This is a post that. . .if anyone in the DOC (Diabetes Online Community) read it, I'd probably be skewered. It's not amusing, it's not especially PC. . .it's just something I've been thinking about.
The Diabetes Sisters conference I went to back in May was really big on the whole community thing. As in, it doesn't matter if you're a Type 1 diabetic or a Type 2 diabetic. . .we've all got the 'betes. We're all a sisterhood.
That's all well and good, but I guess my dirty little secret is that. . .I think that's a load of crap.
What makes it even worse is that there are people now saying that Type 2 diabetes could potentially have autoimmune origins. That's not been proven, but it's a theory they're studying.
That's literally all I have. All I have that I can say when someone's like, "Oh, you have diabetes. You must have eaten too much sugar!" I can say, "Well, no. Type 1 is autoimmune. It just kind of happens. Type 2 is usually more lifestyle-based, although it can run in families, too, blah blah blah."
Now what do I have? "Oh, you have diabetes. You should eat less sugar." "Mine's autoimmune." "Yeah, well, they both are."
Except Type 2s can get theirs in well enough control that they don't have to take their medications anymore. That will never happen for me. I'm stuck. I'm stuck with this, and to add insult to injury, they give these two different diseases (they're not the same) the same name, and then talk about Type 2 in the media all the time because Americans aren't capable of eating right and taking care of themselves and just refer to it as "diabetes," because who cares about the 5% of diabetics who are in the same boat as me? No one cares, that's who cares. The American Diabetes Association puts more emphasis on Type 2. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation? They're all about the kids with Type 1.
But what about adult Type 1s? What about us? Sure, there's Diabetes Sisters. . .but that's for ALL diabetics, not just those of us who are connected to our insulin for the rest of our damn lives. It's for the Type 1s, the Type 2s, the Type 1.5s. (What the HELL is a Type 1.5?) (That's rhetorical. I don't honestly care.) They're even calling people who have a diabetic in their families Type 3 Diabetics. THAT'S NOT A THING.
It's insulting. That's all it is.
I guess this is my public rant. I'm angry about it today, and I'm tired of being put in the same category as someone who sat on their ass and ate fried Cheetos for every meal. (YES I KNOW that not all Type 2 diabetes cases are caused by lifestyle choices. But MOST OF THEM ARE.)
I just found out that one of the other bloggers I read also has Type 1 Diabetes, and he's writing a book about it: http://www.brooklynbookbeat.com/bookbeat/2012/08/03/qa-with-tim-anderson/. From the last question: "I’m working on a gay diabetic memoir. I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when I was 15, and I was diagnosed with homosexuality when I was born, so why not cover both? It’s a comedy!"
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting read...