Ok...guess it's time for my diabetes rant

I'm on a mailing list that's SUPPOSE to be for people with all types of diabetes. Since most children have T1 (Type 1...Juvenile/Insulin Dependent/Autoimmune caused ) and it's the hardest to control, the list mail is mostly from parents of T1 kids.

One of their main topics to be offended by is when T1 diabetes isn't differentiated from T2's (adult onset,usually oral med and/or diet and exercised controlled/ only sometimes insulin dependant). The main reason...T2s got and continue to be plagued with the disease because they are obese, lazy and ignorant. (and yes, those words are flung around when referring to T2s on a regular basis) I keep getting the feeling that they think since there is the POSSIBILITY to reverse this disease it's...

a) the person who's afflicted with T2's fault for not doing what they need to do to get rid of it...after all they just need to take a pill, eat better and exercise more!
b) not as serious in the day to day setting so doesn't deserve the same attention. (T2s don't die because they skipped their meds for a day)

So their quest...to educate those that lump the two together..defaming their kids who didn't ask for this, who's parents had no say in whether they got it or not, who didn't do this to themselves, do all they can to control this stupid disease, etc.

I know I probably should just leave the list but it's a great source of info for those dealing with diabetes (yes, for BOTH types). It's not a topic that comes up ALL The time but can be frequent. Besides, the list description says it's for ALL types of diabetes. Also it's extremely hard to find support for T2 in kids...since it's not common.

In the heat of the moment this morning I wrote an email to someone on the list. As usual I saved it until I calmed down a bit. I decided it was time for the diabetes rant I've had brewing and mentioned a few times here. So in MY quest to not start a flamewar on the list and still be able to get things off my chest....I'm posting my saved email here!

To the lady and listmates who talk about their T1 kids enduring stupid statements from the public about how their kids' diabetes is from poor eating and lifestyle choices, I say...

Not ALL T2's are obese, inactive or have lousy eating habits!!! Actually I know very few that fit this description. In my daughter's case, she had the unfortunate combination of having TERRIBLE genes (T2 is rampant on both sides of my husband and my families) and having to go through a bone marrow transplant that wrecked havoc on her body when she was 2.5yo.

I don't know a single person with T2 diabetes that "asked" for or wanted this stupid disease. Yes, because T2 isn't so imminent people are ignorant and think they can forget about it. It's called denial. Yes, unfortunately they have the opportunity to ignore it and not risk dying today. That's why they're paying for it later with blindness, dialysis, and heart problems later in life. But to say they asked for the diabetes or caused it....NO WAY!

If we hadn't been so lucky to have been playing with my meter during my last pregnancy. Carrie could have and probably would have gone on for quite a while undiagnosed. Even with her having tons of routine bloodwork every 6-12mos, it was missed. I was told it was a fluke BG reading, she probably had a virus, it was probably the snack she ate before her test. It took me waving blood glucose logs and notes under the doctors' noses to finally diagnose her.

My daughter doesn't just eat better, go outside more and take a pill and be done with it. She's done everything they've asked of her and more...yet we're still seeing numbers off the chart.

High blood sugar is high blood sugar no matter HOW the kids came about getting this stupid disease. It does the same damage to their body whether they still produce insulin or not. It's a horrible and unpredictable beast I wish none of us had to meet!