Myths

Here are so common myths that i have gotten from people about Type 1 Diabetes...

1. People with Diabetes can't eat anything with sugar in it. This is false, type 1 diabetics are allowed to eat sugar, yes we have to be careful with things like soda and sweet tea, but they're are not limitations on sugar intake.
2. Diabetes is caused by eating too much sugar when you're young. This is a funny one, for the record... eating sugar does NOT cause diabetes!
3. Type 1 diabetes is genetic. This is partially true, it is a little bit gentic but not near as heavily gentic as type 2. For example, i have zero family history of type 1 diabetes but i got it.
4. People that have diabetes have to check their blood sugar with finger pricks. I actually am able to check my blood sugar in my arm, not my finger. Although your finger is a more accurate representation of your BG.
5. You have to diet and exercise more than other to control your blood glucose False. Yes, diet and exercise is good for you but since with Type 1 you are insulin dependant, you don't need to exercise to bring you BG levels down.

Carb Counting

The amount of insulin that you give is based on two things, carbohydrates and your current blood sugar level. For myself, for every 12 carbs i eat, i give 1 unit of insulin. How many carbs that are in what your eating aren't always clearly labeled so i have to know on average for some things. For example...

bagel: 45-60
hamburger bun: 30
hot dog bun: 25
1/2 cup of icecream: 20
apple: 13
Bojangles chicken biscuit: 45 : )
baked potato: 45
1 cookie: 15

granted these are all approximations from off the top of my head and they're are a lot more that i try to know so this is just a few. As convenient as it would be, diabetes is not an exact science so sometimes you just have to guess and check!

Famous People with Type 1 Diabetes

You probably didn't know this but here are a few celebrities that have Type 1 diabetes!

Halle Berry
Nick Jonas
Mary Tyler Moore
Ashley Blue (just kidding)
Jackie Robinson
Elliot Yamin

It was interesting to find out that there are celebrities with diabetes that i had never even heard had the disease. Nick Jonas is a big advocate for diabetes awareness but other than him i have really never heard anything else that those people did for diabetes...

The Diabetes Center

I was looking up some information about diabetes at UNC and i found this place called the Diabetes Center. Theyre whole mission is to help people with diabetes live longer and healthier lives. I think that it is interesting that I am a UNC student with diabetes and i have never seen or heard about this before now. They also have a alot of great education programs that will be awesome for the newly diagnosed. I was lucky that when i was diagnosed i had the WakeMed pediatric diabetes center to go to, but i don't feel like they're are alot of those around! Hopefully i'll get a chance to check this out at some point!

Alcohol and Diabetes

When you have diabetes, you have to practice extreme caution with alcohol as with most other things. Alcohol causes hypoglycemia (blood glucose less than 80) from shortly after you start drinking and up to 8 to 12 hours after. It's important when your drinking alcohol if your diabetic to make sure to drink with food, and constantly monitor your blood sugar levels to make sure that everything is running smoothly! I have found that usually when consuming alcohol most peoples sugar levels go up and run at a much higher level (like 200's to 300's), mostly because of the sugary drinks that alcohol is usually mixed with.

Laziness

For the past week my blood sugar has been nowhere near where i want it to be. This is because of one thing, laziness. Its something that comes all too easy to those of us with diabetes as far as checking our BG (blood glucose) levels and giving insulin. For example, last night i was starving but i had showered and taken off my pump and now i couldnt find it. So after i couldn't find it after 30 seconds, I just went down to the dining hall without it. Smart? no. Lazy? yes. As a diabetic you have to constantly think about your health and what the long term consequences of your actions are. And as an 18 year old college student... that is not as easy as it sounds.

Woohoo!

This year for the Walk to Cure Juveniles diabetes I raised $725 towards finding a cure! This is totally thanks to all my friends and family for donating money to my cause, and I would have never been able to do it without them! They always find a way to pull through for me!