Undiagnosed Type 1 Diabetes Kills - please share

Up to 5 Children and teenagers are diagnosed every week with type 1 diabetes in Ireland, according to Diabetes Ireland.

In 2014, 1 in 6 children diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes were admitted to hospital with a potentially life-threatening condition called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) which can occur if a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis is delayed.

The purpose of Diabetes Ireland's Type 1 Diabetes Awareness Campaign is two-fold.

The first is to encourage GPs to consider Type 1 diabetes first, as a potential diagnosis when a child presents feeling generally unwell by performing a simple finger prick glucose test to lead to prompt diagnosis.

A delay in diagnosis usually means repeated visits to the GP and can result in diabetes ketoacidosis (DKA) which is potentially fatal.

And secondly, to raise awareness among the general population of Type 1 Diabetes signs and symptoms (The 4T's; Toilet, Thirsty, Tired and Thinner) which can attack completely at random.

I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was 20 years old, I have no family history and my lifestyle was quite healthy. I cycled to college and I ate relatively healthy for a student with no money.  *** A healthy lifestyle or not having a family history of diabetes does not protect you from Type 1 Diabetes. Sometimes, there is no rhyme or reason.

 

 The following are just a few of the tragic stories that have made news headlines;

• - 2015, Nevada teen
• - 2015 Kycie Terry in Utah
• - 2013 in North Carolina, 14-month-old Reegan died as a result of her diabetes going undetected.
• - July 2012, 26 year old new mother died from undiagnosed type 1 diabetes in the UK
• - In 2012, a 17 year old girl in Scotland died from undiagnosed type 1 diabetes.

 You might be fooled into thinking that we are protected in Ireland and that these cases only happen in other countries.  But, seriously, how can we be different?

 

If this post has stirred something in you and you want to do something to create more awareness of Type 1 Diabetes, please share this post or share the facebook post from Diabetes Ireland's Facebook page to whatever social media platform you use.

 

Please share.

Just in case you're wondering; what is DKA?

" Diabetic ketoacidosis is a life-threatening problem that affects people with diabetes. It occurs when the body cannot use sugar (glucose) as a fuel source because there is no insulin or not enough insulin. Fat is used for fuel instead.

When fat breaks down, waste products called ketones build up in the body." Find out more here and there is more information on Diabetic Ketoacidosis Explained at DiaTribe

 

What Good is an Insulin Pump?

Before I state one of the benefits that an insulin pump provides me with, I would like to point out that I believe that they are not for everybody. Off the top of my head, I can name three people who have public profiles who do not use insulin pumps and still do brilliantly with their diabetes management.

Good diabetes management is possible while using multiple daily injections. An insulin pump won't magically fix most of your problems with your diabetes - they are a lot of work. So if you are interested in moving to a pump, do your homework and find out exactly how you might benefit, google them, read book on them, talk to one of the representatives from the 2-3 companies who provide pumps in Ireland, talk to other people who have used them, and talk to people who tried them and it didn't work.

Now for my story....

I met two people recently that I've known for a while, but I didn't know they have connections to type 1 diabetes. One person is a PwD and one is married to a PwD.As always, the fact that I have an insulin pump comes up in conversation. And, as always, they ask "how I find the pump?" (that's an Irish person's equivalent of "Tell me exactly how you benefit from having it").

They don't really know what an insulin pump is or how it works. This doesn't surprise me because unless you are very interested in getting one you really don't do the research into it and in most of our diabetes clinics it's not really explained. (No need to promote what long waiting lists and lack of resources prevent you from providing).

Both people made the exact same comment of "but you still have to do the finger prick tests"! I wasn't expecting this comment so my response was insufficient. I had said something to the effect of "Well, yeah but I don't have to be messing around with two different types of insulin."

COMPLETELY, forgetting one of the best advantages of an insulin pump!

And I'm so kicking myself that I didn't think of this at the time but the point is you don't have to stab yourself with a needle 5-6 times per day, you only have to stab yourself once every three days. How could I forget that?

Next time I'll be ready! I hope.

If you are looking for a bit more information on the differences between an Insulin Pump and Multiple Daily Injections, here's some information from http://blog.diabetv.com/differences-insulin-pump-injection/

You Never Know Where People with Diabetes will Pop Out From

You never know where one of our comrade in arms will pop out from. We are everywhere! You may not think it but we are. My neighbour across the road from me who I've know for at least 5 years, only told me at Christmas that he has type 1 diabetes!  And here's another one for you.

I have no qualms about saying that as an Irish housewife I love going through the Aldi Supermarket weekly ad magazine. Always looking for a bargain, I am. Or a nice surprise. Just in case you are not familiar with Aldi, they don’t just do groceries, they also do “nice” things.

And so there's that very bright smile jumping off the page at me. Yeah, the kid’s cute too. But I’m taking about Stacey Moloney, fellow person with type 1 diabetes.

I came across Stacey last year during the Irish Blog Awards. Stacey’s blog, Your Mindful Guide was one of the finalists in the Best Health & Wellness Blog category. She very generously allowed me to write a guest post on her blog to promote the Thriveabetes conference in 2015.

She attended Thriveabetes 2015 and we got to meet face to face, ever so briefly. And she wrote about her experience at it. See it here.

