Turns out, living with type 1 diabetes means that I’m testing a whole lot more than just my blood sugar levels…

…I’m testing my memory, too – and rather frequently.

As a person with T1D, it’s on me to remember to do basic things like bolus for meals, be prepared with back-up supplies at all times, get prescriptions filled before I run out of anything, and so much more. More often than not, I pass these memory tests.

But naturally, I’m bound to fail one every now and then.

Case in point: I forgot where I left my PDM the other day. I had prepared my dinner and went to take a bolus for it when I realized that I couldn’t remember when or where I last saw it.

It was an infuriating scenario. I knew it was somewhere in my home. I hadn’t left the house all day, other than to take my dog outside to do her business. I spent the better part of a half hour wandering up and down the stairs, searching with an increased sense of franticness, for my PDM. The urgency to locate it only heightened when I tried to use the “Find my PDM” feature on the Omnipod Display app and it wouldn’t work. That was a first – up until this day, I’d always been able to use it to track down my PDM when I’d misplaced it. It showed no indication that it was going to suddenly start working again any time soon, so I gave up and was forced to retrace my steps in order to find my PDM…which was going to be difficult considering in the middle of my search, my Dexcom went off, alerting me to an impending low blood sugar.

Think, think, think…I could practically feel the wheels turning in my head as I tried to recall where I last saw my PDM. I’d bolused for lunch earlier in the day, most definitely. That much I knew. I had eaten lunch downstairs, so I surmised that I brought my PDM upstairs with me when I was done so I could have it nearby as I continued on with my workday.

I looked high and low, all around my bedroom, without success. That’s when it dawned on me that there was a slim chance that my PDM fell outside of my pocket when I took my dog out just before I’d made my dinner. So I ventured outside, sweat starting to bead on my forehead as I grew shakier from my low blood sugar. I scoured the parking lot and the lawn for my PDM and no dice. That was when I decided to head back inside, drink a juice box, and take a moment to really contemplate the time and place I last saw my PDM.

That’s when it hit me – it had to be on my bedroom floor, next to my bed, because I suddenly remembered how it had accidentally slipped off my bed when I’d placed it there after lunch! I raced back upstairs, feeling triumphant and relieved when I saw the PDM in that precise spot and could confirm that my memory had finally served me correctly.

Now, this might sound like some silly, random anecdote about how I had a forgetful moment. But to me, it actually demonstrates just how much a person with diabetes needs to remember to do on a daily basis. It’s so much more than the finger stick pokes or insulin injections – it’s a lot of accountability. It shows that diabetes tests a whole heck of a lot more than blood sugar…it tests patience, responsibility, and yes, in this particular situation, memory. This is why I think people with diabetes deserve recognition for dealing with these daily, innumerable tests as gracefully as we can.