Today, I see Type 1 Diabetes as merely nothing. Why? Because I realized (with time) that it could have been something much, much worse. But I was lucky and was only diagnosed with Diabetes. Not only that, I see it as "nothing" because I have embraced it (to the best that I can) and learned to control my diabetes instead of it controlling me.
Unfortunately Juvenile Diabetes is not something uncommon. More and more children are diagnosed every year with this chronic condition. According to the statistics researched by the Public Health Agency in Canada, "Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases among children and youth. In 2008/09, the CCDSS reported 3,287 new cases of diagnosed diabetes (including both type 1 and type 2) among Canadians aged one to 19 years, bringing the total number of cases in children and youth to 25,693 (representing a prevalence rate of 0.3%)". That number is quite terrifying. However PHA Canada has also noticed that more and more children/youth are being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes.
Before I continue any further, I would like to explain the differences between the two:
1) Type 1 diabetes (which is what I was diagnosed with a decade ago), is when ones pancreas can no longer produce insulin-producing beta cells. What these insulin cells do is very simple, they help break down glucose for ones liver, skeletal muscles and fat tissue. Or as my nurse explained it to me, "your insulin beta cells work as little, mini pizza delivery boys and girls. They take the pizzas (carbohydrates/glucose), and bring them all around... delivering them to those who are hungry (liver, muscles, etc.)." With Type 1 diabetes, this means that the pancreas can no longer produce these insulin beta cells internally on its own and depends on external insulin to "deliver the pizzas". And no, this is not something that heals over time and can "go away".
2) Type 2 diabetes, unlike Type 1, is a more metabolic disorder that is almost always linked with high blood glucose (sugar). Type 2 diabetes is more commonly found and diagnosed with adults. When people think about Type 2 diabetes, some will automatically think of "obesity". But not all "obese" people are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, it can happen to anyone. The reason for which we are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes is because of poor lifestyle and eating habits. But unlike Type 1, it can "go away" if managed properly (through proper exercise and healthy eating). Some individuals may need the help of external insulin, but do not have to take their insulin through injection.
Historically, type 1 diabetes was generally thought to be the only cases found in and with children. But over the last two decades, there has been a significant increase in type 2 diagnoses. I'm not sure what's more worrisome, the fact that more children are being diagnosed with Diabetes in general, or the fact that Type 2 has been on the rise in the last twenty years of those diagnosed. As mentioned previously, one can be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes because of a horrible eating lifestyle. So, that means that the children of today and tomorrow may be doing a lot of unnecessary and unhealthy eating, with the possibility of very little exercise to compensate those eating habits.
If we are teaching our children poor eating habits at such a young age to the point that our own bodies cannot produce enough insulin to break down the glucose coursing through our blood... then I think that worries me a lot more.
There is a myth that goes around saying that "If you eat too much candy, you'll become diabetic". Well that's not entirely true. If you eat poorly and do little exercise, there is a higher chance that you'll develop Type 2 diabetes... but keep a healthy eating and exercise lifestyle, then you'll do your body a favour and keep diabetes at bay. What really "brings in" the diabetes is genetics. Does it run in the family? If yes, which type? But sometimes our genes work in a funny way where we realize that we're the first of our family tree to be diagnosed with a certain medical condition.
This was the case for me.
My grandmother (paternal) had type 2 diabetes, it was on and off as I remember... or it could very well be that she only checked once in a while instead of however often her doctor had suggested. Besides the point, she had type 2 diabetes. Yet, ten years ago I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes instead. And according to my parents, I'm the first. I never quite understood how this worked biologically, but according to my doctor, it could have been triggered from a sickness I was battling as a child. That sickness could have easily just been the flu. Regardless of how or when, something triggered that gene and now I live with this condition daily. Like I said before, I am lucky to only have type 1 diabetes *knocks on wood*.
Now. What are the symptoms that gave it away?
It can be a variety of symptoms, but the most common are the symptoms of hyperglycemia (when your sugar level is too high). Just to clarify, the average sugar level is between 4.0-7.0. Hyperglycemia is when the sugar level goes above 15.0. But what about between 7.0-14.9? We never want our levels to be past 9.0 really, but after 15.0, that's when we'll start to notice the symptoms a bit more.
