The Type 1 Top Ten List

Borrowing a page from Dave Letterman, I present The Type 1 Top Ten List, a.k.a., some things that your Type 1 friend would like you to know!

10. It's pronounced dia-bee-teez. Despite what Wilford Brimley may tell you, it is not dia-beet-us. It is also not called "having sugar."

9. Yes, I can eat that. So long as I take the appropriate amount of insulin to cover the carb content, I can have anything I'd like. So please don't judge my food choices - after all, chances are you really don't need that cookie either!

8. Don't tell me about your family member/distant acquaintance who lost a foot/went blind/had kidney failure. It's not helpful, and it's slightly offensive. Would you say to a cancer patient Oh, I knew somebody who died from that!...?

7. Don't make me a spectacle! A few years ago at a business dinner, as I was buttering a dinner roll, a board member with pill-and-diet controlled Type 2 SHOUTED across a table full of ten or twelve near-strangers, "Isn't that going to make your sugar high?!"  Now, I don't have a problem discussing this among friends, and even strangers. However, singling me out at a table of ten people, while we're on opposite corners, is not the appropriate way to ask questions. Especially when I'm with my company reps who, quite frankly, are on a need-to-know basis.

6. But don't be afraid to ask me questions! In fact, it's encouraged. Constructive questions are the only way to overcome stereotypes and misconceptions. If you're curious about what I'm doing, or how something will impact my blood sugar, go ahead and ask. Just don't follow the example in #7!

5. I've heard more than once: hey, at least it's not cancer! Well, no, it isn't. But on the other hand, it IS something I will have to deal with and monitor for the rest of my life. Minimizing my concerns or brushing off my depressed days makes me feel even worse. While I generally don't get down, we all have days where nothing goes right, and diabetes management is no different.

4. Having low blood sugar can be scary, weird and unpredictable. A few weeks ago, I was with a friend while our husbands were playing golf. She is familiar with Type 1 Diabetes because we lived together for a while in college and have been friends since before my diagnosis. When I got to her house, I felt low and asked for a glass of juice. An hour later, I was still low, and begrudgingly, had to ask her to stop for food because I had gone through my entire sleeve of glucose tabs. I have never had such a persistent low, and of course, it happened away from home and husband. It took glucose tabs, a glass of juice, a soft pretzel and two handfuls of jelly beans to finally level off above 80 a few hours later.

3. Type 1's can guess the carb count in just about anything. When I'm out to dinner, I mentally tally not only my food, but YOURS too. Just because.

2. I also have learned all sorts of useful nutritional information. In addition to carb-counting, Type 1's need to be aware of the effects of fats, proteins and alcohols in their food, because all of these can change the rate at which insulin is absorbed.

1. Please understand that all the contraptions I wear make my life easier and serve as a treatment, but they are not a cure. Do what you can to help our walk team find one.


Thanks for reading!