Friday, February 8, 2013

To tattoo or not tattoo?

I've looked at other people's tattoos and I shake my head wondering what are they thinking??  My brother has several and my brother-in-law has several.  Again, I shake my head and wonder what are they thinking??  I wasn't very clear in my LADA awareness post, but my new endo said I am slowly developing type 1 diabetes.  I had another endo appointment in January, and he stopped the metformin I was taking and so I've increased my short-acting insulin pen shots to every meal (and snacks that qualify with my carb-to-insulin ratio).  Having type 1 diabetes makes me wonder if it's time to "get some ink" on my wrist.  Why?  Because I don't wear jewelry.  I'm an unusual woman, I've always been more of a tomboy than a girly-girl.  I wear my wedding ring and watch when I leave the house (well, 97% of the time, sometimes I forget).  I don't wear earrings (though my ears are pierced), or a necklace or bracelets.  So I can't imagine having a bracelet on 24/7.  But I don't want to forget and be in an accident without proper identification of this new-to-me medical condition.

My husband doesn't know how much I've been pondering this option.  I hate needles (adjusting to a diagnosis and even my daughter's diagnosis was not easy) and I hate pain so this is a REALLY big deal to me.  I know the idea of a tattoo isn't new and has already been discussed among the diabetes' community but I thought I would lay out my conflicting emotions, and since my husband is my only dedicated reader, at least my hubby will know that I'm really considering this!

Here's a picture of the tattoo that a high schooler girl has, she spoke at a kids' day camp we went to last summer.