[bluemax]

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes or LADA in my early forties and two things helped me deal with it. The hospital put me in a room in the oncology department. Seeing the other patients I was sort of glad I was there with 'just' diabetes and not cancer. This made it easier to accept.

After a couple of months of living with diabetes I created a simple app to enter the numbers, glucose level and insulin units, involved in managing diabetes. Among other things the app showed percentage scores of how much the glucose measurements were on target. That little bit of gamification was exactly right for me. Nowadays it's more like autopilot though.

Still it feels a bit awkward when I'm out having dinner with people that don't know I have this. In the first year or so after the diagnosis I would go to the bathroom to take the glucose measurement and insulin shot. Nowadays I explain the situation and take my shot sitting at the table. So far people have been cool about it.