Life with diabetes

Life with diabetes can be really hard and challenging at times, it can sometimes feel like diabetes is a obstacle that keeps getting in the way of your day to day life which can be really annoying. You can have a day of really good levels and then the next your levels can be really high and you have no idea why. It can sometimes feel like its never ending.

Lots people get confused about what type one diabetes is. So what is type one diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes develops when the insulin-producing cells in the body have been destroyed and the body is unable to produce any insulin.

So what was life like before I was diagnosed with type one diabetes?

 I didn't have to prick my finger 5-8 times a day
 I didn't have to check my levels 5-8 Times a day
 I didn't have to change my line to your pump every 3 days
 I didn't have to stick needle in myself everyday
 I didn't have to work out the carbs in everything I ate
 I didn't have to worry about my levels
 I didn't have to take insulin everyday
 I didn't have to get my levels between 4-8
 I didn't have to correct high levels
 I didn't have to correct low levels
 I didn't have to give myself insulin every time I ate
 I didn't have to check I have enough insulin
 I didn't have to make sure I have enough test strips
 I didn't have to always have my bloodcount on my
 I didn't have  to go to hospital apt every 3 months
 I didn't have to have a hba1c every 3 months
 I didn't have to order supplies 
 I didn't have to know the symptoms of low blood sugar,
 I didn't have to know the symptoms of high blood sugar,
 I didn't have to wear medic alert bracelets
 I didn't have to worry about DKA
 I didn't have to have sore fingers from finger pricks
 I didn't have to have sore arms, stomach or legs from your line 
 I didn't have to change your own line
 I didn't have to tuck in pump-tubing for fear of it being ripped out
 I didn't have to have a pump attached to you 24/7
 
As you can see I have to do a lot more things now than I did before I had  type one diabetes but it doesn't change who I am. I am still the same person I would have been if I didn't have Type One diabetes, diabetes is only a small part of me.

I know this post isn't like my normal posts but I just wanted to show other people what it is like to live with diabetes and because its diabetes month, I thought I would write a post that would spread awareness of diabetes  

World Diabetes Day

World Diabetes Day is held on November 14 each year. The aim of the day is to increase peoples awareness of diabetes and to help raise money to use on research for diabetes. The money people raise could help find a cure for diabetes. Research has help people to develop their knowledge of diabetes and they have been able to invent things like insulin pumps. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could find a cure for diabetes?

At school loads of people know I that I have diabetes  but they have no idea what diabetes is or what I have to go through everyday. Some people ask me what my pump is when I am getting changed for PE, I also get people say that my pump is a phone too. It can be really hard to explain to people what diabetes is and what your pump is because most of the time they don't understand or they don't want to listen to you explain it to them. Some times it can make you feel upset and down when people say diabetes is easy to coup with everyday, the truth is they have no idea what we have to go through. It can also be upsetting when you have a day off school because you are unwell because of your levels or ketones and then when you go to school the next day they say you were skiving off school when actually you were really unwell. If we made people more aware of diabetes some of these things wouldn't happen. Also people would be able to help other people with diabetes more if they new more about it.

So what can you do to make people more aware of diabetes and raise money? You could do a sponsored run or walk, you could hand out leaflets about diabetes, you could do a cake sale, you could have a typeonese day at school, there are so many ways you could raise awareness and money for diabetes.

Please do whatever you can to raise money and make people more aware of diabetes. If everyone works together we can make a massive difference.