Complications

A Long Way From Beating Diabetes

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I felt like the words “prevention,” complications” and “type 2” were thrown at me for much of yesterday’s diabetes themed World Health Day. The purpose of World Health Day was to raise awareness around diabetes, and promote good management. Yet I felt that much of what I saw on social media did little to achieve this.

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I was disappointed to see so much coverage focussed on diabetes complications, its cost and its impact on society. What World Health Day lacked for me, was that element of how we people with diabetes manage with this condition day to day. I didn’t see a lot that reflected the wonderful campaign posters that I praised yesterday. Those elements, in my eyes, are how we raise awareness. Those elements are how we make people better understand the day to day management of this condition, and motivate them to live healthier lifestyles.

One story which did achieve this, albeit with more of a type 1 focus, was a DOC connection Lydia Parkhurst from the UK. Check out her fantastic article here.

It was also encouraging to read this quote from Diabetes Australia CEO Greg Johnson, yet disappointing that the issue didn’t receive more attention at the same time.

“The epidemic continues to grow at alarming rates affecting all nations of the world [but] disadvantaged people and poorer people in our communities are much more affected by diabetes.”

The theme of World Health Day was “beat diabetes,” yet the sad reality is that people in developing countries are unable to do so. People in disadvantaged areas of the world are unable to access life saving insulin, blood glucose test strips and basic healthcare. In a country where I take all of these items for granted, we really need to be focussing our efforts on more equal access for others. I strongly urge you to check out T1International for some eye opening insights and join the Insulin 4 All campaign.

To quote some of my words from last November, I’m a bit sick of the media associating diabetes with all of those “lifestyle” factors. Yes, obesity is an issue. Yes, inactivity is an issue. Yes, they’re epidemics, along with diabetes. Yes, in some cases they can be prevented. And yes, we need to work to halt them.

And we can. Independently of each other.

Why can’t we promote healthy diets and active lifestyles, without bringing the words “causes diabetes” into the mix? Wouldn’t it lead to the same outcome? We’d be working towards haulting those epidemics, without stigmatising the people who are already living with chronic conditions.

People living with diabetes would feel motivated and empowered to manage their condition through a healthy lifestyle. And at the same time we’d be encouraging people at risk of developing these conditions to adopt healthier lifestyles.

The only difference?

People already living with diabetes wouldn’t be stigmatised. They wouldn’t have to hear demoralising messages that blame and shame them.

Truth be told, nobody chooses ANY type of diabetes. Except for the health care providers, researchers, advocates and donors who are trying to make sense of, and solve it. Each and every single day.

We have a long way to go in order to truly “beat” diabetes.

What’s the Point of Telling Me About Diabetes “Epidemics?”

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What’s the point of telling me that more people are getting diabetes? Do you want me to feel guilty for this? Do you want me to take the blame for this? Do you want me to go out and tell people to stop getting diabetes? Do you want me to jump in my time machine and stop diabetes from happening?

What’s the point of telling me that I’m going to live a life of suffering? Do you want me to lose motivation to get out of bed in the morning? Do you want me to stop looking after myself? Do you want me to give up on all of my hopes and dreams? Do you want me to stop living as normal a life as I can? Do you want me to stop trying to be healthy and happy?

What’s the point of telling me that I’m going to develop diabetes complications? Do you want me to be scared awake from a terrible nightmare? Do you want me to chant these negative affirmations over and over in the morning? Do you want me to be too scared to walk out of the house? Do you want me to be too scared to cross the street?

What’s the point of telling me that my diabetes is costing the government money? Do you want me to feel ashamed of the disease that I live with? Do you want me to feel sorry for the politician that can’t go on holiday next year? Do you want me to stop testing my blood sugar levels? Do you want me to stop taking the insulin that keeps me alive and breathing?

I already have diabetes. I already live with diabetes day in, day out. And that’s not going to change anytime soon. I certainly didn’t ask for diabetes. And I certainly didn’t do anything to deserve my diabetes.

But I’m stuck with diabetes for the rest of my life. And so are the millions of other people out there in the world, with ALL types of diabetes. And while these messages may benefit the rest of the non diabetic population of the world, they do absolutely nothing for the people who have to live and breathe with this miserable disease every single day of their lives.

There are human bodies, human thoughts, human faces and human feelings behind this disease. Why not empower them?

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One of those “top of the world” moments on the rooftop of Parliament House in July.

Getting My Twitch Checked

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For the last couple of weeks, I’ve had a bit of a twitch in the bottom corner of my right eye. Like a rapid, vibrating sensation that comes and goes. And every time that it happens, I have the sudden urge to rub my eyes to try and make it stop. And every time that it happens, it annoys the hell out of me.

I didn’t want to take it too seriously because I’ve been on holidays over the last two weeks. But everytime a bad reading came up, I would feel guilty. And everytime I ate more than I should have, those horrible thoughts of complications would plague me. Crazy theories would run through my head at night. What if the blood and oxygen was struggling to get through? What if, somehow, I’d damaged one of the blood vessels in my eyes?

Yesterday I said I want to make more of an effort with my diabetes. That I want to take things more seriously than I’m currently doing. And after writing that post, I made an appointment to see the optometrist during my lunch break today. It’s been well over a year since I last got my eyes checked, and this twitch seemed like the perfect opportunity to shoot two birds with one stone.

I felt so serious, and so unenthusiastic as I was called in and sat down in that chair. I almost felt like I was in a job interview, justifying my reasons for being there.

“I’m here for two reasons today. The first one is that I have type 1 diabetes, and I want to have the back of my eyes checked. The second one is that I have a bit of a twitch in the corner of this eye, and I wanted you to have a look at it.”

He dismissed the twitch straight away, telling me that heaps of people get it. It’s triggered by stress, and that getting a good night’s sleep and cutting back on stimulants will help. And considering that I’ve practically been living on coffee during my holiday, this made complete sense. I’ve still been craving those coffees I’ve been having on my holidays since I came home. My morning espresso at the corner downstairs. The cappuccino with my big breakfast. And my afternoon coffee and cake at my favourite pasticceria in Sydney, Via Del Corso.

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I think I’m getting a bit carried away…

The digital retinal scan of my eyes looked fine. He also told me that my eyesight hadn’t deteriorated over the last 12 months, which would have been a sign of badly managed blood sugar levels.

To be honest, I was a bit bothered that he didn’t seem to take my concerns as seriously as I did. He gave me the impression that I didn’t need to be there, considering that I’d had an eye check last year.

“I’d rather be safe than sorry. I’d rather be safe than sorry, because I hear all these horror stories about diabetes and complications…”

I didn’t feel like I’d finished my sentence, but I trailed off and couldn’t get anymore words out. Maybe he didn’t fully understand the seriousness of diabetes. Maybe he didn’t get what complications were. Maybe in his eyes, it was all for nothing.

But in my eyes, I’d dismissed a major concern on my mind. In my eyes, I’d taken things more seriously than I normally would have. And in my eyes, it was better to be sure. I was able to walk out of there today feeling a little less heavy, and that was well worth the effort.

And those good results are definitely a start towards doing more for my diabetes.