Stacey has lived with type 1 diabetes since she was 9 years old and was hospitalised for two weeks when she was diagnosed. She is now in her twenties and let me tell you she is living every minute of it. Diabetes is NOT holding her back.

The aim of her blog; Your Mindful Guide is to spread positivity, change the 'tree hugger' stigma attached to recycling and make it accessible, fun and trendy. Are you ready start your journey to becoming healthier in every sense of the word, mind, body, and soul?? Then you share the same passion as me. This is my life – to inspire and encourage you to live your life the best way possible and learn how to become more mindful.

As well as being owner of her own website and blog she is a marketing executive at WEEE Ireland, a non profit private company that promotes recycling electrical appliances, equipment and batteries, which is why there is such a nice photo of her in the Aldi catalog. Aldi Ireland are the WEEE Ireland Retail Battery Collector of the year 2015.

You really do not know where you will meet fellow people with diabetes but if you talk about your diabetes you might meet a friend.

Welcome to Blood Sugar Trampoline

A combination of my personal blog about living with type 1 diabetes in Ireland and sharing information I collect along the way. I feel that living with type 1 diabetes is sometimes like being on a trampoline, except you can never get off. It doesn't take long for us to get tired of all that bouncing. It's not any fun.

Here, we can bounce together, keep each other steady, and cheer each other on when we get tired and want to get off the trampoline.

Starter Kit; A Guide for Adults with Type 1 Diabetes

Starter Kit; A Guide for Adults with Type 1 Diabetes.

This is a little project I had been working on since 2010 and I'm thrilled to announce that it's finally HERE! I came across the Starter Kit on an Australian website and thought it was a very valuable and informative document. I showed it to a few of my friends with type 1 who agreed. At this point I realised that there was a lack of educational booklets for people with type 1 diabetes living in Ireland. So I approached Diabetes Ireland, the only organisation for people with diabetes in Ireland and they encouraged me to undertake the project as they have limited resources.

 

I believed that the book would make a big difference to supporting people with type 1 diabetes and I delved in.

 

I, with the help of many Irish health professionals, especially Dr. Anna Clarke, Diabetes Ireland adapted this book from its original format, which was written by the Type 1 Diabetes Network; a group of young adults with type 1 diabetes in Australia. We sincerely thank them for giving their permission to adapt it for Ireland.

 

The Starter Kit is for newly diagnosed adults and contains lots of useful information on how to adjust to life as a person with diabetes, such as a “checklist of stuff to do within the first month after diagnosis” and “10 things we wish someone told us the day we were diagnosed”.

 

Established adults with type 1 diabetes and adolescents who have recently transitioned into the adult world of diabetes will find the Starter Kit useful too.  It includes information about where to find peer support, recommendations for books and websites, and links to all public resources available to a person with diabetes.

 

Everybody will appreciate the Cheat Sheet: this is a two-sided page of information aimed at those without type 1 diabetes.  It is there for you to copy and share with your family and friends and can help you get on with living your life rather than feeling compelled to be the “font of all diabetes knowledge.”

 

I hope that this book will help guide you on the right path to managing your diabetes successfully and open a world of support to you.

 

The Starter Kit is available to download from Diabetes Ireland’s website, however, you can get yourself a hard copy of this book also by contacting them on LoCall 1850 909 909 or by emailing your request to info@diabetes.ie

Diabetes and Pregnancy

This season of RTE’s OperationTransformation  has been focusing on type 2 diabetes in a big way. This is my first time to watch Operation Transformation and I find it a very interesting programme though not why you would think.

I was extremely interested in the piece about how unfit our school aged teenagers are, especially the girls. That was eye opening but when I thought about it not surprising.

However, it’s the feature on Petrice, which aired on Wednesday, 8th February, that inspired be to write this blog entry. Petrice was overweight and always figured that when she decided to start a family she would get in shape first. However, the best laid plans….. And got pregnant un-expectantly. During her pregnancy she developed gestational diabetes.

I have type 1 diabetes and had it before I started my family. My diabetes played a huge factor in deciding if I was going to have a family and really made me focus on what I had to do to prepare my body for developing a healthy baby. I had 10 years to learn as much as I could about diabetes before I started my family – imagine finding out all the scary things about diabetes and pregnancy after the fact! I felt for Petrice and how she was trying to cope with having diabetes and then think about how it was affecting her baby.

I started to think back to how I felt during both of my pregnancies. My first pregnancy went smoothly and resulted in a healthy baby (TG). It was really hard work; constant testing of blood sugars, lots of doctor’s appointments, faxing in by blood glucose diary weekly, accounting for every morsel of carbohydrate, feeding lows all the time and living in fear of the highs.

My second pregnancy happened just after our transatlantic move and my body was stressed, I was a little overweight and I had a two year old to take care of. I still put in all of the work and thankfully the result was another healthy (if not very large) baby (TG again).

Each time I was pregnant I had the same anxiety but tried to push it to the back of my mind and focus on nurturing a healthy baby. It’s amazing how this growing life makes you take better care of yourself and work twice as hard at managing your diabetes well without grumbling.

It’s like competing in a long distance race; you just want to get over the finish line. Your first question in the delivery room is not “Is it a boy or a girl?” but “Is everything where it should be and does s/he look healthy?”

Diabetes never lets you take a healthy baby for granted.