“Gimme a sec, I’m multitasking right now…owwwwwww!”
I was talking to my boyfriend on the phone and changing my Dexcom sensor at the same time when I was caught off-guard by (and yelped in surprise at) the sharp sting of the sensor’s needle plunging into my arm. It was a sting that evolved into a burn that lasted a solid 24 hours, much to my discomfort.
People often ask me whether or not my diabetes devices hurt. The answer is almost always no, because I’ve grown accustomed to the constant pricks and pokes. But once in a blue moon, I have a sensor or pod insertion that hurts so badly that my eyes well up with tears or I have to deal with a night or two of uneasy sleep, because it aches any time I roll over onto the stinging site.
It doesn’t matter that I’ve had at least 30,000 (yes, I did the math) shots and site changes over the years – diabetes still hurts, sometimes, and that’s just talking about the damage it does physically.
Diabetes hurts mentally, too, though that type of scarring is a whole lot more difficult to quantify.
The bottom line? Diabetes doesn’t hurt all of the time, but on the rare occasions it does, it’s a painful reminder that this is just the way of life for people like me who’ve got no other choice than to deal with it.
Hugging the Cactus 
I released my set into my skin last week and yelped. Sheryl came around to see what I was doing. I told her I was releasing the Jackels of hell into my skin. She said I am a big cry baby. I said well yeah !! Then she mentioned childbirth or some such thing.
LikeLiked by 1 person
When I was first diagnosed, I was using 28 guage insulin syringes (the prescription the ER gave me) and it was incredibly painful. When I finally got an endocrinologist, I was prescribed 31 guage and the pain practically went away. My endocrinologist thought it would be best for me to use syringes for a little bit for a “in case you’re screwed, here’s an option out” – I hear most people to immediately to insulin pens :shrug:
LikeLiked by 1 person