Monday, July 8, 2013

Face the Facts

As the parent of a child type 1 diabetic and the creator if the Facebook page Type 1 (Juvenile) Diabetes Facts and Information; I reach out daily online to at least 3,500 people that may or may not be affected directly with Type 1 Diabetes.

As the parent I get that we do not want to hear the down right bad things about Type 1 Diabetes and we want it to be all rainbows and candy canes but seriously people, DIABETES SUCKS!! None of us asked for it, NONE of us want to deal with, and WE ALL want it to go away and a CURE to be found .... BUT until then the cold hard facts are there and we need to look at them and face them head on even though they are ugly monsters that we would rather turn our heads to.

It is a FACT that:
 
- Type 1 diabetes is a devastating autoimmune disease caused by the immune system mistakenly turning on itself, destroying beta cells within the pancreas and removing the body’s ability to produce insulin. Insulin allows the body to process blood glucose to create energy. Without insulin, the body literally starves as it has no fuel.
 
- People with type 1 diabetes cannot survive without insulin that has to be injected up to six times a day or continuously infused through a pump, as well as check their blood sugar levels up to eight times every day just to stay alive.
 
- People do not outgrow diabetes.
 
- Each year, more than 15,000 children and 15,000 adults—approximately 80 people per day—are diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in the U.S
 
- As many as three million Americans may have Type 1 Diabetes
 
- The rate of Type 1 Diabetes incidence among children under age 14 is estimated to increase by 3% annually worldwide
 
- Type 1 Diabetes accounts for $14.9 billion in healthcare costs in the U.S. each year
 
- There is NO break from Type 1 Diabetes
 
Now I get that we need to think positively to keep going forward day to day but there are times that we just need to face the facts and not get so pissed off when posts are made that make us stop and think a little bit about the disease from a medical perspective and not from an emotional perspective. 
 
I know this is a debbie downer post but I just had to put it out there and let my feelings out plain and simple 
 
 
 

1 comment:

Tom said...

Thank you D-mom for this bringing back to reality those things that we tend to forget in the deluge of information and desire of a cure.