Today I was heading to work like I do everyday however as I listened to the radio I listened to once again a news report that mistakenly reported that the doctors of the country were partitioning the government to think about giving diabetics and obese people access to free gym memberships because this would mean that it would be reversed and it would take a burden off the healthcare system because there would be less people with problems........ As you can imagine at that point my blood began to boil again I picked up the phone to try to speak to the team discussing this to try to put the context around the report and inform them to report the facts correctly.
The facts they don't know and don't see is the heartbreak of my 2 year old daughter begging not to do a 1, 2, 3 (this is what she knows is a set change or the needle she has to have to ensure her pump will continue to work and not get infections) she screams trying to run and hide. She tries to cover where the next shot will be. Even though I have been giving injections to myself for 23 years the act of giving a needle to a 2 year old little baby is something that I am never going to get used to. Having to draw blood from those tiny little fingers up to 18 to 20 times a day, making sure we rotate the testing spots to make sure we don't over use a particular finger is imperative to making sure her fingers stay strong.
My daughter and I were not overweight upon diagnosis and no matter the amount of exercise done could not stop us from contracting this disease. As written about before the major difference is that type 1 predominantly is diagnosed as a child and is a life long auto immune disease.
The general information given to a large population this morning is the exact reason why the majority of people think that T1D is something comes with fault and that it is on our own head to get rid of it. It is the reason why you get asked if you ate badly as a child or was over weight.
The ability to spread the word on the different types of diabetes is difficult to say the least. We have world diabetes day where I think, at least locally, a clear definition is made however we then take 2 steps backwards again with the generalisation. To have a separate name to truly represent the auto immune disease that we live with and will continue to live with long into the future would be a great result as it is way to easy to generalise and while the media have the opportunity to they will because it is easier.
Every T1 in the world, whether they are 2, 22 or 82, deserve to have the respect and understanding of the people who think it is their or their parents fault for having this. Maybe one day the powers to be will listen and make the change that so many of us are calling for. This would then help my little baby along with all the other children to grow up with understanding rather than misconceptions and ignorance.
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