In the real world
Type one Diabetes is the 56 year old man you just made fun of because he was stumbling down the road. He's not drunk, his brain is shutting itself down due to starvation of glucose.
It is that woman who has just found out she is pregnant and all she can do is cry. If she cannot keep her blood sugar levels under control it poses both a threat to her, and her unborn child. Imagine being the reason your child doesn't make it to this world. Think about it.
Type one Diabetes looks like the 45 year old cashier that just served you, who can get her kids to school on time but struggles to get out of bed every morning. It is waking in the morning to face the same demons you put to bed so gracefully the night previous.
It is the 13-year old boy who died this year due to a misdiagnosis. It's the 17 year old who died from the same issue just a week later. It's the unreported deaths of children because their cries for help are not heard, or simply ignored.
Type one Diabetes should not be romanticised or sought-after. Diabetes means life or death, fight or flight, try harder to die trying. Diabetes means I go to bed every night praying my body will wake me if my blood glucose levels reach a dangerously low level. It's knowing I try my best but one day that may not be enough to save my body. Diabetes is scary and constant. It's a headache that won't ever go away.
In my world
Diabetes is an 18 year old girl sobbing on the kitchen floor at 2am because her body is failing her, again. It is not leaving the house for 2 weeks because she is exhausted from fighting herself every step of the way. It's trying my best every day of the week and not getting the results I deserve. It is coming to the realisation that I will have this condition my entire life.
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| Diabetes looks like me |
Type one diabetes is not about eating McDonald's every day of the week. Type one diabetes is not your cousins' grandma who takes tablets. Diabetes doesn't pick and choose its victims based on your takeaway history. Diabetes picks whoever it wants, whenever it wants. It doesn't care if your 6 months old or if you're 70, it doesn't care if you're a nurse or a mass murderer. Diabetes is not picky, it will wipe you out whether you have time to handle the mundane routine or not.
Type one diabetes is me and 4 million other people in the UK.
Next time you hashtag '#diabetes' on your perfectly filtered dessert, just take a moment to think about what diabetes really is.
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