{"id":27351,"date":"2012-05-18T08:37:10","date_gmt":"2012-05-18T12:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351"},"modified":"2015-12-27T15:47:22","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T20:47:22","slug":"dblog-week-day-5-until-theres-a-cure-for-diabetes-im-telling-you-i-cant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351","title":{"rendered":"Dblog Week Day 5: Until There’s a Cure for Diabetes, I’m Telling You I Can’t"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/dt>\n
<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

It’s Diabetes Blog Week Day 5<\/a>. \u00a0Today’s topic is: \u201cWhat is one thing you would tell someone who doesn\u2019t have diabetes about living with diabetes?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

There are so many things I would like to tell people without diabetes about life with diabetes: Insulin is a not a cure for diabetes. Insulin is not just taking a shot and being fine. Diabetes in any form can only be treated, not reversed or cured. Hypoglycemia pulls you out of your being into a realm that\u2019s like a nightmare, where you shake and sweat, feel confused and don\u2019t recognize yourself. And there is no guarantee the nightmare will end with you alive. Living with type 1 diabetes means you constantly think about it, not in abstract way, but minute to minute…<\/p>\n

Could someone who does not have type 1 diabetes or who is not a parent of a child with diabetes understand that? \u00a0Can one really imagine what it’s like to role play as a critical organ?<\/p>\n

While it may not be possible for the world to understand what it\u2019s like to live with type 1 diabetes, everyone should be educated about its symptoms and the symptoms of hypoglycemia. Just as nearly all parents know that fever and spots are signs of chicken pox, they should know that thirst and weight loss are signs of type 1 diabetes. Teachers should know that the child who constantly needs to go to the bathroom might have undiagnosed diabetes. In my school health classes we learned (poorly) what to do in certain emergency situations. Hypoglycemia was never mentioned. \u00a0Why not? \u00a0<\/p>\n

I spend a lot time dreaming up ways to get this information to the masses. I have a lot of ideas I hope to be able to implement. But if I had to choose one thing to tell the world about diabetes it would be, \u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t eat without an injection of insulin.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t go to sleep without worrying that I won\u2019t wake up. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t leave home without a glucose meter, insulin, and some form of sugar. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t sleep through the night because I need to check my blood sugar. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t accurately mimic a pancreas. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I can\u2019t prevent my children from getting diabetes. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I can’t ever rest.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I can’t eat a single bite of food peacefully until there’s a cure for diabetes.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve written about this before<\/a> and I hope that you understand I\u2019m not being antagonistic. I\u00a0do<\/em>\u00a0believe that with people with diabetes can do anything they want (with great effort). \u00a0My suggestion is to put our pride aside and approach diabetes advocacy from a different angle. \u00a0It’s not that we shouldn’t be proud. \u00a0 We should be \u00a0so proud. \u00a0We work hard to keep ourselves alive. \u00a0How will the world understand just how hard it is, though, and understand how badly we need a cure for diabetes, a vaccine to prevent diabetes, and in the meantime, an artificial pancreas, if we continue to insist we are the same as everyone else?<\/p>\n

Since the discovery of insulin 90 years ago, people with diabetes have been treading water. If you prove you can tread indefinitely and no one thinks you\u2019re about to sink, why will anyone help?<\/p>\n

(Note to parents of children with diabetes. \u00a0I am not suggesting you should tell your children they can’t do things. \u00a0I’m trying to think of new ways to call attention to the needs of people with diabetes. \u00a0I’m on your side. 100%.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":53098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nUntil There's a Cure for Diabetes, I'm Telling You I Can't<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How will the world understand how badly we need a cure for diabetes if we continue to insist we are the same as everyone else?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jessica Apple\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351\",\"name\":\"Until There's a Cure for Diabetes, I'm Telling You I Can't\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-05-18T12:37:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-12-27T20:47:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607\"},\"description\":\"How will the world understand how badly we need a cure for diabetes if we continue to insist we are the same as everyone else?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":1280},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dblog Week Day 5: Until There’s a Cure for Diabetes, I’m Telling You I Can’t\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/\",\"name\":\"ASweetLife\",\"description\":\"The Diabetes Magazine\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607\",\"name\":\"Jessica Apple\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jessica Apple\"},\"description\":\"Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. She studied Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan, and completed an MA in the same field at the Hebrew University. She began to write and publish short stories while a student, and continues to write essays and fiction while raising her three sons (and many pets). Jessica\u2019s work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Financial Times Magazine, The Southern Review, The Bellevue Literary Review, Tablet Magazine, and elsewhere. She is the diabetes correspondent for The Faster Times. In 2009 she and her husband, both type 1 diabetics, founded A Sweet Life, where she serves as editor-in-chief. Jessica loves spending time with her sons, cooking with her husband, playing with her cats, reading, biking, drinking coffee, and whenever possible, taking a nap. Follow Jessica on Twitter (@jessapple)\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=8\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Until There's a Cure for Diabetes, I'm Telling You I Can't","description":"How will the world understand how badly we need a cure for diabetes if we continue to insist we are the same as everyone else?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jessica Apple","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351","name":"Until There's a Cure for Diabetes, I'm Telling You I Can't","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg","datePublished":"2012-05-18T12:37:10+00:00","dateModified":"2015-12-27T20:47:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607"},"description":"How will the world understand how badly we need a cure for diabetes if we continue to insist we are the same as everyone else?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/ASL-Social-Big-Square-3.jpg","width":1280,"height":1280},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=27351#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dblog Week Day 5: Until There’s a Cure for Diabetes, I’m Telling You I Can’t"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/","name":"ASweetLife","description":"The Diabetes Magazine","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/1f33fe649de04a31a493d746b6e72607","name":"Jessica Apple","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c10409e04c60ee9e1a01fbe9c4a704b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jessica Apple"},"description":"Jessica Apple grew up in Houston. She studied Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies at the University of Michigan, and completed an MA in the same field at the Hebrew University. She began to write and publish short stories while a student, and continues to write essays and fiction while raising her three sons (and many pets). Jessica\u2019s work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The Financial Times Magazine, The Southern Review, The Bellevue Literary Review, Tablet Magazine, and elsewhere. She is the diabetes correspondent for The Faster Times. In 2009 she and her husband, both type 1 diabetics, founded A Sweet Life, where she serves as editor-in-chief. Jessica loves spending time with her sons, cooking with her husband, playing with her cats, reading, biking, drinking coffee, and whenever possible, taking a nap. Follow Jessica on Twitter (@jessapple)","sameAs":["https:\/\/asweetlife.org"],"url":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?author=8"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27351"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}