My life is spent in a state of constant hyper-awareness, thanks to an autoimmune disease which changes course daily. From calculating insulin dosages, to making a million decisions about what to eat, when to eat, how long of a walk I can take, which alarms to set in the night so I can wake up and have a snack so that I don’t get carried away by the sandman on an unexpected wave of hypoglycemia…
…my obsession with breastfeeding began a few years ago when I came across some data which suggested that babies who are exclusively breastfeed for at least the first six months of life are 19-27% less likely to develop Type I Diabetes later on in life.
In my previous post, I made mention of some of the things that helped to make my breastfeeding journey a pleasant one. Since I’m trying to exclusively breastfeed my son for as long as possible (current target is three months; optimal goal is six months), I’m doing everything I can to milk the situation for …
I wasn’t even going to make a baby registry… In fact, when I discussed it with my two best women, I was adamant that I didn’t know enough people for a registry to work, and no one would buy me anything. As far as I was concerned, I was going to have to foot the …
I remember once asking a ‘Diabetes Specialist’ about the do’s and don’ts of getting pregnant with Type 1 Diabetes. The only thing she told me was an emphatic ‘DON’T’, before proceeding to berate me about my HBA1C, which at the time was about 12.6. Motherhood was a dream, but never something I ever really believed …
Here are five of the myths that every Type 1 Diabetic really hates – and more importantly, what the truth actually looks like…
Whether its merely a component in a bigger dish, or its the dish itself, an omelette for me is manna – a complete dish that is so versatile you’ll never get tired of it. At least, let me speak for myself.
Some people only recognize Diabetes as a disease that affects you physically. The pancreas (physical) doesn’t work, which results in hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar – also physical) or hypoglycemia (low blood sugar – physical again) which makes you ill (physical, physical, physical).
But not many consider the mental implications of this autoimmune disease. It’s rare to find someone (aside from another T1D) who understands the overwhelming sadness that overcomes a diabetic like me when, after giving up all my favorite foods, my blood sugar readings are still not within a safe, healthy range.
My mother and I don’t see eye-to-eye on many things. Sometimes (read very often), we argue because she does things I disagree with, or she doesn’t do things I think she should (even if it’s for her own good). On a regular basis, she blocks me on WhatsApp and then sends one of my younger siblings to deliver a passive aggressive message to let me know she still loves me even though I’ve been a stubborn wretch and I refused to reach out to her first.
Everything you need to know to catch the world’s most elusive autoimmune disease I will admit that hearing people talk about ‘catching diabetes’ stirs up violent feelings inside me. I mean, I completely understand that people just don’t know enough about this disease that just so happens to be one of the leading global causes …
Type 1 Cravings 