Jay Cutler. Bret Michaels. Nick Jonas. Ann Rice. Mary Tyler Moore. Halle Berry.
Know what they have in common?
You would if you lived in my house, because, like my youngest son, they all have Type 1 diabetes.
It is Diabetes Awareness Month, a time to increase awareness about a serious disease that can lead to potentially life-threatening complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, amputation and death. While many people with Type 2 diabetes can prevent or delay developing the disease by eating a healthy diet, exercising and maintaining a healthy weight, there are no known measures to prevent Type 1 diabetes.
T1D is an autoimmune disease in which the insulin producing cells in your pancreas are destroyed by your immune system. No amount of sugar in your diet – or anything in your lifestyle – has caused or can cause you to get T1D. Without insulin, people with Type 1 diabetes suffer a condition called Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). If left untreated, they quickly die.
Diabetes is far too often written off as “something that you get when you eat too much sugar as a kid.” My son was diagnosed at age 12, and friends commented that he didn’t “look” diabetic.
As much as those comments irritated me, they just came from a lack of education. Most people I talk to and even those closest to me are often completely unaware of the intricacies of T1D.
Diabetes isn’t just counting carbs and injecting insulin. It is everything behind closed doors that you don’t see. It’s the real life behind the Instagram picture. It’s the hundreds of thoughts and decisions each day in order to make sure his blood glucose levels remain steady and under control.
It’s the anxiety and embarrassment of injecting in public for the first time. It’s missing final exams because he is in intensive care with DKA. It’s the sleepless nights, the missed opportunities and the frustration when he just can’t seem to get it right.
It’s wondering if his glucose levels are high because he’s miscalculated carbs, because his insulin is losing potency, because he’s stressed, or because he’s fighting off a virus … just a few things that can affect blood sugar. It’s all that and more.
Diabetes Awareness Month only lasts 30 days every year, but managing T1D is 365 days, 24/7. I tip my hat to anyone dealing with this disease. I’ve watched my son struggle, succeed and struggle some more. This is not for sissies, and both folks with T1D and parents raising T1D children deserve our respect and admiration.
Diabetes Awareness Month ultimately isn’t for people like my son. He has the condition; he’s lived with it for over 10 years and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
This month is about improving understanding within the wider community and starting conversations in order to answer questions. Do you understand what diabetes is? Do you know the difference between T1D and T2D? And, most importantly, would you be able to spot the early symptoms of diabetes? And if not, why not? Here’s your chance.
For more information on T1D and ways to help, please call the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi at (601) 957-7878, visit msdiabetes.org, or find them on Facebook and Instagram.
Christina Pierce is the publisher of The Pine Belt News and Signature Magazine.
