Taylor's Insulin Pump
Donation protected
My names Taylor, I’m 20 and I am an avid outdoorswoman and explorer, well so I like to think.
On September 18th 2016 I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes; 3 days after I got my wisdom teeth taken out! I scheduled my extraction for the 15th so I would have the perfect amount of time to get all healed up for elk season, (so I thought, lol.) On that Sunday my parents rushed me to the ER because apparently I couldn’t stand, my eyes were kinda rolling back in my head and I was not coherent. I don’t remember any of this so I’m just taking their word for this. My ER nurse was 100% my guardian angel, he was the only reason my parents were able to keep it together as well as they did. So after going DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis, basically a coma) and spending 6 days in the ICU looking like a sick, drugged up little chipmunk I was finally released and began my diabetic life.
So at this point it’s like… October 1st, Elk opens in a short 9 days, and I barely have the energy to leave the house for a couple hours But somehow, maybe it was just the excitement of having a bull tag, or being able to leave the house for more than an hour without my mom freaking out wondering if I was still kickin’ (love you mommmmm). Anyways! I was determined to kill an elk. WHICH I DID, all thanks to my rockin’ family, 100% of the credit goes to them. Especially my dad, holy crap my dad knows more about T1D than I do. He got me a little insulin fanny pack, which I rocked, well, still do. And of course my Mother Bear, packing me all sorts of diabetic friendly snacks. Which was beyond difficult for her to find since they had to be diabetic friendly AND dry socket friendly.
Holy side tracked Taylor.. ANYWAYS! Again! So recently, I think in like December, I was diagnosed with another auto immune disease; I now have hashimotos! Meaning my thyroid doesn’t work..
So now its daily injections, finger pricks, basically weekly doctors appointments and the dreaded A1C’s.. it’s great. Juuuusssttt great. (if you know me, I’m sure you can just hear the sarcasm in my voice.)
So! since 2017 is going to be a hospital free year for this girl, (no DKA, diabetic ketoacidosis… super scary, no Bueno) the best way to achieve that is to become 100% solely dependent on an insulin pump. But as many of you know, insurance companies suck, and even with their help, It’s looking to be around $3,000 just for the pump.
I was motivated to create a GoFundMe when an incredible family friend insisted on helping me out with some of the cost. And if you know me I am not one to ask for help, or take donations. So creating this page is really uncomfortable and out of my comfort zone (hence the unnecessary rant and random information that you probably don’t care about above). But after she demanded me to accept her offering, I realized that people love helping with stuff like this! Knowing that your small effort is making such a difference in someone’s life, it’s almost refreshing.
If the funds exceed my goal, the rest will be donated to Camp Hodia, (which is a local camp for kids with T1D) which teaches them that, “anything is possible with diabetes, and that it doesn’t need to limit your lifetime experiences.”
I’m not entirely sure how to wrap this up, but I to want to thank you and tell you and that I appreciate you, and for taking time out of your busy hectic life to read my sarcastic, sidetracked recap of my last 6 months.
Cheers!
Taylor
On September 18th 2016 I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes; 3 days after I got my wisdom teeth taken out! I scheduled my extraction for the 15th so I would have the perfect amount of time to get all healed up for elk season, (so I thought, lol.) On that Sunday my parents rushed me to the ER because apparently I couldn’t stand, my eyes were kinda rolling back in my head and I was not coherent. I don’t remember any of this so I’m just taking their word for this. My ER nurse was 100% my guardian angel, he was the only reason my parents were able to keep it together as well as they did. So after going DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis, basically a coma) and spending 6 days in the ICU looking like a sick, drugged up little chipmunk I was finally released and began my diabetic life.
So at this point it’s like… October 1st, Elk opens in a short 9 days, and I barely have the energy to leave the house for a couple hours But somehow, maybe it was just the excitement of having a bull tag, or being able to leave the house for more than an hour without my mom freaking out wondering if I was still kickin’ (love you mommmmm). Anyways! I was determined to kill an elk. WHICH I DID, all thanks to my rockin’ family, 100% of the credit goes to them. Especially my dad, holy crap my dad knows more about T1D than I do. He got me a little insulin fanny pack, which I rocked, well, still do. And of course my Mother Bear, packing me all sorts of diabetic friendly snacks. Which was beyond difficult for her to find since they had to be diabetic friendly AND dry socket friendly.
Holy side tracked Taylor.. ANYWAYS! Again! So recently, I think in like December, I was diagnosed with another auto immune disease; I now have hashimotos! Meaning my thyroid doesn’t work..
So now its daily injections, finger pricks, basically weekly doctors appointments and the dreaded A1C’s.. it’s great. Juuuusssttt great. (if you know me, I’m sure you can just hear the sarcasm in my voice.)
So! since 2017 is going to be a hospital free year for this girl, (no DKA, diabetic ketoacidosis… super scary, no Bueno) the best way to achieve that is to become 100% solely dependent on an insulin pump. But as many of you know, insurance companies suck, and even with their help, It’s looking to be around $3,000 just for the pump.
I was motivated to create a GoFundMe when an incredible family friend insisted on helping me out with some of the cost. And if you know me I am not one to ask for help, or take donations. So creating this page is really uncomfortable and out of my comfort zone (hence the unnecessary rant and random information that you probably don’t care about above). But after she demanded me to accept her offering, I realized that people love helping with stuff like this! Knowing that your small effort is making such a difference in someone’s life, it’s almost refreshing.
If the funds exceed my goal, the rest will be donated to Camp Hodia, (which is a local camp for kids with T1D) which teaches them that, “anything is possible with diabetes, and that it doesn’t need to limit your lifetime experiences.”
I’m not entirely sure how to wrap this up, but I to want to thank you and tell you and that I appreciate you, and for taking time out of your busy hectic life to read my sarcastic, sidetracked recap of my last 6 months.
Cheers!
Taylor
Organizer
Taylor Bradley
Organizer
Boise, ID
