Not the first, nor the last, lecture.

I took yesterday morning off from work to get a physical with my new doctor, who said I have the body of a 30-year-old athlete.

Naw, not really. But she was probably thinking it, in between writing me referrals for a bone density test AND a colonoscopy. Good times! I can't wait to present my ass to the medical community!

Speaking of medical stuff, Evangeline's 2 year dia-versary passed quietly way back there in March. Evangeline and I talked a while ago about the fact that people seem to know a lot about the symptoms of heart attacks, but don't usually know the symptoms of Type 1 diabetes. She has met diabetics who have real horror stories about how they ended up in the hospital with life-threatening complications such as ketoacidosis because no one recognized their symptoms.

So...not to worry you or anything but if your child/teenager/young adult exhibits any combination of the following symptoms, take them to the doctor:

• unusual thirst.
• increased urination
• extreme hunger
• sudden weight loss despite eating constantly
• fatigue and irritability  (Ha!This can be hard to distinguish from normal behavior in teenagers. Or me.)
• blurred vision

Evangeline arrived  home for spring break of her freshman year in college looking like a frail little skeleton but eating like a horse and downing glass after glass of water. I recognized the symptoms because I am awesome like that, and she was hospitalized within 48 hours of her arrival home. It pays to be a hypochondriac and pore over the health news!

Oh, and while we are on the subject, here are a few facts about diabetes that I might as well lecture you about:

• Type 1 diabetes means that your pancreas basically stops producing insulin. It is usually diagnosed in children or young adults. Type 1 diabetics must inject themselves with insulin everyday or use an insulin pump. In some cases they are tall, lanky, and utterly adorable.
• Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes. Your pancreas may produce less insulin or your body may become resistant to insulin. It is often (but not always) associated with being overweight and/or sedentary. It can often (but not always) be controlled through a combination of diet, exercise, and medication.
• Diabetics do NOT have to eat special food. They DO have to make an effort to eat a heart-healthy diet and get regular exercise and, if they have Type 1, inject themselves with the right amount of insulin to cover whatever they have eaten.
• Some diabetics have a really hard time controlling their blood glucose levels even though they are doing everything they are supposed to do. This doth suck, because the complications associated with high blood glucose range from serious to horrendous.
• Diabetes medications and paraphernalia are expensive and if you don't have health insurance you are SO fucked.

HEY! Wake up! This is important!

Okay, fine. Be that way. I have to get ready for work anyway. But don't come crying to me when you get diabetes and you don't know the dif between type 1 and type 2.

Evangeline has a bracelet. But some kids get tattoos.

Comments

[blackbird]

Diabetics don't have to have a sugar free diet? Is that old school?

I would definitely get the tattoo. But not with a snake. Okay?

[Pam L]

Our, or should I say, the Broncos, new quarterback, Jay Cutler, just learned he has Diabetes Type 1 this spring after a routine blood test.He is 25. At the end of last season he lost a lot of weight and felt weak and no one knew why. He now uses the pump. I guess you should have been here last year because I'm sure there was a whole medical staff around him and they did not have a clue!

[Belle]

Good information! We are constantly on the lookout because hubby is the only one of his immediate family that does not have it. (His mom lived to be 92 with Type I diabetes because she was very compliant...and was honery, that helped!)

[Laura/DaPFG]

sweet :) one of the girls in accounting at my work has diabetes, and she either a) doesn't manage it well, or b) is just a big freaking liar, but, either way, she's out ALL THE TIME. which wouldn't be a big deal of course if she was truly sick, but it's a bit hard to believe when she talks about going clubbing and out to festivals and stuff. but ANYHOW, they are moving me back to train in her area temporarily while they put her on short-term disability leave until she gets her health managed. so it's a nice opportunity for me :)

i don't know why i felt the need to tell you all of that. i guess it's because it's supposed to be all top-secret and such until they find a temp to sit in my place at the desk, so i had to spill to SOMEONE :P

disadvantage of all of this? LESS INTORNETZ TIME FOR ME WITH A REAL JOB. hehe.

oh, also, while i am in the midst of telling you pointless things...i am going after work today to take my College Placement Test. think of me!

[Wende]

PREACH IT, GIRLFRIEND.

Of course, the last time I took this up on my blog all hell broke loose because I dared to suggest that medical professionals should stop being so squeamish about telling their patients to lose weight. There is overweight and there is obese. And why doctors wait until you're the latter to suggest you get a grip is BEYOND ME!! Telling them, (when they're 30 lbs overweight) that they don't look like a fat person is MALPRACTICE.

What? You didn't think I'd leave this alone. Did you?? I swear, Mary, it infuriates me. Because your darling girl didn't have a choice. But most type 2 people DO!

I should go ask the Democratic candidates what they plan to do about all this. :D

[Miz S]

Woah now. Let's not pick on the Type 2 diabetics. Yes, I've been known to call it "Slacker Diabetes," but it's been pointed out to me that that's insensitive. There are Type 2's that are average in weight. Being overweight is a Type 2 risk factor, but so is belonging to certain ethnic groups. Also, there is a genetic link to Type 2.

Either way, it sucks to have a disease that requires a lot of management and has such serious side effects.

[paula]

My kid?

Is getting the tattoo.

[Gretchen]

My 16 year old niece has type 1 diabetes. She was diagnosed at about 3 yrs old. It is manageable, but unpredictable and scary all the same. Makes me sad to think she has to manage it forever.

[Margaret]

My mom is a Type 2, just like her mom and her sister. She was never very overweight, and has suffered greatly because of her inability to eat most of the foods she loves like bread, pasta and sweets. However, she does manage her diet well, and only occasionally threatens(jokingly) to kill my dad when he gorges on chocolate.

[Liza Lee Miller]

You rock! Greg and I had to educate ourselves about diabetes a couple of years ago when Greg was told he was pre-diabetic. He started testing himself and changing his diet. Something people also need to understand -- at least according to the dietitian Greg consulted -- you have to avoid spiking your blood sugar when you are pre-diabetic. The more you spike your blood sugar, the more you risk it being that one time to many when your pancreas gives up the fight. The overweight and sedentary thing is the hardest thing for him to grasp and do something about. Sigh. The dietitian told him that he can eat whatever he wants as long as he balances carbs (which turn into sugar instantly) and protein which slows down the absorption and prevents a spike. No spikes!

[Wende]

I'm sorry if it comes off that I'm being unfair to type 2 diabetics. That isn't my intention, however preventable the disease might me.

I'll keep my lectures to my own blog.

How's that?

[Cazza]

If you don't have health insurance you die? Another good reason to live in Australia. Our public health system isn't perfect by a long shot (I work in it. I know) but it's a damn sight better than many others in the so-called developed world.

And any doctor that doesn't educate and encourage his/her overweight patients about the risk factors associated with poor lifestyle choices should be sued. I'm with you Wende.

[the bee]

Good Gravy People !!! I am type 2 diabetic. Please do not shoot.
I do control it w/ diet and exercise and am not on any medication.
Every day people smoke, beat their kids, are mean and talk in movie theatres. I am not the people police. Some factors are heredity and yes, some are not but it is not my job to tell people how to live their life. The only people who deserve this kind of wrath are loud in public cell phone users . They know who they are .

[Maddy]

Normally I'm not crazy about tattoos, but the diabetes ones crack me up. It seems oddly stylish and very practical.