I have lived a reasonably healthy and very successful life as a Type 1 Diabetic for 30 years now. This is a prideful statement since I read that many T1 Diabetics last 25-30 years from diagnosis when I was 11. (Casey Johnson, Betsy Arnst, Liz Rehn, and many other T1s that passed young…..your legacy is remembered.)
I also had a couple doctors along the way talk to me as if I were a time bomb; my sense of mortality arrived before puberty. The greatest tragedy is that I would have been a bigger success if I hadn’t lived in my cloud of doubt and fear…..not that it was only MY fear, the expressions I saw when I had to give a shot to eat were like a death sentence.
Type 1 Diabetes is a disorder that results after your own body decides to kill off pancreas cells that produce insulin. My own body was self destructing, long before I could reason. Insulin turns food into energy to live, laugh and love. Those of us with T1 need pumps or shots to wake up each day. If only taking the insulin was the end of it. We also have to be conscious of everything we consume to ensure the insulin we take will convert it. When we under-dose, we end up hyperglycemic feeling horrible. When we overdose we are hypoglycemic feeling horrible. As a Diabetic I would say that I am lucky to feel anything other than horrible 50% of the time. I have felt tired, had headaches, or been nauseous most of my life.
In the last year I have learned that a friend’s 3 year old son was diagnosed T1, as well as another acquaintance’s 21 year old daughter met the same fate. This auto-immune disorder can present at different phases, clearly some of us might have a better ability to fight the trigger illness that is the catalyst to developing T1. As much as this saddens me, I am hopeful that some genius will isolate the stem cells that can survive the attack and we can all make some insulin again with stem cell plants. Then again, perhaps we are playing god, and I should keep being thankful that technology can keep me feeling okay 50% of the time with injections.
Life is not a bowl of cherries, but life with Diabetes has excessive pits.
I know so little about what you go through as a diabetic - thanks for sharing. For helping me to understand.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I missed this post! You did a great job explaining that!
ReplyDeleteHow do parents check to see where their kids are at? Jeez, especially a three year old. Omg. I think I would be a nervous wreck.
My poor mother likely had many ulcers, but her diligence preserved my health for sure. I think the hardest thing for a parent of a T1 is to accept that you are going to see the highs and lows and you can't BLAME URSELF!!!! Human bodies are not controlled, as a control freak living with this BITCH it is cumbersome to say the least. Deep breaths, take deep breaths...and test often...that is my mantra.
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