Oh ya, my job is cool...

Lately work has been less of the "I fly on helicopters" description and more of the "I write reports and analyze data" description. And as much as I would rather be flying on helicopters, it's ok with me...you must have the dull-ish to appreciate the awesome-ness. OR...you just need the BF to remind you how spoiled you are.

For instance, this conversation from the other day...

Me: I've just been knees deep in this report-writing/plot making stuff lately, I just finished a whole section about the mission tasks we did out at Courtland.

The BF: Oh ya, like the slalom and stuff?!

Me: Ya, and this maneuver where we had to accelerate to 50 kts then come to a complete stop within 800 ft.

The BF: WHAT?! Why didn't you ever tell me about that one?

Me: Well, I didn't think it sounded as cool as a "slalom" course...

The BF: Are you kidding me, that is like going 0 to 60 except in a Chinook.

Me: Ya, I guess it is, huh?

The BF: When I ask you how your day went, these are the type of things I want to know about April!!!!

Me: .....{crickets}......

So you see, it's a perspective thing. I just needed a little reminding...

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The road to curing Type 1 Diabetes

From the moment of diagnosis, the road is rough, the learning curve is steep and the stakes are literally life or death. The map is less-than-helpful - paths originating from virtually every corner, coalescing at a center point (aka "diagnosis") and bursting back outwards - some paths cross and wrap around each other but others are isolated. And even with all of these roads, most of the territory is uncharted - how did we all get here and how will we all exit? Where are the obstacles we haven't found yet? Which passage holds the key to unlocking the solution?

On any given day I feel pretty isolated with this disease - I'm the only T1D in my group at work, the only one in mission control, the only one in my family. I go through the logistics of calling insurance companies, ordering supplies, changing sites and troubleshooting malfunctions mostly on my own. Even those pesky carbs really only get counted in my brain, no group think for a meal bolus here. But there is b…

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As most flight hardware begins, the space-rated closed-loop insulin delivery and monitoring device inside the box will be sterile and stark. But as the batteries whir to life and insulin is placed within, it will become an extra appendage, an external pancreas, for this Type 1 astro-hopeful. Bluetooth connections will be made and doctors, hungry for telemetry from my bionic body, will be at the ready. We will rely on each other - he on I for his very existence, and I on him for my continued existence. Together we will make up one whole, completely functioning, Type 1 Diabetic astronaut.

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I think it's finally time to hit 'publish' on this post, considering it's been sitting here for, oh you know, like 2 weeks now ;-) Sometimes I "April" about things too much (this is Chris's term), and with my dad here for Christmas I realized that it's definitely a trait passed down, haha, love you dad!

To be honest, I never thought the day would come when I would say, "I've had Type 1 Diabetes for 20 years."

20 years ago a cure was 'just on the horizon' and as an 11 year old kid I took that phrase to heart - I had to. My continued existence was based solely on whatever the endocrinologist said - pancreas, insulin, autoimmune, blood sugar, islet cells, shots. I didn't know what I didn't know at that point. I had never heard of an insulin pump or glucose meter. Ketones and hyperglycemia were just big, meaningless words. Carb ratios and counting might as well have been formulas for travelling at light speed. I wasn't ov…

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