At precisely 2am this morning when all good boys and girls and responsible people (unless they are shift workers - in which case I salute you guys) are fast asleep, I was up eating honey sandwiches.
Before you jump to the conclusion that my slightly rotund appearance is nothing more than the side effects of a secret midnight (or post) midnight snacking fettish, let me assure you that at this time of the morning the LAST thing I want to be doing is eating! After a sensationally busy week at work last week including a 2 day conference, late nights of catching up on work emails and reading for university assignments, I was in fact having a horrific hypo!
"A hypo" you say... woo hoo party time at 2am why stop with the honey sandwiches, why not continue with donuts, lollies and chocolate? For damn good reasons that's why.
I, unfortunately, like an estimated other 87,000 people in Australia have a condition that has the potential to kill me on a daily basis. I need to be vigilant of what I eat, when I eat it and how much I eat or I could easily slip in to a coma and die... Sounds pretty dramatic hey?
Before you start making lists of what is mine that you would like to have when I fall of my perch, I'd like to reassure you that I have no intentions to do that any time soon. Instead, I simply make sure that I act responsibly, take my medication (to be read as subcutaneous injections up to 6 times a day or in my case a 'prosthetic device' that continuously infuses a life saving mixture) and remain constantly in touch with how my body is feeling.
Just in case you haven't already worked it out, I am diabetic.
I'm now seriously hoping that most of you wont jump to the conclusion and make the assumption that if simply lost weight or watched what I ate it would all disappear and my life would be 'normal' because I assure you that is not possible. If all I had to do was maintain a body fat ratio like Kate Moss and an athletic physique like Ussain Bolt, hell, I'd be there! Count me in, show me the runways, pass me the size 0 clothing and line me up on the starting block!
In case you glossed over the figure above, I am one of the approx. 87,000 people in Australia who is a TYPE 1 Diabetic. NOT a Type 2....
BIG DIFFERENCE, HUGE DIFFERENCE between the two.
To summarise said differences, I've included the table below which sums up the differences pretty well. (Table sourced from http://www.emedicinehealth.com/diabetes_differences_between_type_1_and_2-health/article_em.htm)
| Type 1 diabetes | Type 2 diabetes |
|---|---|
| Symptoms usually start in childhood or young adulthood. People often seek medical help because they are seriously ill from sudden symptoms of high blood sugar. | The person may not have symptoms before diagnosis. Usually the disease is discovered in adulthood, but an increasing number of children are being diagnosed with the disease. |
| Episodes of low blood sugar level (hypoglycemia) are common. | There are no episodes of low blood sugar level, unless the person is taking insulin or certain oral diabetes medicines. |
| It cannot be prevented. | It can be prevented or delayed with a healthy lifestyle, including maintaining a healthy weight, eating sensibly, and exercising regularly. |
| Insulin Infusion Pump |
Other than when I am in the shower, taking a very rare dip in a pool or the ocean, I am permanently connected to an Insulin Pump. Prior to starting on an Insulin Pump I used to give myself up to 6 injections a day in order to ensure that my body is able to break down the sugars (or more specifically carbohydrates) that I consume in food. Simple, you say, stop eating carbohydrates.... if only life was that easy! You would be astounded what food items contain carbohydrates that you are not even aware of or how your body has it's own built in methods of breaking down other stores (i.e. fat) to turn it in to glycagon or glucose should it require it.*
I guess my biggest bug bear about it all is society's OBSESSION with type 2 diabetes. Whilst I am certainly not trivialising this equally serious condition, I do however want to highlight how offended both myself and a number of other Type 1 friends become when people instantly assume that we are diabetic because we are overweight, were overweight or that we have a bad diet, do no exercise etc etc....
 |
| That's me in the pink. Do I look obese to you? |
MOST Type 1 diabetics are of an average build, eat extremely well and take exceptional care of themselves in order to prevent complications.
Even medical practitioners are not always diplomatic / sensitive / knowledgeable about the differences.
Us Type 1 Diabetics live with our condition 24 hours a day 7 days a week, we CANNOT take a break from it, we DO NOT like people interfering with our treatment plans (even some well intentioned medically qualified people) and most certainly do not appreciate people telling us that we must have eaten too much sugar or lollies as a child. (Check with my mum, dad & sisters if you want clarification on this one!! I was the last one in our house to want desert and 9 times out of 10 whilst the rest of the family indulged in Ice Cream, Pudding etc, I turned it down and I wasn't even diabetic then!)
If you want to know the best way NOT to upset or offend a type 1 diabetic, take the time to appreciate the differences between our condition and type 2.
*I am not a medical professional, I do not have formal scientific training in any area of diabetes whatsoever, so if my description above is not 110% correct, I apologise. It is still, however, how things have been explained to me and how I have been advised that even IF I were to lose consciousness during the night my body could still recover itself all things going well.
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