Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone, I hope you have all had a great day and that you got the Easter egg you wanted.

Today I have seen quiet a lot of posted on Facebook saying stuff like don't eat to much chocolate Easter eggs or you will ended up with diabetes. The truth is you can't get diabetes from eating too much chocolate. Some people think that people who have diabetes have to have special sugar free Easter eggs or that they can't have any Easter eggs. You can special sugar free chocolate that people think is better for people who have diabetes but it sometimes actually has more carbs in then a normal chocolate Easter egg so it mean they wouldn't be able to eat as much as a normal Easter egg so you would probably be better just buying a normal Easter egg. It is really annoying when people say you can't have a chocolate Easter egg because you are diabetic or Easter eggs cause diabetes if you eat too many because it isn't true, having diabetes doesn't stop you from eating chocolate, all we have to do is give ourselves enough insulin for the amount of chocolate we eat. It does mean our Easter chocolate probably does last longer then other people but it doesn't mean we can't have Easter eggs.

Hopefully this post will help explain to some people that just because someone has diabetes it doesn't mean they can't have Easter eggs and that diabetes isn't caused by eating too much chocolate.   

Meeting up

I have always said that I would love to meet other people my age who has diabetes. I talk quite a lot to people my age, younger and older then me who have diabetes on Facebook and on Facebook groups. Some people have helped me so much on there because they have made me realise that I am not alone and that there are loads of other people in the world who are going through the same things as I am. I have made so many friends on the group but one problem is that most of them live no where near me which means we won't be able to meet up in person and go somewhere for the day, we can only talk to each other over Facebook. Even though these people have helped me so much I still really wanted to meet up with someone my age who has diabetes that lives near me so that we could go on days out together, be able to met in person and get to know each other more.

I have been seeing a psychologist for quite a long time now and she has helped me so much. She has shown me that if I put my mind to something and really want to do it, I will be able to. She has also made me realise that I am so much more then diabetes and if I can try and get my levels in range it will make it easier in the future. Also since seeing have I have achieved so much and most people say it's like i am a different person. I am so much more confident and independent. Part of the reason why I started writing this blog was because I wanted to be more like my psychologist and help people by using my own experiences as she has helped me so much. I just wanted to say thank you so much to my psychologist because she has helped me so much and I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for her. 

My psychologist thought it would be a really good idea to start a group where teenagers who had diabetes. The point of the group was so that you could make friends with other people and so that we could all support everyone in the group so that if they were having a hard time they could talk to someone in the group and they would try and help them. The psychologist wasn't really sure what the group should be like and what people would want to do at the group so she decided that she needed some ideas for people who would come to the group so she invited me and two other people to meet her and discuss what we wanted the group to be like. After we met up she set a date for the first met up for the group. To be honest I was a bit nervous about going as there were going to be a lot more people and at first we wouldn't know any of them. 

On Tuesday it was the day when we were all meeting up as a group. When I first got there we sat in a room with all of the teenagers and there parents and then all the teenagers went in to the room next door so that we could do some activities to help us get to know people more while the parents could talk to other parents and get to know them more and also help them if they had any questions. The first activity that the teenagers did was introducing yourself to the rest of the group. We had to say our name and one thing we had done in the Easter holidays. After that we all got given a piece of paper, a pencil and a balloon. We got told to write one thing we would bring to the group or something we liked doing, then we had to fold up the paper and put it inside the balloon, once we had done that we had to blow the balloon up and put the paper on it and tie it. The point of the game was at the end of the group we would pop a balloon and see what it said on the piece of paper and then we would guess who wrote it. I had no idea what to write on the piece of paper though so I ended up sitting there for ages trying to think of something and then my psychologist told me to go and talk to her and she said to me to write that I blog on the piece of paper. I didn't really want everyone knowing I had a blog because then they would want to read it but I ended up putting it on the piece of paper. Next we got told that there were lots of different activities around the room that we could go and do or we could try and come up with a logo and a name for a group. So me and one of the girls say down and tried to come up with a logo and a name. It was nice because while we were doing it we were talking to each other and got to know each other more. At the end of the group we popped the balloons and it was quiet interesting and fun guess who wrote it as we found out a lot about people that we didn't know before. 

Overall I think the group was really good as you got to know people more and it was so nice knowing that you weren't alone and that there are people that live near you that are going through the same thing as you are. Also I met some really nice people while I was at the group and I really can't wait to meet up again. 

If you ever have a chance to go to a group where you will meet other people with diabetes, I would defiantly suggest going.

