Walk a Mile in Her Shoes

Those of you who know me know that I am an educator by trade and a teacher at heart… so what would be more natural for me then to educate myself and you about type 1 diabetes.  Now remember that it’s my young nieces who have this disease, so I decided to approach this from a kid’s perspective which is why the JDRF Kids Online site is the place to start.

For those who prefer the quick and dirty version – everybody eats to live and the food we eat gets broken down into sugar (glucose) and is transported to all parts of our bodies in our blood… diabetes is basically having too much or too little sugar in the blood.  

Normally our pancreas, a little organ near our stomach, controls how much sugar is in our blood, but in someone with diabetes the pancreas doesn’t work quite right.  The pancreas does this important job by making insulin.  In someone with type 1 diabetes their body doesn’t make enough (or really any) insulin.  This is why they have to get a shot of insulin each time they eat.

We don’t know for sure what causes type 1 diabetes – partly our genes, partly the environment.  We think viruses may be partly the cause and in both Charlotte and Kaelyn’s cases a specific GI, or stomach, virus is believed to have triggered their bodies’ immune system to attack their pancreas which led to their type 1 diabetes diagnosis.

Most diabetes (90 to 95 percent) is actually type 2 diabetes- also known as adult-onset diabetes.  This form of the disease is usually seen in people over age 35, people who are overweight or who are not physically active.  It is more common in certain races and in people with a family history of type 2 diabetes.  In type 2 the body usually still makes insulin but not enough or the body doesn’t use it properly.  Often these people do not require insulin for treatment.

Why do I point this out?  Because there is a stigma attached to diabetes… we think of it as a disease of lifestyle, but I hope you better understand now that is only true of some type 2 diabetes and not the case for type 1 diabetes.  

Charlotte and Kaelyn did nothing to bring on this condition.  There is nothing they could do to avert it.  Their bodies are completely dependent on an external source of insulin FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.

Well, that’s a start… more to follow.