Only within the past one hundred years would I have been able to survive the grips of type 1 diabetes. Before the scientific research on the pancreas and the creation of laboratory insulin, every person with this disease starved to death. Not from lack of calories or geographical isolation, but because one lone hormone was unable to manifest… starving the cells of type 1 diabetics from the inside out.
It is a fragile existence we live. Every day reliant on a drug manufacturer. Dependant on a syringe, pen needle, or cannula alike.
A bare existence on another continent or diminished opportunities here in America would not afford the chance to prosper. No amount of exercise, piles of pills, or dietary caution will ever reverse, or even pause, the mark of type 1 diabetes.
Research is flittering some hope on occasion. But for all of the advances that have been made in diabetes management, there is no cure at this time. Vigilance and hardnosed determination are the real factors that keep the future bright.
Glucometers, microfine needles, insulin pumps, and more, make daily life easier. But it is the forced and unforced will of the disease that prospers loudest. Dare to ignore a dangerous low blood sugar and the punishment is clear. Dare to gloss over screaming high blood sugars and your body will pay the penalty.
Type 1 diabetes sneaks up on its owners without proper cause. The infants, children, young adults, and adults who get rudely smacked by the untimely diagnosis did nothing to attract the disease. It landed heavily on their shoulders, and heavily on the concern of family members whose only recourse is daily awareness.
Learn what makes type 1 diabetes different. See how the treatment and lifestyle varies. Raise a voice for type 1 diabetes awareness. Dispel uneducated remarks on its cause and the do’s/dont’s of living with it. Embrace a type 1 diabetic and listen to their story. There could be more to their disease than you realize.
Then take what you learn and Raise Your Voice for Type 1 Diabetes!