However, if the sugar levels are not brought down, here are the symptoms that we can go through. We will start becoming a lot thirstier than normal, constantly asking for something to drink and feeling as if our thirst was never truly and fully quenched. We will start making more trips to the washroom as well (think about how much liquid we may have just taken in), we become extremely tired despite the fact that we may have had a lot of energy not half and hour before, and we will go through extreme dehydration. If untreated for a long time, we start to lose weight rapidly. The reason for this is because our bodies do not have their little delivery boys/girls breaking down the glucose in our blood, and like every living organism, our muscles need to eat. So if sugar is not being delivered to our cells, our cells start to attack at the stored body fat, resulting in the rapid weight loss. When there is too much sugar in our blood stream, and no method of breaking it down, our bodies develop something called "ketones", which is tested and found through a urine test.
My giveaway was the fact that I had lost 30lbs in less than a month. For me, at the time, I just figured that it was just some post-puberty stage. My parents did not see it the same way and brought me straight to my physician. He then told me that I had too many ketones in my system and rushed me off to the Children's Hospital.
My sugar level: 31.1
Conscious state of mind: extreme fatigue and dehydration
Concern of diabetic staff: high alert
Goal of said staff: to keep me awake at all times
Once the doctor had given me my first insulin shot, I could feel myself feeling much more awake and aware of my surroundings. The insulin was kicking in, and kicking in fast. It brought my glucose reading to about 7.0, which is where it should be.
Just to recap, symptoms for hyperglycemia: drowsiness, fatigue, dehydration, frequent urination, vomiting and in the more extreme cases, a diabetic coma.
How do we treat hyperglycemia? Through the proper dose of insulin.
Before I explain how to treat a diabetic coma, there is also another set of symptoms which we can go through, and these symptoms will let you know that we are going through hypoglycemia: it would appear as if we were anxious or nervous, trembling, cold and clammy sweat, dizziness/faint, tingling, nausea and sometimes extreme hunger. We may also go pale, but not as if we've seen a ghost kind of pale, but a more nausea pale. In a way, people may think that we were drunk, which is a very dangerous scenario to go through and/or experience.
Hypoglycemia is when the body does not have enough sugar in the system. The most extreme symptom would be to go into a coma or lead into seizures. And how do we treat hypoglycemia? By taking in sugar (either juice or candies - jelly beans, jujubes, etc. - will do)... but do not give a diabetic chocolate. Yes it would be considered sweet and a candy treat, but it does not work as efficiently as a glass of juice or jelly beans would. Don't worry, we often make that mistake too.
Now how does one react to a diabetic coma? A good question. Most diabetics would carry around something called a "Glucagon kit". This kit entails a syringe containing water and a little bottle with a white capsule (1mg). You need to inject the water into the bottle and roll the bottle in between your hands mixing the water and the pill together (it will dissolve into a grey-misty-like liquid). You need to make sure that we are on our side (so we don't choke on our own tongues), pull all of the liquid into the syringe and then inject it either under the skin or into a muscle (ie. the thigh). The glucagon will restore the blood sugar to normal in about 5-15 minutes... if we still haven't woken up... then I'd say to call an ambulance.
Now I know that not all of us carry our glucagon kits with us, if this is the case, you could take something like cake icing, or jam, and put it on the inside of our cheek. Once on the inside of our cheeks, you would need to massage it in. By massage I mean from the outer cheek. This dissolves the sugar into our system and we would (eventually) wake up (make sure we're still on our side).
I had mentioned earlier that it would be extremely dangerous if a diabetic were to be going through a hypoglycemic episode while out drinking with friends. Why? Because it would be hard to tell if we were actually drunk, or if it was symptoms saying, "hey, there's not enough sugar in your system!". Normally, what a diabetic would/should do before going out is to check their blood levels, and we would periodically do so throughout the night to be sure we're in the safe zone. If we're "low", we'll need juice, stat.
At the same time, we need to be careful with how much we're drinking too. Alcohol and beer work as juice does. It'll spike up our sugar levels really quickly, but also come back down just as fast. So if you're going out with friends and you know that there's a diabetic in that circle, be sure to keep an eye on them. If they've had a lot to drink, just ask if everything's okay and if they need anything for their sugar level. Most of the time we'll tell you if we're okay or not. But don't badger us either, we don't like having naggy-Nancy's around to tell us the same thing our parents do. We realize it's out of love, but sometimes... it's kind of annoying.
Just being honest :)
Wow, I wanted to talk about living with diabetes, but this post has become more than just that. To keep it simple, living with diabetes does have its disadvantages and advantages... but I think I'll keep that to my next post... it's almost 2:35am, and I'm beyond exhausted (no, it's not because I'm "high")... until the next post!
Happy holidays to you and your loved ones,
C. xo
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