I haven't posted for a while again. Been too busy and in between that, I've been resting a lot to manage the things I do.
As I'm typing this, I haven't slept at all yet and I'm watching a morning show on TV that I do like, but usually I'm asleep so I can only watch clips of it afterwards online. This morning they have a diabetes theme to the show because one of the hosts "celebrated" three years of being type 1 diabetic a few days ago and with that, decided to open up more and share his life as a type 1 diabetic to raise awareness for diabetes. Now it's been a well known fact that he's type 1 ever since he got diagnosed as he's never kept it hidden, but now he's really doing a lot to raise awareness for the condition after having received many emails from worried parents who have kids who feel ashamed about diabetes and hence not taking their insulin as they're supposed to. This morning it's not just the host who will be talking about his diabetes, they'll also have an 11 year old guy visiting who's had type 1 for the past five years, and they'll also have their TV doctor talking about diabetes.
I think it's absolutely amazing that Peter Jihde does this now, the response this far has been incredible and it's such an important subject! There can never be too much awareness for type 1 diabetes, so much can happen so fast with blood glucose levels and it's so important to respond fast to the changes or it can be very dangerous. There's still too little knowledge about diabetes among the general population, and some people are staring or say rude things if someone with diabetes check their blood glucose level or take insulin in public. The stares and rude comments can be very problematic as it makes some with diabetes feel uncomfortable to do their diabetes related things in public and instead feel that they need to hide or even go to the bathroom to inject insulin. Checking blood glucose and taking insulin is as natural as using a napkin when you eat, and really, there are things that are far worse to do at the table- blowing your nose at the table is one example! I'd rather sit in a room with 100 diabetics checking their blood and taking insulin at the table, than have one person blowing their nose anywhere near me when I eat! But then, I'm one of those who go under the type 3 label, type 3 being a person who is educated about diabetes and/or living with someone who has diabetes. I even have issues with my blood glucose myself at times and do own a blood glucose monitor that I use when I feel my levels may be off. I've seen 3.2mmol/l and 10.9mmol/l without being on any medicine that affects blood glucose, so yeah, some may even say I'm pre-diabetic but I do not have any diagnose, I do however keep an eye on it, especially at times where I need to take steroids because of my allergy, then I do become diabetic temporarily with levels up to 12.4mmol/l.
Checking blood glucose just involves a tiny drop of blood and normally there's little or no bleeding afterwards because the lancet is so tiny (nowhere near the size used in labs) so you don't really see what's going on unless you sit right next to the person. The needle used to inject insulin is so tiny you can barely see it regardless of the person using a syringe or a pen to inject. So why is it so uncomfortable for people to see? You don't even really hear what's going on, just a tiny click from the lancing device, maybe a beep from the monitor if the user hasn't turned off the beeps, and there may be a slight clicking sound from an insulin pen as you dial the dose and push it in, but again, you won't really notice it unless you're right next to the person.
Someone blowing their nose however... It sounds like an elephant farting and you can't miss it!
I fully support this awareness project by Peter Jihde, I quite frankly love it because he can reach so many people because of being a public person! His Instagram already has many thousand followers who support the project and it only just began on Saturday. He can educate so many now, and make fellow diabetics feel more comfortable about their situation and not feel ashamed about managing their diabetes in public.
While everything he does is in Swedish, I still want to share this with my international friends because this is so amazing, and since I have many friends around the world with diabetes, do check this Instagram account and feel free to use the hashtags and upload your own insulin injections to join the cause!
https://www.instagram.com/jihdesdiabetes/
Due to lack of sleep right now, my ability to type isn't what it's supposed to be but oh well. I just wanted to share this because I'm thrilled about the awareness coming out and wanted to share what an amazing TV host we have here in Sweden!
Here's a clip from his three year diaversary! http://www.tv4play.se/program/nyhetsmorgon?video_id=3232776
Hope you enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment