Media Likes Turning Diabetes into a Joke

It is no secret that the media likes to make jokes about diabetes and being fat.  There is a problem

Sophie now.  

with that.  Not all diabetes is the same.  Type 1 diabetes is different than Type 2.  Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder.  The body attacked itself and in this particular case it attacked the Beta Cells in the Pancreas that makes insulin.  Type 2 has various other reason that cause it, some of them are weight and bad eating habits, others are just genetics.  You don't have to be fat to be a Type 2 diabetic. But the media and Michelle Obama shown a light on stopping diabetes, but they never said which type.  You can to some extent prevent Type 2 diabetes, but you can't prevent Type 1.   So what comes out the of the media's disinformation.  You get children with Type 1 being told a bunch of bull Hockey that lead to false hope, and bad feelings about themselves.

She is my super hero because she fights daily
for her life. Insulin isn't just medicine,
IT IS LIFE SUPPORT.  Without Insulin a
Type 1 Diabetic will die. She is so
 brave to face it.

My daughter Sophie is a Type 1 Diabetic.  She was diagnosed at 3 years old.  She turns 8 years old this year and has thrived e of her diabetes.  It is a constant fight to control her glucose (blood sugar).  It is an even harder fight to battle the stupidity of people.  On more than one occasion people have made comments that are hurtful to my daughter because of their stupidity and ignorance.

We were in a grocery with Sophie.  Handy Hubby and I were talking about products comparing which would be a wiser choice for Sophie's diabetes.  This well meaning woman interrupted us, "If you put her on a diet and make her lose weight she will no longer be diabetic."  That happened 6 months before the picture to the left was taken.  As you can see, the girl didn't have any weight to lose.

 Sophie getting treated at Arkansas Children's
Hospital after a Care flight to the hospital.
This is day 2 of 5 for new diagnosis of Type 1
diabetes. Keep in mind she is 3 here.

Why do people think it is okay to say things like this to mothers with diabetic children?  For one, Michelle Obama and the Media have painted diabetes with a broad brush that includes both types of diabetes as something you have done to yourself.  The media and TV shows have made jokes about diabetes.  Just in the last 2 months I can call to mind 2 instances.  One of which is an mistake of ignorance, that was Fuller House.There was a joke about handing out raisins and diabetes pamphlets at Halloween.  That is a simple lack of knowledge of the different types of diabetes.  While it is hurtful to young impressionable diabetics, it comes from a lack of knowledge. The other instance is was this past weekend on SNL. The made a joke about McDonald's making Big Macs in 2 sizes now for each type of Diabetes.  Why is this more offensive?  Because they know there are 2 types of diabetes and still joke about both as if it is the person's fault.  

This what Sophie uses on a typical day.
This is the minimum.  7 finger sticks  to
check her glucose and 4 shots of insulin.
How  different would your day be if
this was added to your daily routine?

This is at Texas Children's
Hospital in Houston Texas.
She got croup at 5 years old.
Her doctor prescribed her
steroids to help with her
breathing.  The problem here
steroids raise your blood glucose.
Sophie's went so high she went into
DKA (Diabetic KetoAcidosis).
She spent 5 more days in a hospital.
Every cold/flu or other bug can bring
us to a hospital stay even when we are
careful. 

Life is difficult enough for a diabetic whether type 1 or type 2 without everybody telling you its your fault. Imagine being a young girl that even as an 8 year old likes fashion, fashion world tells every girl/lady/woman/female that they aren't good enough to begin with, now picture the media telling her it was her fault she is diabetic.  This is why, in my opinion, we have a drastic increase in cases of Diabolemia. Diabolemia is a condition where mainly girls with diabetes believe they need to lose weight and so they stop taking there insulin to put themselves into DKA (a serious condition where the body starts eating its own muscle and organs start shutting down) so they can lose weight.

Now think about this, would you go to an 8 year old with cancer and imply it is there fault they have SNL to make jokes about cancers?  No then why with diabetes.
cancer?  Would it be acceptable for

Sophie and her brothers.  

