Welcome to “My Favourite Number”!

Welcome to “My Favourite Number”!  This is my big hello to the world wide web and all my will-be readers!

My name is Laura Brandes and I’ve been living with type 1 diabetes since I was nine years old…going on 16 years.  I believe in the value of education and have reached a point in my life where I want to share my experiences and stories with the online diabetes community.  Given the wide selection of diabetes blogs already in existence, I figure I might as well add one more to the mix!

I am not a doctor nor am I a certified diabetes educator.  I am simply a person with a lust for life and years’ worth of experience living with diabetes.  Neither am I perfect.  However, I do make an effort to do my best every single day.  I’m still aiming for an A1c under 7% and hope to have reached this goal by my next appointment.  Some days are harder than others and I do have my moments but, all in all, I am a cheerful and hopeful individual.  I love being outdoors, being active and travelling.  I’m hoping to switch from multiple daily injections to an insulin pump (which you’ll hopefully be hearing more about in the near future) and am quite excited by the prospect!  I currently use NovoRapid and Levemir insulin pens.

I also have celiac disease and, since people with type 1 diabetes run a far greater risk of developing celiac than the general population, I will at times be writing about my gluten-free experiences as well.

I hope I can inspire you to take control of your diabetes and to take on life with an unabashed (but healthful and responsible) fervour and hope.  Stay tuned and thanks for stopping by.