but care-giving on this level is a beast of another color.

On this day, six years ago, Charlie was diagnosed with diabetes. He was still slurping from a bottle. What is it about the fall? So many people are diagnosed this time of year.

The changing leaves. Halloween. Sunday football. Apple cider. Sweaters. Murder within the pancreas. All trademarks of autumn.

I was giving Maeve a bath when Susanne decided to take him to the hospital despite the pediatrician’s lackluster opinion on the matter.

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So last winter, I decided that since I was committed to MDI, I may as well be on the pump. I knew it would offer me superior management.

I called my insurance company to find out what kind of coverage we had so that I could decide which pump company to call. I understood nothing the rep told me, so I emailed HR to get a translation. Turns out we were changing insurance companies in January 2008 and unless it was urgent, I was encouraged to wait until January.

I started to obsess about going on the pump. Couldn't get the darn thing off my mind and I didn't even have it yet. I would look nearly every day at various pump web sites, compare products online and think about how much easier things would be if I just had the pump already!

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