Type 1 Diabetes

When Sara was diagnosed as a Type 1 Diabetic, I did not know much about this disease. I remember hearing of an online friend or two who had children who had it, but that really was the extent of my knowledge. While pregnant with Jadon, Alexis, and Selah, I had to watch my glucose levels and be very careful eating carbs. The fewer the carbs, the lower my glucose levels. So my immediate thoughts were that was what Sara's life was going to be like.

During all our hours of education, the dietician and nurses keep reinforcing that isn't how it works. Sara can eat anything she wants, just in moderation. Low carb/high fat diets aren't good for her. She needs the carbs to fuel her cells to grow. Choosing healthy carbs over junk food is obviously much better for her and for everyone.

As we continued to attend education classes and do research on our own, we realized that Type 1 is nothing like Type 2. They shouldn't even both be referred to as diabetes.

As the picture about shows, Type 1 is an autoimmune disease. Sara's islet cells in her pancreas are being attacked by her own body causing it to not produce insulin. The only way she can get insulin is for us to inject it through syringe, pen, or pump. Because she has one autoimmune disease, she is at risk for other autoimmune diseases such a Hypothyroidism, Celiac, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and others. She will have screening for the antibodies for these diseases.

There is nothing we could have done to prevent this disease. We did mistake the early warning signs as the flu and normal childhood ailments, but we did not cause the disease. It had been dormant in her body and we're pretty sure that a virus kicked it into action. There is no cure. Essential Oils, diet, lifestyle changes, cinnamon, herbs, etc. can not cure her or even change the course of the disease. If it could, we would. Its heartbreaking watching your daughter fight this disease and know there is nothing you can do to heal her.

Sara needs to have insulin every day. Some think that insulin is a cure. It is not. Insulin to Sara means LIFE. Without it, she will get sick and die.

Type 1 diabetes is non stop. Managing Type 1 is a 24/7/365 job. There are no vacations or holidays. Diabetes does not sleep. In fact we aren't sleeping all night either. We are up at least once with her every night, checking her glucose numbers. Some think that decisions are made only at meal time. That's only a small part. Every activity requires glucose checks. Jumping on a trampoline can cause her sugars to tank. So she has to have carbs before so she doesn't go low. When she goes low, we have a protocol to follow. If she's sick, another protocol. If she's high another protocol. It takes quick reflexes to fix lows. Type 1 is a never ending thought process. I plan on putting together a post snapshotting her day.

The following is a video that tells in 1 word how people feel about Type 1 (most use more than 1 word):