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.   

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!

 

No different

Having diabetes doesn't make you any different to anyone else. Even though we have to test our levels before we eat and when we don't feel well, inject or put information in your pump before you eat, have a pump attached to 24/7, go to hospital appointments every 3 months.... we are still the same as everyone else.

When I was 6 years old , in year one at primary school, I found it really hard and upsetting because some people at my primary school decided they didn't like me because I have diabetes. One day when I was in year 1 I was lining up outside with my class waiting for the teacher to let us inside. While I was waiting three people in my class came up to me and said "I don't want to be friends with you because you're diabetic" then they just walked off. I had no idea what to do, it wasn't my fault I was diabetic and now no wants to be my friend. They upset me so much. I didn't tell the teacher what they had said to me because she wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. When I got home I went to room and cried about what they had said to me, I wished I wasn't diabetic. I told my mum about what had happened and she wasn't happy, so she rang the school and told them what had happened. The next day at school my teacher spoke to the three people who said they didn't want to be friends with me. They came up to me and said they were really sorry. After that they were really nice to me and never said they didn't want to be friends with me again.

Ever since that happened at Primary school I don't  really tell anyone at school that I have diabetes, only the people that need to know at school know. All my teachers at collage know that I have diabetes just in case I start to feel unwell in class and need to check my levels or things like that and my friends know I have diabetes too because I test my levels a lot while I am round them and so that they can help me if I don't feel well because of my levels. At first I didn't really want anyone at collage to know I had diabetes because I didn't want them to treat me differently or not like me because of my diabetes.

I was thinking about doing a fundraising event to raise money for JDRF and I thought it would be a really fun thing to do. One of my friends at school said that it would be a great idea however it would mean everyone in the school would find out I had type one diabetes. I said to her that it wouldn't matter because most people in the school already know I am diabetic. When I got home I thought about what my friend had said to me and realised most of my year probably knows I have diabetes but the other people in the other years in collage probably don't know. It mad me worry a bit that what happened in primary school wound happen again but I really wanted to raise money for JDRF. So I talked to one of my friends who doesn't have diabetes and doesn't go to the collage about it. They said  to me 'You are no different to me at all, always remember that'  It made me feel so much better after what they said to me and made me realise that I am actually no different to anyone else.

Even though we have diabetes we are no different to everyone else and we shouldn't be treated differently. Diabetes is only one part of us, we are so much more then diabetes so don't let people treat you differently just because you are diabetic. Always remember you are stronger than you think!