Having diabetes sucks, so my husband and I take every opportunity to find humor in odd d-moments; therefore, we call the bag that carries the glucagon kit, Animas meter-remote, glucose tabs, and all the other supplies, “d-bag.” Yup, the d-bag. We might be going out to eat or dropping Henry off at preschool, and while locking the door, one of us will call to the other, “Hey, you got the d-bag?” We live in a nice, midwestern neighborhood, and we are those neighbors.

When Henry was diagnosed, the JDRF gave us a the Bag of Hope that contained Rufus and a camo green d-bag, but we quickly out grew this d-bag.

JDRF d-bag from Bag of Hope

Then we graduated to the beauty below, an up-cycled bag that a kid’s lunch from the San Diego Zoo came in. I’m proud that we carried this bag without one scrap of shame for eight months.

a classy d-bag made from a recycled water bottle

When I realized we were also dumping used test strips, tissues, crumpled receipts, and treasures like pine cones discovered on walks into the bag, it was time to upgrade the d-bag. A couple of FB groups for diabetes posted about the Smartstar Multi-functional Outdoor Sports Chest Bag Pack. We ordered it and love it. There are long inside pockets perfect for the glucagon kit and juice boxes. We use a carabiner to clip the CGM (constant glucose monitor) to the outside d-ring.

We’re going to add the international symbol for diabetes, a blue circle, and some flashy blue paracord and max out this d-bag. Pockets galore! This d-bag will be able to hold many, many pine cones.