Isolation

With a world population being well above 7 billion people you would think it difficult to feel like your the only one around.  With the occurrence of Diabetes on the rise the majority still sit with the T2's. You can nearly throw a stone these days and hit someone that has T2 or knows someone with it.  This can't be said for T1's.

As I have mentioned before when diagnosed I was the only living member of my family with either T1 or T2. There was always and even still now a hole that no one knows what your going through with this disease. In the early days I would become introverted because I was different and I had no one I could relate to.

A year or so into my journey I was told that I was going on a diabetes camp. For the first time I was to meet people like me people that have to inject, prick their finger and have the same challenges to look forward to.  Upon getting to camp and settling in I realised just how regimented life with T1 was going to be.

I didn't realise or appreciate camp until a lot later on and in fact 20 years later when I jumped back in to be a volunteer and subsequently a camp leader for teenagers with T1. Those weeks away with other leaders and the kids really were weeks of normality. The people who were the odd ones out for a change were the non diabetics.

On one of the days we headed into town so that the kids could have an hour spare time. During that time a few leaders and I decided to get ourselves a milkshake. Now that seems pretty normal but where it becomes interesting and really normal for me was that my friend and I got the milkshake and we were both on a pump. We looked at each other and made the educated decision on the amount of carbohydrates each milkshake contained. I said 45gms and my friend said 55gms. We mutually agreed that we would meet in the middle and we entered 50gms. We went on with the afternoon and around an hour or so later when were sitting back at camp chatting and all of a sudden we both stood up and headed for the supply tent. On the way we both knew what each other was doing... Heading for the Hypo supplies. Looks like we over shot the estimate on the amount of carbs in the milkshakes. This may seem really minor and simple but what you need to understand is that I went 20 odd years with little to no contact with another T1.

I don't know who benefited from the camp more, the teenagers who are given the responsibility of managing their own diabetes with the knowledge that doctors and educators are close by for advice and help if needed or me who finally got to feel normal. It was about then I decided I wanted to help other T1's to not feel like they are alone and that there is support and help from people who have been doing this a long time and people who know exactly how you feel each and every day.

T1D can be a very lonely disease to live with because on the outside, unless we are wearing a pump visibly, everything looks fine it is the internal and the things we have to do to stay alive which makes the difference. Due to us all wanting to put life first and not be seen as different we try to hide as best we can the needles, tests and complications. We internalize the effort and celebrations for hitting a perfect number cause the standard person just wouldn't understand.

With the introduction of social media, blogs and online communities the gap between T1D's is getting smaller and hopefully the amount of people out there that feel alone is getting smaller. The isolation within a crowded room, I hope, is also lessening through education and the fact that we are hiding less and less. Or if we aren't then maybe we should. This disease needs you to be able to talk or relate to someone that knows what your going through and the means for that conversation is now here more than ever.