Summer

The weather has started to getting warmer and people are starting to go swimming more and wearing skirts and shorts. This might seem like a really random thing to talk about but I know I get really self conscious about going swimming and wearing shorts because of my line to my pump. I don't like it being on show to people because I worry about people making fun of me or asking loads of questions about it. I like it when I go out and I can be round people without them asking about my diabetes or worrying about me, also it can be quiet nice being able to go out and people not knowing you have diabetes. Some people might not mind if people can see their pump or line to there pump but I know there are some people out there who are really worried and self conscious about it.

The last time I went swimming on holiday was in America in 2012. At that time I had my line to my pump in my bottom as that was where I got told to put it when I first started on the pump. I kept it there as I don't like changing things (I have no idea why), the thought of changing where my line was scared me. I also couldn't change my line myself either because I have a phobia of needles and I was really scared about changing it myself just encase I did it wrong or it hurt more. The thought of pressing the buttons on the inserter to pump the line in me really scared me, I thought I would never be able to change my line by myself (I have near told anyone that before as I know it probably sounds silly but its true) Anyway as I had my line in my bottom it near really got in the way, when I went swimming or had shorts and skirts on, no one could see my line which made me feel a lot happier wearing shorts and going swimming.

However this year I am going on holiday to Portugal. I can now change my line myself and I always do it in my leg as I find that the easiest place to put my line. However I totally forgot that my line would be on show to people when I go swimming or wear shorts until I went swimming at the local swimming pool this week. I couple of day before I went swimming I did think about what people might say if they saw my line in my leg and what might happen. The thing was I really didn't like people seeing it but I didn't really have a choose if I wanted to go swimming. So I thought that if I may put my line in my stomach instead of my leg it would mean that no one would be able to see my line when I was wearing shorts or a swimming costume however on holiday I normally wear bikini's in the swimming pool which meant my line would still be on show which would make me feel self conscious about going swimming. The thing is I wanted to go swimming so I just had to try and get over my fear of my line being on show.

On Tuesday I went swimming in the local swimming pool, I was really nervous about getting in the pool at first so I made sure as I was walking to the pool I had my towel covering my line as I didn't want anyone else to see it and thing it weird that I am going swimming with it on my leg. Once I had walked over to the pool I put my towel on the seating around the edge of the swimming pool and I made sure my hand was coving my round so that no one saw it. There was a slight problem though because now I had to get into the pool by going down the steps, however I wasn't going to be able to do it one handed. So I had to take my hand away from my line and climb down the stairs (my line was on show to everyone), some people saw my line I think but they never asked me anything about it which was good. It made me feel a bit more confident about my line being on show now. However I did still cover my line with my towel as we were walking back to the changing rooms.

I know that it can make you really nervous having your line to your pump on show to other people however you will be able to do it as I was able to face my fear and go swimming with my line on show. It seems really hard to do at first but I know you will be able to do it because you are stronger then you think. At first I thought everyone was going to look at my line and ask questions about it however I was wrong, none of that happened and because of this I feel a bit happier having it on show. I do still worry about it  but I know it will be ok and get easier the more I have my line on show. Always remember you are stronger than you think!

Not your fault

It can be really annoying when people get confused between type one diabetes and type two diabetes or just refer things as diabetes. It might not seem like it matters to other people but it can be really upsetting to people who have diabetes. They wouldn't like it if they had diabetes and got comments from people saying stuff like its your fault your diabetic because you ate too much sugar or you cant eat sweets because your diabetic...

Last week, I was in a French lesson and we were learning how to say what we eat and how often we eat it. The lesson starter was matching the French words to different parts in your diet, for example carbohydrates, dairy, meat, protein... The teacher gave us about 5 mins to finish the starter, I wasn't very good at it as I am rubbish at French. Then the teacher started going through the answers so that we had it in our books to use later in the lesson. After the teacher had finished going through the answers she started asking the class questions about what would happen if we ate too much or not enough of certain foods. She told the class that if you eat too much food with lots of fat in it would cause heart disease and high cholesterol which would lead to heart attaches and strokes. She then told the class that if you eat too much sugar and carbohydrates you would get diabetes.

The whole class looked at me after she said it. It made me feel really upset and annoyed because now the whole class (apart from my close friends) thought I got diabetes because I eat too much sugar and carbohydrates. They were all going to think that it was my fault that I got diabetes and that I caused it because I didn't look after myself. I really didn't want to go to school the next day as I was scared of what people might say to me.The thing I didn't get diabetes because I ate too much sugar and carbohydrates, I got diabetes because pancreas doesn't produce insulin anymore so I have to check my level and give myself insulin every time I eat.

I know it can be really annoying when people get confused with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. I have had so many people think that I got diabetes because I eat too much sugar, didn't eat a balanced diet and other things like that. Some people think it is my fault that I have diabetes because of something I did or didn't do. The truth is it isn't anyone fault that they have diabetes. Always remember you are stronger than you think!