For all those wondering what type 1 diabetes is, let me explain. To be honest, before being diagnosed, I too was uncertain what type one diabetes actually meant. I currently feel confident in my abilities to explain it through my hours spent at hospital consultations. I am so confident in fact that I would equate the attaining of expert level in a dragon slaying video game quest to expert level in diabetes knowledge. So, let me broaden your knowledge and let us level up together:
LEVEL 1: BEGIN!
Firstly, I am not type one diabete-ist but I want to differentiate between type one’s distant cousin commonly referred to as type two diabetes. Type One is where the pancreas fails to produce enough insulin where as type two is where a person’s body cells no longer respond to insulin produced by the pancreas. Both concern glucose levels but are treated differently. As in my case (a type one case) there was uncontrolled high glucose levels.
LEVEL 2: QUEST TIME
You have advanced young grasshopper. Congratulations on defeating all level one threw at you. You must now take a quest across endless oceans, blistering deserts and frightening jungles to accomplish a level up!
Similarly to a quest, a type one diabetic must embark on such an adventure when trying to control blood glucose levels. This involves injecting insulin to bring those levels down and kept at a stable reading. For your further understanding, a different route is taken by a type two diabetic. Their blood glucose can be controlled by an exercise regime and a carbohydrate controlled diet.
LEVEL 3: SLAY THE DRAGON
Ah very well done sensei. Your final task lays ahead should you chose to accept it. Slay the dragon if you dare…
Slay a dragon? Easy. Learn about diabetics? Easy. All that is left about understanding type one are the everyday tasks it holds. I inject four times a day before regular meals with a long working insulin and a rapid acting one. It is important I eat immediately after injecting so beware. Insulin can make you crave food so I will get hangry!
To conclude, it seems that mastering living with type one diabetes is considerably easier than mastering bridge. I am currently encouraging my mum to do a Bridge blog to help her with her challenge…
Insulearning with Antonia 