There are lots of people on social media doing their bit for diabetes awareness, and this is fantastic. However, raising awareness seems to be a big buzzword these days, but what does that really mean, and how do we raise awareness of something effectively? Should I do it by sharing a random image on my Facebook feed that doesn’t tell any of my friends anything at all? Or should I use my social media to share information?
In this post, I will provide a short summary of the information revealed from parliamentary question responses on how many people in Ireland use insulin pumps, what clinics provide them as a treatment option and how many new pump starts are done each year.
My diabetes diagnosis shattered my confidence in my ability to take care of myself, and my plan quickly became to just get through the rest of the term, move home for the summer to my previous summer job and figure the rest out over the summer. Adjusting to my new normal of living with diabetes began while I was still in hospital, or did it?
I realised last year that in all the blog posts I’d done these last 13 years, I have never shared my diagnosis story, so here it goes. My diabetes diagnosis is not unique; many of my friends with diabetes share similar experiences; however, some people end up very ill and may have spent time in intensive care units in hospitals. Thankfully this was not the case for me, but I did feel like I was dying.
The purpose of the document is to provide an estimate of the number of people who are using HSE-funded Flash and CGMs in Ireland and to prompt a discussion around access equality. I believe we need to talk about how fair it is that so many are approved for HSE funding and why some people are still being made to pay.
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| Nick Jonas |
Halle Berry & Nick Jonas have been used as Diabetes Role Models some many times that I’m kinda tired of it. I don’t mind Nick Jonas so much because he’s doing his bit as a public figure for Diabetes Advocacy but as an almost 40 year old woman I can’t relate to him. As for Halle Berry, well, ever since that whole debacle about how she weaned herself off insulin while pregnant, her credibility is in the toilet.
Yes, there are many, many more celebrities with Type 1 diabetes but these are the two that are most commonly used.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have people with Type 1 Diabetes closer to home to aspire too? I just want someone famous who is Irish and who is the complete opposite of what the public perception is of diabetes. An image I can show people who give me their pitiful face when they discover I have Diabetes that it’s not a life of pain and misery.
Are they hiding? Why would they hide? Should I be hiding too?
UK Spokespeople on Diabetes Awareness
I know - its fun run season and there’s a 10K organised in your area every single weekend from now until October. The sponsorship cards are being thrown at you from left, right and centre. And I know that I’m adding to that long list of charities that need & deserve your cash.
But I’m still asking and hoping that you will join me.
The Clare 10K takes place on Saturday, the 25th June in Lees Road Sports & Amenities Park. I am looking for volunteers to walk with me (or run ahead:-s) and raise money for the Clare branch of Diabetes Ireland.
Diabetes Ireland Clare branch tries to fund raise only a couple of times a year so as to not make lots of demands on your pocket.
Why does Diabetes need money?
• 440 Irish people will die every year because of Diabetes (from CSO 2006 census).
• 314 Irish legs will be amputated because of complications of Diabetes this year (from Diabetes Action podiatry campaign).
• Study after study shows that if people with diabetes are provided with structured education on how to manage their diabetes that it reduces their risks of developing the diabetes complications that lead to death.
• People with diabetes must deliver 95% of their own care, it is of paramount importance that they receive on-going, high-quality diabetes education that is tailored to their needs and delivered by skilled health professionals.
• People with diabetes need peer support because a life time is feels like an eternity to live with a chronic illness.
Where will your money go?
Diabetes Ireland Clare branch provides;
• Support groups for all people with diabetes so that the old and the newly diagnosed people with diabetes can lean on each other.
• Diabetes Information Event where a medical professional imparts their wisdom on how to make life better with diabetes.
• Support for Diabetes Ireland’s national programmes; Sweetpea kids Club, Teen Activity Day, Structured education courses for people with diabetes.
Or you can decide where you want your money to go by ticking one of these boxes on your sponsorship card;
- Diabetes Ireland Education & Support Services
- Type 1 Research
- Type 2 Research
- Sweetpea Kids Club
- National Teen Activity Day
What do we need from you?
We need people to volunteer to participate in the Clare 10K on Saturday, the 25th June 2011. All the race details are published on www.clare10k.com Sponsorship cards and t-shirts are available by contacting me on mobile 087 641 5747 or by emailing me at clarebranchdfi@gmail.com
If you are unable to volunteer you can sponsor someone who is. You can sponsor me through my fundraising page on http://www.mycharity.ie/event/grainne_flynns_clare10_2011/
Using your credit or laser card.
Every cent counts for us and we would hugely appreciate your support!
On the 2nd April 1993 I was diagnosed with diabetes. This year marks 18 years of living well with D. Coincidently, the 2nd April is my daughter’s birthday, so for the last seven years I don’t actually remember that I’ve clocked up another year until afterwards.
