Living with diabetes in college is a major challenge
The most common thing I hear is, ‘you don’t look sick’
On April 19th, I celebrated my 10-year diabersary. Not many people know what a diabersary is – it’s a “diabetic anniversary” – since only about nine percent of Americans have diabetes. I am one of those people.
I was diagnosed when I was 10 years old and have lived with diabetes ever since. There is no cure and there are so many misconceptions about people with the disease. The ignorance that surrounds diabetes is a challenge for me, especially in college with my professors and peers.
Diabetes is a complicated and highly personal disease. I have Type 1, but everyone with the disease has a different day-to-day experience. We’re all tied together by the highs and lows of diabetic life.
A continuous glucose monitor to help keep track of my blood sugar
When I was first diagnosed, my doctor explained the major lifestyle change. Every Type 1 diabetic has to check their blood sugar by pricking their finger with a needle multiple times a day – at least four times and up to 10 or 12. Newly diagnosed diabetics are also prescribed shots of insulin, a necessary hormone for survival, for at least three months. After that, they can begin looking at other options, but insulin in some form will always be necessary until there is a cure.
Checking my blood sugar has become second nature, but the extreme blood sugar swings and complications that come along with it are something I’ll never get used to.
The day my parents picked me up from my first year at diabetes camp
Diabetes has always been a challenge, but moving to college, away from my parents, doctor and support system, presented new challenges. My day-to-day life and diabetes management changed drastically overnight.
One of the hardest things for people to understand about Type 1 diabetes is that everything affects it. How much sleep I get, my mood, what the temperature is, what I eat and how receptive my body is to the artificial insulin I get through my pump – affectionally named Benny – all affect how my day will go. I wake up once or twice every night to check my blood sugar. On bad nights when my blood sugar is too high or too low, I usually get very little sleep.
My blood sugar changes quickly throughout each day, a fact that’s so difficult to explain to my professors and peers – even my friends. One of the biggest challenges is confronting sheer ignorance. People suggest I can cure myself by eating more cinnamon. They’ll give my diet tips and tell me they know someone who “died from complications.” The most common thing I hear is, “you don’t look sick.”
Preston Ruff is another student at App State with Type 1 diabetes, and he says challenging the ignorance is the hardest part.
“Most teachers don’t understand the severity of diabetic complications and some are unwilling to listen and take me seriously.”
My friends from diabetes camp – my favorite place on earth
There is a major misconception that diabetes is just a few finger pricks and carbohydrate calculations. On any given day, I’ll have at least one high or low blood sugar that makes me feel sick, whether it’s mild shakes or the feeling I’m about to pass out. Having these feelings in a class full of other students who have no idea what diabetes is or how it affects my life can be difficult to deal with and hard to explain.
Although life with diabetes is anything but easy, there have been good things that have come out of it. I feel empathy for all others with chronic diseases and daily struggles. I have a community of diabetic friends who constantly uplift me with their positive mental attitude and perseverance. Diabetes is tough, but so are we.