Has anyone every said this to you “you are such a typical type 1 patient”? I mean what does that even mean? I have been told this by several people over the years, honestly most of them in the medical profession. My doctors or their nurses, or even my co-workers. When I asked what that means, the reply is along the lines of “you just do what you want”. Now, that could make me upset and angry, but I chose to embrace that thought. It is true, I do in fact, do what I want. I read about diabetes. I research new drugs on the market. I look into the various devices available to aid me in wrangling this never-ending disease. I trial and error my way through everything I can to try to find a way to make my life easier. Don’t get me wrong, this is not so I can be lazy. I do this so I can try to live my life as normally as possible. Those who do not have diabetes, have no idea what it is like. Even parents of kids with Type 1, will never grasp the full impact this disease has on their children. They care so much for them and hurt for them, but nobody, without type 1 will ever truly understand how it feels to be “a diabetic”. The emotional toll and the daily stress can be burdensome to say the least
I am sure you have all heard comments like, oh wow, I could never do that. I would not be able to poke my finger or take a shot. Well, guess what people, we don’t do it for fun. It is not our choice. It is called do it or we die. There really is no alternative accept death. And as they are learning more and more each day, Type 1 diabetes is not simply an absence of insulin as they once thought it was. There are so many new and varying components to this dieases. And guess what, we are all different (shocking right?) No two patients will ever be the same because no 2 people are ever the same. Our bodies work differently. Simply having type 1 diabetes does not make us all little clones of one another who need the exact same things. What works for me will probably not work for you. Parts of my treatment plan very well may but the entire thing, no way.
I used to think diabetes was a curse. I was mad at God for a long time. I followed the typical “why me” mantra we all seem to go towards when faced with adversity. But over the years, as I have grown and learned, and trialed and errored my way through 33 years of type 1 diabetes, I have found a peace, and now I feel like this is actually a blessing. Yes it sucks some days, but the bottom line is, I am proud of who I am and a large part of me is my diabetes. It has played a large part in shaping my life. We are all blessed by the new technology that has come about. It makes life easier, but it is not a cure. I challenge each and every one of you out there to “do your own thing”. You trial and error your way through til you find what works for you. I challenge you to find a way to embrace your diabetes and be thankful for it, celebrate your membership in this amazing community!