Diabetes sufferers share experiences
The disease can be managed and people live normal lives, but even today there is no cure.
November is diabetes awareness month, and those suffering from little to no insulin production are sharing just what it’s like to have one’s lifestyle changed by an incurable disease.
Fatigue, blurred vision, extreme hunger, and frequent urination are just some of the symptoms that diabetes victims have to deal with- often on a regular basis. Shawn Waller, 19 years old, is one victim that has been tangling with the ailment for his entire life, and amidst awareness month, has offered some details about how type 1 diabetes affected his life.
Type 1 diabetes is at heart, a failure of the pancreas. The body’s immune system mistakenly sees insulin-producing cells as harmful and foreign and works to destroy them. The attack is a phenomenon known as “autoimmune” disease. Without insulin, sugar builds up in one’s blood and the body’s cells starve from lack of glucose. What results from starved cells is potential damage to organs and on some occasions coma or death.
Type 1 diabetes is a genetic condition that can be treated but not cured. Type 2 diabetes can also be genetic, but health and lifestyle play a large part in becoming diagnosed with the condition. Through proper diet, exercise, and treatments, type 2 can sometimes be reversed.
“One of the hardest parts of living with diabetes for me was really the dieting,” Waller explained. “If I went to a friend’s house for a birthday or something, and they were all eating cake and ice cream, I couldn’t necessarily just eat to my heart’s content. Explaining to your childhood friends why you can’t eat everything you want can be hard.” Part of treating diabetes is maintaining a healthy blood sugar level by exercising, eating healthy diets catered to diabetic patients, taking insulin deposits, and checking blood sugar level.
“Depending on my health, whether or not I was sick for example, would also change how much I should eat on a given day,” Waller mentioned. “Exercising will make my blood sugar go down, so I would normally do that, but if I were sick and couldn’t exercise, I would totally have to break my habits and readjust how much I ate and what I ate.”
Each patient will typi cally t ake different amounts of insulin injec- tions, but most diabetics do so on a daily basis.
“Like a lot of diabetics, I steadily took more insulin as I got older. I take 3 or 4 shots per day, but at first, I would take maybe 1 or 2 I think. I don’t really mind taking the shots or anything. Fortunately, needles have become smaller so it doesn’t even really hurt to take them anymore. It is an extra chore I have to remember to do multiple times per day,” Waller mentioned.
Despite the roadblocks and problems diabetes has caused him, Waller mentions not feeling incredibly handicapped by the disease.
“It has just become a part of my life,” Waller said. “I can’t really afford to forget about it, but I don’t really wake up every day hating the fact I have diabetes. If I could wave a magic wand and have them go away I would, but at least I’m alive. It’s also pretty fortunate I’m alive in a time where medicine and medical technology are better than ever.”
‘Depending on my health, whether or not I was sick for example, would also change how much I should eat on a given day.’
Shawn Waller
19-year-old diabetic