I was doing some thinking the other day on a discussion I heard. It wasn't about Diabetes but about a park in the neighborhood. Then for some who knows why reason, A question came to my mind. The question is in regards to Type 1 diabetes. so I am curious about this. I am asking this as a survey, because in my neighborhood, Friends, and people I know, I am the only one with Type 1 Diabetes. Many have type 2, but my question is in regard to type 1. And I am NOT looking for those known on websites, or Television.
So here is the question...
How many Type 1 Diabetics do you know in your neighborhood?
Remember the question is Type 1's. I just want to know because as I said in my area I know 0. (and I live near Disneyland) and as I said I want to know how many you know, not know of. Thank you, and I can't wait to see the answers.
In my small town I only know of me. But in my family there are six type 1 diabetics. And among my friends (in real life, not on the internet) I have two type 1 friends.
I have known a few, however, none of those people are in my life right now. As for family, I have one sibling with it (we both got it as adults) and I have one niece on my husband’s side who got it as a child.
Three of us siblings (out of 6) have/had T1. Plus one T2. All three of those are deceased so just me with it now. I do not know any friends or neighbors with it currently. One great niece has it, but in another state.
I only know 2 here in Phoenix - one is someone I went to college with and he was type 1 at the time, but I was not diagnosed until 10 years later (LADA). We actually reconnected when we found ourselves in the same city and I reached out to him for an endo recommendation. The other person is related to my bf and she isn't very proactive with taking control of her #'s, so I rarely ever discuss diabetes with her. That's why I'm oh-so-grateful to have access to TuDiabetes - I would never have learned half the things I now know from reading about others' experiences.
One neighbor that I 'know' of. We know about each other because we met at a D meet up in town and realized we were in the same zip code. There may be others but I don't know their medical conditions and business and no one knows mine either, except of course the neighbor I met at the D gig. I used to live near Disneyland but you would not have known I was Type1 unless you came to the diabetes group meeting at Chapman Medical ;)
In my area, I know about 5-6 other T1's. Three of them were other T1's who attended my high school (about 1,000 students, but my friend told me that the area we live in has a really high rate of T1 diabetes), and a handful who I met at a local JDRF event who are either currently attending my university or live within an hour's drive when classes aren't in session.
Over the years I've known around probably 10-15 Type 1s. But I've had diabetes for over 23 years so have had quite a while to meet people. I knew several growing up who still live in the same area, and I've known several through the local visually impaired community. Weirdly, three of the four teaching jobs I've had over the last 8 years or so have had another Type 1 on staff. This is not counting people I've worked with who have had kids with Type 1 (I've never met their kids) nor the people who I've met incidentally and have Type 1 but don't know well enough to really say I "know" them.
I live in Seattle, so aside from the people here I don't know any...though when I was in Baton Rouge, LA I knew 5 and growing up in a small LA town I knew 4.
Depends on how far we stretch the word 'neighborhood'... I have two 1st cousins, once removed, who are T1s - both lived in the neighborhood, but have moved. I also know a family in the area with two sons who are T1, and another with a son-in-law who is T1 who himself has a T1 son.
I think there are a few others, but I can't pinpoint them at the moment.
What can I say... I live in the Big City (well, Chicago).
I have some type 1 "acquaintances", I'm using that term very loosely, no close friends or people I know very well. I met some people at a jdrf meeting for type 1 adults but I haven't gone back to another yet, they're too far away most of the time and I can't be bothered to drive there, too much stress raises my bg. They were supposed to exchange our emails so we could communicate but they never did.
A nurse at a clinic I went to has type 1 and goes to one of the endos at my practice who also treated me in the hospital. One of my students has type 1, he happens to be the son of my cde- it's a small world. My neighbor has pre diabetes, she's in her 80's, her father had type 2 in his 70's and was on insulin- I can't remember if she is on anything currently. Another neighbor has a friend with type 1. I dated someone briefly who was type 1 years ago. A family friend has type 2 and her nephew has type 1, poorly controlled, and was just hospitalized with serious heart conditions and an amputation.
No one in my family has any type of diabetes as far as I know. I still feel like I really don't "know" anyone with diabetes as these aren't people I talk with that much for the most part. I'm sure there are more in my neighborhood who have diabetes but I don't know most of them and if they have D they haven't mentioned it. The ones I have interacted with know I have type 1 including one nice person who stored my insulin for me during Sandy.
A niece diagnosed in DKA as a toddler after a virus and two of my dad’s brothers. One diagnosed around 30 yrs old who was insulin dependant and brittle with many complications as he aged, the other more like me, diagnosed in his 50s with gradual onset.
When I used the word Neighborhood, I meant in a manner of people you socialize with around. Not a person you met once 367 years ago and don't talk to, or Joe who lives in Antarctica that you never talk to. (of course he would be interesting to talk to. hahaha)
