People without diabetes (except for caregivers) can never really understand what it’s like to live with Type 1. It requires so much day-to-day management that it’s impossible to convey to people unless they shadowed someone for a day.
But I think some books give a good insight into what it’s like to live with Type 1. One of my favourite is Cheating Destiny. It gives a nice mix of an overview of diabetes and personal experience and I think would be fantastic for nondiabetics to read.
Do people have any other suggestions for books that give insight into day-to-day life and feelings of having Type 1 diabetes?
Great minds think alike! I have been searching high and low for something like this for family members. They think I “obsess” over diabetes- I need something that will help them understand this is not a choice!
I have found a book called “Wretched” http://www.amazon.com/Wretched-This-Sorry-Katherine-Marple/dp/1434885275/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1282411075&sr=1-2 I have not read it - but it gets good reviews- this is a novel so not a nuts and bolts discussion about Diabetes
Hey Jen- I just went out to amazon to check out Cheating Destiny- the little bit I can read there just talks about his young son- and all their worries about him. Is this book ONLY about TI Kids? Or does it eventually talk about T1 adults too? Will def buy if it does! Thanks again for the reccommendation!
I enjoy reading Tu member Richard157 's book and recommend . Richard living with diabetes for about 65 years
·Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Beating-Odds-Years-Diabetes-Health/dp/1450515…
Cheating Destiny , our coffee table book !
PS , still have 14 min. to edit …I clicked on the link and who knows , what went wrong …maybe connecting with Richard157 will work better ?
The book is about Type 1 (and somewhat Type 2) in both a larger healthcare sense as well as in day-to-day management. The author has Type 1 himself, and his son was diagnosed as he was in hte process of writing the book. Chapters alternate between talking about his experience as an adult with Type 1 (although he was diagnosed as a teenager, not an adult) and his experiences as a father of a young son with Type 1.
Cheating Destiny was a good book. The title describes exactly how I feel as a diabetic. We’re inundated with how-to books and cookbooks. Personal stories are scarce.
Hey there! Just read the title of your post so felt I had to click on it and read it. I’m the author of Sugar Free Me and the e-book Sugar Free Teens. I published Sugar Free Me at the age of 18 after living through the teen years with diabetes and learning that there is so much more to it than the physical. I share about what it’s like to live, really live, with diabetes and how to not only accept but to embrace it.My writing focuses more on the teen years because that is what I was experiencing at the time, but half of Sugar Free Me is directed towards the loved ones of diabetics as they go through the journey with us. I would love for you to check my books out at www.livetolovediabetes.com (or amazon, barnes and noble etc.)
I haven’t read Cheating Destiny but will check it out! 
Cheating Destiny is a great book for educating others. Very good read, as well. Love his stories about diabetics before and after the discovery of insulin and how diabetics prevailed during the seige of ShangHai. Caregivers need more education – something along the lines of “Type 1 Diabetes” by Ragnar Hanas and “Think Like a Pancreas” by Gary Scheiner. Pumping Insulin, on the other hand, may be too detailed and best left for the parents.
T1 Tam, I would suggest checking with your Library first. Save yourself some money. I read the book. It is not only about a parent finding that his child has Type 1. It is a great book that tells a the story about the history of diabetes. History of how people survived the disease. The book was written in early 2000… and many things have changed already. I enjoyed it. and I recommend it. Hirsh, the author also writes an artical in Dia Tribe.
I recently read Diabetes Rising. The author breaks down the theroys for the increase/ rising of incidents of diabetes. In our country and around the world. Lots of scientific analysis with a human comparison. Interesting.
I think the older Dr Bernstein books - say the ones from the 80’s or 90’s - give a pretty balanced view of life with T1, not just from the medical side but from the school/social/family/friends/work side. They’re a little dated on some of the medical topics but not so dated on the other topics.
The ADA and JDRF advocacy websites, and how they post some of the beauracratic and legal battles they’ve won for T1’s, are a great source of inspiration too.
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