Diabetes Alert Day

Today as we all know is March 23rd 2010. But what some may not know is that this number is also shared with national diabetes alert day. On this day I wanted to share some facts so that hopefully you will spread the word!

• Every 21 seconds someone is diagnosed with diabetes

• Of every 10 children, 6 will develop diabetes before the age of 18

• 7.8% of the population has diabetes just in the United States

• Diabetes has killed more people than breast cancer and AIDS combined

I hope that those four facts have inspired you to do something about diabetes.
~Gen

Thankful that I am diabetic - Brian

What's your name?
Brian

What lesson you want people to learn about diabetes?
I am an adult now and have been type 1 diabetic from age 11. I have learned to live with this disease for many years (over 35yrs). This disease is an awesome opportunity. For those with diabetes, we learn self-control in ways our non-diabetic friends can't understand. At first I thought it was not fair that everybody got anything they wanted to "eat or do" with no issues, but I could only do limited things. And would always have to take shots to survive, but family and friends didn't have to do that. I tried to sneak things I shouldn't have. I rebelled and did just opposite what I knew was right with the presumption I was probably going to die anyway. I finally questioned, "am I handicapped or invalid"? I would be if I continue- OR - I could be normal and embrace it.

Now I have learned to control the swings, and learned that I can schedule any food I want or eat (candy or cake) as long as I know how many carbs I am going to eat and account for it. We have to also look at total units used each day and average to be same always. Maybe I give up a meal for a salad or green beans if I had cake. I have also learned that when I get low blood sugar, I don't need to eat candy bars that get me way out of balance. A better solution is to take one glucose tablet for every 10 MG DL that I need. So if I am at 40mgdl, then I would take six glucose tablets wait half an hour and then test and rebalance. I can keep my levels always around 100 without any side effects. So far, after 35 years still nothing yet to hold me down. If I want a candy bar, read the total carbs on the wrapper and take the amount of insulin needed, and enjoy a candy bar - but eat less casserole.

Living with diabetes helps my self-esteem, because I know that with proper self-control and use of insulin, I can live a perfectly normal life. And nobody else knows as well how to do that - that is not diabetic. I can also maintain my weight better because I know how many units are used during the day, and if it was a little high, I can eat a little bit less the next day so I can maintain a healthy weight. Those without self-control and a reason to count carbs get fat. Went to a motivational speech by a quadriplegic that told me he was glad not to be diabetic, that he didn't have to give shots every day. He was glad to not use arm or legs. Well I look and act normal to others with minimal drain on their time.

I am thankful that I am diabetic. I would not want it any other way, given the choice now.

Martin's Story-Take care of yourself for your family

Fahina's Story

Fahina's story really inspired me, I never knew how much of a risk Tongan's had of getting diabetes. One of the things that I connected with is that you don't have to give up eating what you normally eat like ice cream or chocolate you just need to balance it with something healthy. Diabetes is all about balance, in a way you could say its like walking on a balance beam, if you lean too far to one side you start to stumble but if you are fast enough you can bring yourself back upright. The key is to balance your foods, and your exercise. Play video games, they are fun but you also should get outside and take a nice long walk with your family or friends, make a habit of it because your habits become your lifestyle and as we all know some habits are hard to break.

John's Story

John's story has inspired me to keep fighting diabetes. He has been effected by it for a much longer time than I have. Never once have I seen him stop fighting diabetes and that encourages me to do the same, and never stop fighting.

Press Conference at the Columbus Library

Today I spoke at a press conference promoting the opening of the new campaign The Faces Of Diabetes. This is what I told them:

Men and women, young and old, you and me. We are all affected by diabetes whether it is you, family, friend even your friend's family. I am here to tell you how my life is affected by diabetes.

It was a hot and sticky June evening, we had all just eaten dinner at my Nana and Papa’s house. My mom started to feel nauseated. My Nana had had diabetes for over 20 years so she checked my mom’s glucose, it was a lot higher than it should be. When we came home my mom scheduled an appointment with her doctor. When she got home from the doctors she had been diagnosed with diabetes.

Turns out she may have had diabetes up to 5 years before she was actually diagnosed. This was not much of a surprise because of her family history. After that day all of our lives changed.

We ate out less, used more vegetables in our cooking and got more exercise. I like playing Dance Dance revolution and you get exercise from that. When I found out about all the changes that had to be made I got scared. I didn’t know what diabetes really was at the time. All I knew was that people I knew had it.

In the same summer on July 26^th my Nana passed away from complications of diabetes.

Now I know that diabetes is a disease but I am a Scorpio and Scorpios hold grudges. I was mad that my Nana had died because of it so I wanted to do something to get revenge.

The next year when I was in 6^th grade I started my Girl Scout bronze award on diabetes awareness. I put up posters with interesting facts and “know your risk” fliers in local places. In doing this I not only educated the public, I educated my family and myself as well. I was then able to better understand what diabetes was and what my mom had to do to keep her diabetes under control. 2007 was the year I became involved with the American Diabetes Association (ADA). The event was Step Out for Diabetes, I ran t-shirts for walker check in.

I am committed to help fight diabetes and doing all that I can to prevent people from getting it.

It is 2009 and I am now 14. I am still a girl scout and I am working on my silver award. I have a blog that is used to collect stories. The theme is “What inspires you to fight diabetes?”

I have interviewed people with a camera at step out and I have had people submit stories to my website, Inspiredbydiabetes.blogspot.com.

I think by creating this blog people will see what others are going through.
These stories don’t have to come from someone with diabetes. It can come from a friend or family member that is close to them. People who have diabetes need to understand that they are not alone and that there is hope. Every day I try to be as healthy as I can and I encourage people to do the same.

Let’s fight diabetes together.

Talking to a camera was kinda scary but I know that i am getting the word out. I also got the American Diabetes Association Teaching Award for educating the public about diabetes. The interviewer asked me how I got involved and how diabetes affects me. I told her that it was because of my mom and my nana. Thanks for all the wonderful support!

~Gen

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