A New Situation

I do not know everything. I have never been one of those people that have a problem saying that. I do have difficulties dealing with those people that think they do. It is hard for me to “break their hearts” when they are so sure of themselves. I am also so weak in these situations that I will begin to question my own education and wonder if I am incorrect in my thinking.

With that, here is the story.

I was in Chicago on business the end of last week and I met a gentleman who is on a pump. As soon as I found out I started asking him a million questions since I have my appointment with an Endo this Wednesday to hopefully get on a pump too. He told me that I should not hesitate. The pump is the best thing he has ever done to help him feel more normal and be in the best control he has ever had.

We shared our diagnosis stories and they were quite similar. I was diagnosed at 17 and he was 21. Both of us were not feeling right for several years before our doctors figured it out. It was so nice meeting someone who understands my situation and on top of that, he was very open to tell me all about his ups and downs over the years.

He told me that I was not a type 1, I have to be a type 2. I wanted him to explain this to me. He told me that all type 1’s are born with it and their islet cells are non existent. I told him that I was told that Type 1 is your body committing suicide on it’s own pancreas. He disagreed and said that all type 1’s never have insulin in their bodies. He said that Type 2’s have a pancreas that only works at “around 50%” and then it just stops which is why they can take pills for a while but will end up on Insulin eventually.

Huh?

I was sure that I was a Type 1. A doctor years ago did a blood test to make sure and she said “you are definitely a type 1.” So what was he talking about? I thought type 2 diabetes had to do with the body not utilizing the insulin they produced and that is why some type 2’s can control their diabetes with diet and exercise.

I had no idea how to respond. I was 100% sure he was incorrect but then my percentage started to fluctuate to a 96% sureness. But he was so sure about it and quick to tell me about all of the research and education he has had. He also made me feel bad for not knowing this information. As if, I was a horrible diabetic who didn’t care about my disease. It was very awkward and I immediately changed the subject and never talked about my diabetes with him again.

What a downer. I was really excited to meet somebody who was also a Type 1. Have any of you had a situation like this before? Am I correct in my understanding of 1’s and 2’s? How should I handle someone like this in the future?

Out of Town

I am heading off to Chicago tomorrow for training with one of the companies we work with. I have been told that they are partying people so I will have to retrain myself. I have already stocked up on extra strips, syringes, insulin, snacks, and Glucose Tabs. It's only for two days but you never know!

Anyhow, I will post again on Saturday. Have a good rest of the week all.

Happy Easter

I hope you all have a great Easter!

I included a picture of how the people in my office eat goodies. Apparently cutting them up into bite size pieces makes the calories magically disappear! The question is, how many pieces did they eat? LOL

FYI - I took this with my camera phone. Not to shabby!

I Finally Watched It!

I love my DVR. For those of you who do not know what that is, it is a Digital Video Recorder. Like TiVo but I am not that cool. We have digital cable at home and they offer a cable box with a DVR which pretty much does most of the things a TiVo does it just doesn’t have the cool hip name!

Well, last night I was scrolling through the shows I had recorded to see if I had missed anything cool since I had some time to kill before din din. I noticed that there was an episode of dLife listed from Sunday afternoon.

dLife is a show on CNBC each Sunday at 7PM Eastern time which is why I had never seen it since that is 4PM Pacific. We are usually running around on Sunday afternoon or attending some function of some sort. This weeks show was an all athletes special. Kendall Simmons (NFL & Type 2), Jason Johnson (MLB & Type 1) and Missy Foy (Olympic Marathon Runner & Type 1) all shared the way they have not let diabetes get in the way of their dreams and how they manage their disease daily and when they are participating in their sport.

A funny thing happened when I started watching the show. Right before the first commercial break, all 4 of the hosts and several audience members whipped out there machines and tested their blood sugar. At first I got very uncomfortable. I started laughing because it was so foreign to me. I am the only Type 1 I know so to see all these people start testing all at the same time, all in the same room, just freaked me out!

Then at the commercial break I saw a commercial for Lantus Insulin, a blood sugar machine, and other diabeticy goodness. It was so bizarre to me.

When they came back from the break was when they did a piece on each of the athletes and I found it very interesting and inspiring. I was starting to accept the fact that this is not so weird at all, it is actually quite cool! A show completely about Diabetes! That is awesome!

Then another weird moment occurred. They panned to the studio audience again and this time I saw a bunch of little kids sitting there, totally excited to see Kendal Simmons. They looked so star struck and were smiling from ear to ear. He talked about how he hopes he is an inspiration to kids with diabetes. And when I thought about all of those little kids with all of their dreams and how they have to struggle with all of the same stuff that I have to, I started to cry.

It was those half happy half sad tears that sting so bad. You are so touched by their enthusiasm and strength for even coming out to this taping and testing their blood right on camera but then you are so hurt to know that they have a disease that will be with them their entire lives.

Both my daughter and son were asking me about diabetes the other night in great depth. It was such a nice conversation and a great opportunity to teach them. But I could tell that both of them are scared or assume that they may get it one day. I told that they will be well prepared if it ever did happen since they live in a diabetic friendly house but not to dwell on it. If that is in the cards for them then we will cross that bridge together when we get to it.

They were both okay with that and understood that they already have a head start if or when they get the big D.

Again the half and half tears were produced, and stung.

A Lot of Steps

About 6 years my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. I thank God every day that I can say that my mother is a survivor of this awful challenge in her life. Ever year since she was diagnosed my mom, sisters, and my wife participate in the Revlon Run-Walk to fight women's cancers. Its always the day before Mother's Day and has become a great tradition. All of us guys watch all of the kids as the Gals in our lives walk for a cure.

What I have noticed is that I always get a little bitter each year when this day nears. No one in my family has ever thought about doing a Diabetes walk or at least has verbalized their interest to me. I feel so hurt as if I am just on my own and don't have the support of my family and friends but at the same time I feel guilty becuase what they are walking for is a GREAT cause!

I had a long conversation with a very good friend the other night and finally expressed this feeling. This friend by the way lost her mother to cancer several years back. She is so understanding and caring that I knew I was safe bringing this up. I told her that I felt like saying, "Mom HAD cancer, I HAVE diabetes!!!!" But I would never say that. I couldn't. Hell, I deleted that sentence twice before I finally moved on to type this one.

What she said to me made so much sense. She said, "You can't expect people to understand Diabetes. People see it as a manageble disease and if they don't have it then they don't think about it much. Cancer automatically puts everyone in "Oh My God!" mode and they instantly connect it to death."

This totally hit me....hard.

What have I done to educate my family? What have I done to show that I want to be a Diabetes Advocate? When have I ever truly shown any interest in my disease? When have I ever expressed my true feeling about this to my family? Never.

My family does not know how my life has changed recently. My new found Born Again attitude towards Diabetes and my desire and drive to get better, get managed, and get healthy.

So with that, I have created a team to join the American Walk for Diabetes in November. I know it's a while from now but I figure that gives me enough time to get a lot of sponsers and get the word out. I have already asked my wife, sisters, and my good friends and they are all interested. I feel so much better.

One of my sisters said, "Dude we have been waiting for you to tell us about something like this. Count me in!"

I am such a dork.