We are family

Today is a fun day! A part of our diabetes family is having a meeting in the region of Antwerp. We are going to have our pictures taken. We are normal people, just like the rest of you, and there's no doubt that any of you could be a diabetic as well. Whether you are male or female, short or tall, thin or bigger, Dutch or French, young or old.. diabetes doesn't care. It comes when you least expect it. The pictures want to show you, that diabetes is not only for older or bigger people. It can affect anyone. There's no use sticking your head in the sand. It's there and it's not going any where.

The photo shoot will be for type 1 diabetics only. Most people know at least one person who has diabetes type 2. The thing they remember about type 2 diabetes, is that you get it from eating too many sweets (NOT!), from being overweight (sometimes), from eating more than your body can handle (sometimes). 90% of the diabetics have type 2.

The other 10% are the type 1 diabetics. It is more rare, although I have acquainted more type 1 diabetics than type 2 by now. Type 1 diabetes may be genetic, but the doctors aren't sure about that yet. It can happen at any age (not only in your teens, as many people think). You may be 14 months old, you may be 65, but either can be diagnosed type 1. In some families, there are several type 1 diabetics. Sometimes it's just you, and nobody else. Some families have type 1 and type 2 diabetics, like my family.

You have type 1 diabetes if your pancreas has promptly given up on making insulin. That's why we need to give ourselves injections or use an insulin pump. A type 1 diabetic cannot survive on tablets. We need to give ourselves insulin for the rest of our lives. Because there's no cure.. not yet.

Type 1 and type 2 diabetics are family. They are related, because both of the groups have diabetes. The disease is the same, the treatment can be different. The complications may be the same and so may the symptoms be. Type 2 diabetics may have had the disease for 10 years before they start realising it. Type 1 diabetics would not survive without being diagnosed..

So there are differences. You cannot recover from diabetes, you will always have it. Sometimes, you might get off medication for a while, if you are a type 2. But you will still have diabetes.

If you think having type 1 diabetes and being dependant on an insulin pump is worse than having type 2 diabetes and treating the condition with diet and tablets, you're wrong. There is no better or worse diabetes. Either you have it, or you don't. Compare it to being pregnant: you are pregnant or you aren't. Although treatment may be different, type 1's and type 2's still have the same disease..

So next time you meet someone with diabetes, don't judge them. Don't say it's their own fault. Don't preach and don't tell them what they should or shouldn't eat. You know why? Because we are not ignorant. We are informed and we know our bodies, because it's our life. We deal with it 24/7. So if we wouldn't know what diabetes is about, who will?