Monday, September 14, 2015

Diabetes And Tales From The Fitting Room ~

I love clothes but I hate shopping. Specifically, I hate trying things on - most of all I hate the harsh lighting in the Fitting rooms and how I swear the mirrors are from an actual FunHouses, and not in the good way.
And FTR, I don't "hide" my pump on a daily basis, who has time for that? 
I'm proud and blessed to wear an insulin pump, but every now and then I want the clean lines of my clothes and my bodacious curves to be the focus - not my lumpy, pump - know what I mean?     
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I was trying on dresses and pantsuits yesterday because nothing fit in my closet and ended up purchasing one nice pantsuit that was 50% off, plus an extra 20% off. It wasn't the pantsuit with a touch of teal pinstripe that I went bonkers over - but it was a nice suit none the less.
And with each dress/suit I tried on, I made sure that I could navigate my pump easily. 
The dresses were easy because I had the choice of clipping said pump to my trusty garter and or SPANX (and yes, I had both of them in my handbag,) and both are easy fixes.
With the pantsuits, I would clip my insulin pump to waist and give my hips a critical eye. Sometimes the jacket would cover the pump nicely and no one would be the wiser. 
Other times the jacket would cover the pump awkwardly and my hips would look freakishly uneven, no matter where I placed the pump on my waist band.

Next I’d attempt to clip the pump inside the jacket, which either: 
  1. worked really well
  2. made me look like I was the recipient of a really budget boob job 
  3. made me look like a old time gangster packing heat. 
Next stop, I’d place the pump between the actual boobs themselves - which never works for me, EVER. OK, it’s works for me when I’m wearing a bustier, but not an option this time around. 
Still, I always give the boobs the old college try, with the hopes that this time, I won’t look like I have 3 boobs. 
And of course, I did look like I had 3 boobs.
And I was getting slightly frustrated - mostly because the suit that I really wanted and was the very last one they had in that style. The one with the jacket that looked awesome no matter where I placed my insulin pump and had that awesome touch of teal pinstripe, but came with pants that were two sizes to big thanks to someone switching the bottoms out . The one that that sold out in other locations  - but I digress. 
Back to the story. 
Keep in mind that while I changed into the suits in my own dressing room, I would check myself out/play 'hide the insulin pump' in the shared, ginormous mirror in the center of the shared Fitting room.
A woman was waiting for her daughter to try on dresses for a wedding they were attending in a few weeks and was watching me flipping and switching my insulin pump in the mirror with both amusement and curiosity.  

“Do you mind if I ask you what that is,”  said the mom of the college aged daughter, as she pointed to my pump in the mirror. 

Me: Of course not, it’s my pancreas. I have diabetes and this is my insulin pump. 
Mom of College Aged Daughter: Ohhhhh, OK. So you wear it all the time? 
Me: Yep - except when I shower or swim

Mom of College Aged Daughter: That’s a real commitment to technology, it must be worth it. 

Me: It is... it really is. Thanks for the realizing that... and thanks for the reminder~  

2 comments:

Colleen said...

1- I hate, hate, hate trying on clothes.
2- What a nice comment from the mom.

Unknown said...

When I got married, the lovely women at the dress placed sewed a pocket in the mid-skirt part of my dress! All I had to do was flip the skirt up and program! I HATE when I have my sensor linked and I have to sleep with some sort of clothing (or band) with my pump fixed to them.