But I do remember most of those first days. I spent 10 days in hospital. I remember the confusion and the wonder and my complete and utter ignorance about what was happening to me and my inability to comprehend it all.
I was being told that I could live a normal healthy life so I figured I wouldn’t worry about it all.
But then I returned to the world to live my “normal healthy life” and it wasn’t as easy as it was before. I had hypos all over the place, and if it wasn’t low blood sugar it was high blood sugars. Back then I was on twice daily injections and having to eat meals and snacks at specific times during the day. It was hard and I was only just able to keep my head above water.
I didn’t think anyone out there could help me so I didn’t talk to anyone about my diabetes. People would ask “how is your diabetes?” and I would say “fine” and change the subject. I cried myself to sleep almost every night for a couple of months because I couldn’t figure out what I had done to cause this diabetes.
But I got over it and I turned it all around. I learned about my diabetes and I realised that I needed to take care of it and it would take care of me.
When I think of the many people who are being catapulted into the Diabetes Community these days I feel those early days again and I do everything I can to let them know that they are not alone.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a 12 step plan that tells newly diagnosed people with diabetes what they need to do next after diagnosis. However, I did come across something in a borrowed copy of Outsmart Diabetes, Rodale Publications. The section was titled “Taking on Diabetes”.
And here is the outline:
Get Confirmation of whether you have it or not.
Go to the doctor or healthcare professional and ask to be tested for diabetes. If the test is positive, make sure you have your blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol checked also and a foot and eye examination.
Take time to fully digest what you have been told.
If you are diagnosed with diabetes, take the time to fully absorb what you are being told. Don’t make assumptions or hasty decisions. The only way you will take control of your situation is with a clear head.
Find out the facts for yourself.
Look to the internet, your local library or contact one of the many organizations for more information. In this case it’s true that knowledge really is power.
Work out how those facts apply to you.
Once you’ve gained a good all round understanding of diabetes, focus on the particular type that you have, and with this knowledge work out how you can make your life easier.
Prepare yourself for your next conversation with your doctor.
Arrived armed with information and you will know if you are being sold short or misdiagnosed. There is no reason why your doctor shouldn’t welcome your contributions. Also, if you know what you want to talk about you will probably get a much better service.
Accentuate the Positives.
If might not, at first, seem that there are too many. But if having diabetes means you can no longer carry on making excuses for not eating healthily or doing exercise, then that has to be a bonus.
Start making lifestyle changes
Go forward with whatever adjustments you have t make to your life with gusto and as if they were your idea. Think they are only being made to improve your quality of life.
Don’t Worry.
Stress can only make your condition worse, as it can trigger surges in blood sugar. And besides, worrying never changed anything!
And that goes from me too. It's not a perfect step by step list but it's something.
And remeber it is what it is and all you can do is your best.
Two reasons; I was doing all the work that being on a pump involved; carb counting, testing my blood glucose 7 times daily and paying attention to the glycaemic index of food but my HbA1c results were not improving. They always hovered above the 7% and I decided that they should be better. And the second reason was that I was beginning to feel the aging process catching up with me through my lack of exercise but not wanting to introduce another variable into my routine, I avoided exercise and I found it difficult to plan exercise.
We (people with diabetes –PWD) feel jealous of every person who can eat sweets and cake with reckless abandon! We think a child being able to have so many sweets that they make themselves sick is all part of growing up!
We let others love us and rewards with cakes, biscuits and sweets!
What if we changed this way of thinking?
What if instead of thinking “my child can’t have sweets” we thought “other children eat too many sweets”? Why can’t we find it acceptable to act all smug and pious with all the people around us who complain about not have any self-control and moan about their weight issues? Why can’t we say “I eat healthy and I’m proud of it”? Why don’t we tell our children (with or without diabetes) that we love them too much to let them have loads of sweets and that we want to make sure that they grow up to be healthy people?
Why don’t we encourage friends and family to love our children with their time instead of a packet of sweets? What young child wouldn’t love to cuddle up with Granny or Granddad and read a book or have loved ones take them to the cinema or the park?
I have diabetes and I have one sweet thing every day after my dinner (except on special occasions), I don’t see it as depriving myself, I see it as living well. I’m going to try not to feel guilty about it. My children live by the same “rule of sweets” and I seriously hope that the anti-glutinous moral is sticking.
Would this way of thinking change the world – probably not, but it might make the everyday struggle with diabetes a bit easier. Maybe?
** I have made some generalizations in this item but I would like to acknowledge that I do know not all people with diabetes feel the way I describe in the early paragraphs.
