I am doing a slide show presentation on type 1 diabetes for one of my college classes. Basically the presentation is going to be how diabetes affects the different parts of the body. I am wanting to try to make the mental aspect as close to real as I can. So what I am asking if for people to let me know how they feel about diabetes, how it affects them, basically anything you want people that don’t have diabetes to realize how we deal with it day to day. I will keep everything anonymous in the presentation. And if anyone would like to see it after I am done I will be more than happy to share it with you.
TuDiabetes Administration has approved this project.
We look forward to seeing the finished presentation when you are done!
Oh and also I would love to be able to include anything that children have to say about diabetes. Whether it be the child themselves that has it or siblings that are affected by their siblings have it. I want people to realize it isn’t just about the person with diabetes. I would like to show how it affects families. So parents feel free to put your input as well.
Great project! I’m sure you will have some good input to build it with.
For me, the thing that comes to mind is planning. I must plan my life around the management of my D. What to eat and how much insulin to use, keeping in mind what my activity will be. How long to the next meal and what will it be. Will I be driving? How far, how long. If I am away from home for a long enough period (hours not days) what do I take just in case?If I want to sleep in on the weekend I need to get up around my normal time, take some Lantus and have some food. Then I can go back to bed for a while. There is no more auto pilot for my body. It is all manual controls now.
I was diagnosed with T1 in Jan 1984 so I am coming up on my 28 year diaversary. I have complications so I guess you could say that I have lost a lot to diabetes, but on the other hand, I have had friends and family lose their lives to diabetes so I would rather go thru what I do. I am someone that tries to find the humor in things. I use a walker because of neuropathy and when people see someone not 80 years old walking around with a walker, they do a double-take – maybe not how some women do it but I can turn heads! I have gastroparesis (which is a complication of diabetes) and there are a lot of foods that I can’t eat because they don’t digest well. I have a good excuse not to eat vegetables – they are dangerous for me. I went thru a 2 year battle to save my foot. I have also had eye problems.
Diabetes has affected every part of my body, literally but it has also made me a better person. I have learned compassion. I have met some wonderful people that I might not have met had it not been for the diabetes.
Most people do not realize that Diabetics do math in our head all the time. As a type 1 for 40 years, I constantly need to know how my body will react to the meal that is before me or the activity that I am doing or how just laying around will effect my BS.
I do an insulin to carb ratio calcuation everytime I eat something with carbahydrates, and I also take in to considerations as to how those differant foods will react in my system. I need to monitor my BS before a meal, after a meal, when I snack, when I am sick or stressed, and when I excercise or even when I have a very busy day.
Non-Diabetics should realize that I don’t say to myself, “oh, poor me, I have diabetes and I can’t have cake and candy”. A non diabetic should realize that the biggest challange is that we have to be in 'CONTROL" of our diabetes 24/7. We just can’t skip it for a day or two without having to deal with the consequenses.
So your presentations is going to be about, “How diabetes effects the different parts of my body” My body part will be my MIND. Diabetes does not always effect my body, but it effects my mind 24/7. Good Luck with your project.
I don’t do math in my head ever as I didn’t “discover” carb counting until after I got my pump and just use my pump. The last time I did math was when my pump blew up and I had to figure out .90x 24 but I used a calculator for that. And overshot it, just to be safe but I have generally always overshot just a bit to be safe? There are hazards on both sides of the mountain but for me, the hazards on the low side are more pleasantly dealt with than the ones on the high side.
Perhaps I’m in denial but I have always immersed myself in various hobbies, filthy college rock bands, during the 80, reading and gaining weight and getting married during the 90s and then exercising since 2006. All of them were workable with diabetes but maybe I haven’t done as well a I might have had I not had diabetes but, since I won’t ever know, it doesn’t really matter? It’s important for me to be able to put diabetes in it’s place.
I generally refuse to use the word “diabetic” except in the context of http://www.tudiabetes.org/group/diabeticswhorunmarathons, which someone else came up with.