Grateful… but Exhausted: The Reality of Living with Diabetes Tech

Grateful… but Exhausted

This is what T1D parenting looks like at midnight.

Technology has changed the game for Type 1 Diabetes.
Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), insulin pumps, automated systems—they’ve given us tools we never imagined. For that, we are grateful. Truly.

These tools have saved lives, prevented countless emergencies, and created a sense of control that once felt impossible.

But let’s be honest—those alarms don’t stop.

🚨 They go off in the middle of work meetings.
🚨 They interrupt sleep.
🚨 They break the silence in peaceful moments.
🚨 They jolt you out of concentration—no matter where you are.
🚨 They even demand your attention behind the wheel.

Because every alarm is a decision:

• Do I need to intervene?

• How fast is it dropping?

• Is this a real low or just compression?

• How many carbs? How much insulin?

And we make these decisions while working, parenting, driving, living.

Even in traffic, we’re caregivers first.
One hand on the wheel, one eye on the CGM app.
Pulling over to treat a low.
Doing the mental math that never stops.

Still a parent, even while driving — always monitoring.

🧠 And it’s not just the alarms:

• It’s the mental gymnastics at every meal.

• It’s the fear of overnight lows.

• It’s double-checking before every school trip or sport.

• It’s chasing scripts and supplies.

• It’s knowing that no matter how hard we try, we never really have control.

We are grateful.
But we are also exhausted.

To every parent hearing those alarms in the night…
I see you. I feel you. You are not alone.

And to those who don’t live this reality—please don’t say we’re lucky because “at least it’s manageable.”
Because managing it is what’s breaking us.

Technology helps… but it doesn’t replace constant attention.

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