There are Type 1 parents calling for a boycott of SNL and NBC that is there choice.  I am not asking you to do that. Although writing letters would be helpful. I am posting a link where you can read another mothers response to the SNL joke.

SNL Diabetic Joke

Thank you.

Test strips, shots, and lots of attitude (the life of a Type 1 Diabetic)

With November being Diabetes awareness month, I thought I would share some of our journey with Type 1 diabetes. Many have called Type 1 Diabetes Juvenile or Insulin dependant diabetes.  It is different that Type 2 diabetes which gets mentioned tons in the news and on TV.  There is a big difference. Type 1 is not curable, it isn't because they ate too much sugar or are overweight, it has nothing to do with lifestyle.  Type 1 is an autoimmune disorder, which means the body's immune system attacked the pancreas and killed off the Beta Cells which produce insulin.  Most commonly it happens in families, but not always.  In our family there is no Type 1 diabetics but there are other autoimmune disorders like Celiac Disease, psoriasis, and others.

This was a few days later as she
was starting to feel better and
 got to go play in the playroom.

This was when she was first
 in Arkansas Children's
Hospital, she still felt bad and
 was swollen from the
first bit of insulin.

My daughter Sophie was diagnosed with Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes when she was 3yrs old.  As a matter of fact she was diagnosed on April 8, 2012. Which was Easter that year and also John and I's 10th wedding anniversary.  Well everybody wants to remember their 10th anniversary and it is guaranteed I will never forget it. One of the hardest things in my life was watching the helicopter take off with my daughter in it heading for Arkansas Children's Hospital.   She stayed in the hospital to stabilize her and diabetic education for 5 days.  Mom and Dad had to learn about diet, exercise, and how to give shots.  At first she was angry, she didn't understand why she had to have so many shots.  This was all hard to explain to a 3 yr old.  Play therapy helped her a lot with that, although she still had her moments. We kept saying, at least this will be all she knows, she won't remember life before.

Sophie's  first soccer game

Fast forward almost 5 years, Sophie is doing fine.  She is in second grade and thriving.  She even played soccer this year.  She runs and plays, has birthday cake, jumps on the trampoline, and acts like every other kid.  She goes to school and church activities.  She played soccer this year.  She really loved playing with the other kids. She had to have her bow in her hair and her ribbons on her shirt.  She also had hot pink soccer cleats. There is only one difference she has to check her blood sugar and get shots.

 I tell her all the time there is nothing she can't do.  Every time I hear of an actor, musician, pro athlete, or high powered professional with Type 1 diabetes we talk about it.  If you know of any let us know in the comments.   We still have our ups and downs, but for the most part she is just like any other kid.

This represents the finger sticks and
shots per day.

I thought I would give you a idea of her day.  Sophie wakes up at 6:45am every morning and checks her blood sugar.  Then eats her breakfast and gets a shot of insulin calculated to counteract the carbs (not sugar) in her food. Then about 10 am we check her sugar again and she may need a snack.  At lunch she checks her sugar again then eats lunch.  When she is done at lunch you guessed it another shot of insulin.  She checks her sugar when she gets home from school and has a snack.  At dinner she checks her sugar again, eats, and has a shot of insulin.  One final time at bed time, she checks her sugar, possibly a snack because she can't go to sleep unless her sugar is at least 125, then she gets a shot of her long acting insulin which is different from the one she gets at meals.  If she is sick or had a day of ups or downs I get up and check her check her sugar to make sure she is okay at 2 am.  Then we repeat the next morning.  She does this everyday for the rest of her life.  Insulin isn't a medicine it is life support.

So if you counted, that is a minimum of 4 shots a day and 7 finger sticks a day.  Many people are afraid of needles and many more are just nervous about shots and needles.  Think about  what Sophie or any type 1 diabetic endures in a day, week, month, year, or lifetime.   Just like the picture says, She is my super hero. She is extremely strong and awesomely brave.  She is a super hero!!!!  Just like all Type 1 Diabetics.

