Fighting off Type 1 Diabetes, day in and day out, is the job of a super hero!

Short of wearing the cape, (and some do as above…lol), people who have type 1 diabetes are doing what any good super hero would do.  Those with insulin-dependent diabetes expend amazing amounts of energy to stay on top of the tasks necessary to fight off the evil diabetes.  Most notably, these super heroes are required to inject insulin multiple times every day to stay healthy and alive.

After all, isn’t that what super heroes do… save lives. They also fight off injustice and any chronic, life-threatening illness certainly isn’t fair or just. Yes these things happen, but, can you tell a little five year old who has just been told she has diabetes this is fair? Now she is to learn how to calculate the carbohydrate amount for every and all food so she can calculate insulin doses.

images-1Whether she is five, fifteen or forty-five, she and her family members are now thinking almost constantly about life-saving decisions; carb calculations, exercise and activity levels, medications, stress levels, sites to inject next time, where to store the supplies, how to keep them available everywhere and what to say to friends, family and complete strangers when she pokes her finger to check her blood sugar or glucose levels. Super hero indeed!

The next time you hear of or see someone who has type 1 or “insulin dependent” diabetes, consider letting them know how amazing it is that they are fighting off the evil diabetes to save their life and combat injustice. 

To all who have type 1 diabetes… or “liveabetes” as one child called it… keep up the fight!

Diabetes fighting man from Alderville school calendar 2005