Having been a Type 1 Diabetic since the age of 10, there were many struggles and situations I had to deal with that typical, healthy children and adults didn’t understand. I can’t speak for everyone with Type 1 Diabetes, but the following are just a few things I want everyone to know.
1. Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes are different!
Obviously, if there are different ‘types’ of something then they must be different, but the amount of people who automatically assume that all types of Diabetes are the same is ridiculous. I don’t blame anyone for being uneducated on something that doesn’t affect them personally, that in itself would be ridiculous. However, I do take offense when people assume that it was my own personal life decisions about the food I put in my body that gave me this disease.
Type 1 Diabetes is a hereditary autoimmune disease that strikes without warning and shuts down the pancreas for no good reason. The pancreas is what produces insulin, and insulin is what processes the sugars in the body. Without insulin, you die. There is no way to prevent it and there is nothing that causes it. Certain diseases can cause the gene (you are born with) to awaken, but that’s it.
Type 2 Diabetes often accompanies people who are obese or overweight. Most, not all, cases, nine in 10 (hsph.harvard.edu) of Type 2 can be prevented with a healthy lifestyle (e.g. diet low in sugar, plenty of exercise, etc.).
2. There isn’t a cure
There isn’t a cure for Type 1 Diabetes, I wish there was one, but there isn’t. So I will always have to deal with the problems that arise when you have an autoimmune disorder. If I get sick, there is a good chance I could end up in the hospital. If I eat too much sugar, I’ll probably vomit. It’s just something I have to deal with.
3. Diabetes doesn’t make me disabled.
Don’t treat me any different because I’m diabetic. It doesn’t make me disabled, I can do everything a completely healthy person can do and while some people have the best intentions, I don’t appreciate being coddled.
My first experience with someone treating me like I wasn’t capable of doing everyday things happened in 5th grade during recess. I was waiting in line to play tetherball and a girl in line told everyone to “go easy on her because she has diabetes.” I’ll never forget that moment because I got incredibly angry and frustrated. After that, everyone assumed I was bad at anything that had to do with sports or athleticism. I was bad at sports because I have poor hand-eye coordination, not because of my disease.
4. It’s not weird
For the longest time, I thought that having Type 1 Diabetes made me weird and different. I knew other kids at my school that had the same disease but that didn’t matter, I still thought I was weird. It made being a teenager a little more difficult. I was already extremely self-conscious and having to give myself shots didn’t help my situation. After I graduated high school, I realized how stupid it was to feel that way about something I couldn’t control.