Charlie's cookies, pestering siblings, and a crazy mom

During fall break this week, Ethan went to go volunteer at the  church.  They had run to Walmart for treats and snacks for the youth activities at church.  While they were there my son bought Pioneer Woman's Charlie cookie jar for my birthday present.  He mowed yards to pay for it himself.  He knows I am slowly changing my kitchen to Pioneer Woman stuff. You know what I like most about the Pioneer Woman's kitchen decor?  It goes so well with my vintage items like my Pyrex mixing bowls.  Since Charlie is a cookie jar Sophie and I decided to make cookies to "Fill Charlie's tummy".  You just have to love 7 year old innocence.  It is just too adorable.  Ethan helped out and got everything out for the recipe and Sophie washed her hands.

Then we started working on the chocolate chip cookies.  We made just the standard Toll House cookie recipe. (Just in case you want to make cookies)  For the first time I let her  crack the eggs.   It took a few tries of trying to knock it on the side of the bowl, but she managed it.  The best part, we didn't have to pick any shells out of the eggs.  She was so proud and happy.   We continued to add other ingredients to the cream bowl then I let Miss Sophie add the eggs to the mix.  Her face pouring the  eggs into the sugars for creaming was just priceless.

I even let her use the mixer for the first time.  She thought this was the bees knees.  She did great. I am so happy to say there are no ceiling splatters or splatters all over wall.  She did great.  I was so proud.  You know everybody remembers there first time cooking with mom.  Sophie did much better than I did.  My poor clean freak mom,  I believe I splattered the walls, ceiling, and both of us.  Sophie even got to scoop the batter out and put it on the trays.  She did most of the work herself and she is proud.  Sophie and I had fun.  Now that we are done she is off pestering her brother.

I have sweet kids but boy do they bug each other.  The middle one bugs the oldest, and the youngest bugs the middle one.  Well, for the most part it is my fault with an age spread like  we have (18, 14, 7)somebody is bound to get on somebody's nerves.  They yell and bluster and drive each other as well as mom and dad crazy but when it is all said and done.  They all love each other.

What does a diabetic dream?

Taken Saturday morning at the park after playing with
the sadistic Goose.  Little Miss decided to stop and
smell the crepe myrtles.  

Little Miss was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 3 years old.  She doesn't really remember life before diabetes.  She is 7 now and it is just a way of life to her.  Although she realizes that she is different from friends because she has to have finger sticks and shots at every meal. But other than that we try to keep her life as normal as possible.

I don't know what typical little girls dream about because Little Miss is my only girl. But I certainly don't remember the boys having dreams like this when they were 7.  My oldest dreamed of trains, Legos, and pirate ships, he is very creative and imaginative.  The middle child dreamed of beats and dance moves, he is BFAB (Born From A Boombox), music rules his world. Little Miss doesn't talk about her dreams much.  She has more than occasional nightmares and frights, these usually follow sugar roller coasters.  If you have a type 1 diabetic you fully understand the sugar roller coaster, for those that don't understand I will give a quick explanation.  No matter what you do diabetes have ups and downs, and when you have a high or a low they make you feel bad and there is typically some sort of bounce like Newton's 3rd law of motion (For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction).

Little Miss taking a few sips during a photo shoot
 because the heat and sun affect her Blood sugar in a
 bad way.
Taken By Misti Houk of HouKreative Photography.   

Well, anyways, Little Miss woke up smiling this morning, which is a totally awesome thing seeing as she is NOT a morning person.  She growls when she wakes up and it takes her a while to stop growling at her brothers.  This morning she was smiling.  She said, "You woke me up from a good dream."  I asked her what she had dreamt about.  "There were unicorns and I got to ride a pink one and we went to a candy store where I could have what I wanted and no shots because I wasn't diabetic."  Well there you have it.  That is what a 7 year old diabetic girl dreams about.  Riding a pink unicorn to the candy store and getting what she wants with no shots or finger sticks involved.

You know she amazes me.  It isn't often that she complains or makes any reference about being diabetic.  She just accepts it and runs with it.  Most of the time, I think it affects the rest of us more than her, but in a 7 year old's telling of her dream, it is made real that no matter how normal we try to keep her life it still weighs on her conscience.