CGMS

Together with inspired, who also has type 1 diabetes, I have put together a post explaining the Continuous Glucose Monitoring System.
What it is, what it is not, why it is so important to a person with diabetes, how much the CGMS costs, and what makes my insurance company such idiots.

WHAT THE CGMS IS:
The CGMS is a little device which records a person's blood sugar levels throughout the entire day on night. This is done via a needle inserted under the skin. The needle is removed, leaving behind a little "sensor", which measures the blood sugar levels. The next part of the device is the transmitter, which is attached to the sensor. It take the readings and transmits them (hence the name transmitter-deep, huh?) to the third part if the device: the receiver. This is also named for a very deep and complicated reason. It receives the transmitted data, and displays them on a screen. That way, any time the person wants to know his blood sugar (which they abbreviate as BG, or blood glucose, because the other way doesn't abbreviate as nicely ;) he pulls out the receiver, and there he has it! Great huh?

WHAT THE CGMS IS NOT:
The CGMS is, as of now, not considered accurate enough to replace BG testing. In fact, the newest brand of CGMS, the Freestyle Navigator, had a hard time getting FDA approval, because it is considered very accurate, and the FDA was worried that people would find it accurate enough, and not need to check their BG. So for now, it is simply an excellent supplement to old fashioned blood sugar checking. Why is it an excellent supplement?

WHY THE CGMS IS USEFUL TO A PERSON WITH DIABETES:
Checking your blood sugar to get the picture of your blood sugar is like looking at a picture to know a whole story. It's one snapshot, but you are missing a lot of details. For example, a person could check his BG and see a perfect 100. (An excellent number for someone with diabetes.) But, what he doesn't know is that it is rapidly rising and soon he will be 200. Or, on the flip side, (and this is the more dangerous one) he could be rapidly dropping and he could soon find himself 50, which is a dangerously low number and needs to be be taken care of immediately. With the CGMS, you don't only see a number, you see trends. It will show you a graph, which will show you patterns and trends. More important, it will show you which direction your blood sugar is heading. So, instead of showing you a 100, the screen will display a 100 with an arrow pointing upwards or downwards, to show which direction it's going. If it is heading up or down very quickly, the screen will display a double arrow, to caution you.
Another very useful aspect of the CGMS is the alarms. The receiver will alarm when your blood sugar goes too high or too low, alerting you to deal with it before it gets to a really problematic point. I won't go into details here, if you want to read more about it, read my letter to the insurance company on my diabetes blog. But, to make it short, there is a condition called hypoglycemia unawareness, which is exactly what it sounds like. Hypoglycemia means low blood sugar, so it means that the person doesn't feel symptoms of their low. This can be quite dangerous, as a low blood sugar, if not detected early, can become worse, and eventually lead to unconsciousness (or even death...).
I have occasional hypo unawareness. Take the other day for example. I went to the car to run some errands. Being a good little diabetic, I pulled out my blood sugar meter first, to check.
55? What? That's quite low, why did I feel absolutely nothing? No shakiness, no dizziness. Just business as usual.
Except it wasn't. It could have been dangerous. (Low drivers resemble drunk drivers.)
Now, imagine if I hadn't checked....
But imagine if I didn't need to check. Imagine if I had a monitor that started beeping when it started going low and I didn't need to get there.
Another example: one morning, I woke up with all the classic symptoms of high blood sugar. A quick check confirmed my suspicions. I was super high. (If you really have to know a was about 400.;) as I tried to figure out the cause if this unexpected high blood sugar, I noticed that my pump site had fallen out, and I hadn't gotten any insulin all night. Sigh. Now imagine if I had a CGMS. It would have beeped when my blood sugar started rising. Now most likely I would have chosen to roll over and ignore it, but that would have been my idiotic decision, not the insurance company's selfish one.

WHAT MAKES MY INSURANCE COMPANY SUCH IDIOTS:
The CGMS sounds like an awesome medical advancement, huh? There's got to be a catch, you say. You are right. The CGMS costs an arm and a leg. An insulin pump also costs a fortune, but the insurance company pays for $5,985 of it. I just had to pay the $15 dollar copay. It's not the generosity of the insurance company, rather it's considered the standard of treatment in this day and age. So the insurance companies got smart. They are resisting the efforts to make the CGMS a standard of care, so that they can continue denying it. It's a lovely cycle for them. They deny patients on the grounds that it is not the standard of care. But the fact that not too many patients go on it (because their insurance company doesn't pay for it) prevents it from becoming the standard of care. This is very important to them, because of the high cost of the CGMS. The start up fee for the CGMS (including the transmitter and receiver) can cost anywhere between 800 and 1500 dollars. Then there is the ongoing cost of the sensors. Sensors cost between 35 and 50 dollars each, and they last 3-7 days officially. Meaning, the FDA approves them for 3-7 days, depending on the type of sensor, but patients have left them in for far longer....
So why am I calling my insurance company idiots? I mean, they don't like people like me. They prefer people like MP, who get sick never, and actually have to go once a year for a checkup. But it's their tough luck that they got stuck with me. And I have every reason to expect them to pay for a CGMS. So my doctor wrote a letter of medical necessity. We sent in an official application. And they rejected it. Now I need to appeal. Unfortunately, I've been reading up on appeals in this matter and I am getting discouraged. Yes, some people get coverage, but I think it depends on how well connected you are, or how many letters you can throw at them, or how well read your diabetes blog is.
The parents on that forum that I mentioned in a previous post actually had a great idea. A CGMS does not replace BG checking, but it cuts it down from about 10 times a day to about 3-4. With BG test strips costing a dollar each, that actually can present a significant saving. So, the idea is to save all the used test strips for a year, put them in a box and mail it to the insurance company with a note asking if they are sure they don't want to cover a CGMS.
I was gonna do that, and I was saving my strips, (actually, to make a collage out of them. I love arts and crafts), but the case opened....in my friends car....and spilled all over. And even though she is my closest friend, she hasn't let me back in her car since. :-p
So that idea is out. If anyone has superlative persuasion skills, please let me know so we can brainstorm together.
BTS- does that answer your questions?

Finish The Sentences

Tembow taged me in this meme:

I realized after I did this that it came out very random. Some serious, some slightly less serious (yes, that was a euphamism) and some just plain dumb. But here you go, for those who want to know more about me.

1. I wish I could take away all the pain in the world. And all the suffering. But I can't, and that makes me sad...
2. My biggest fear is amputations. I don't want to go into it, as I want to sleep without nightmares tonight. Maybe some other time...
3. I hate to wait for things that I don't feel I need to wait for. Like, in today's day and age things should be instantanious. 
4. I love laughing.
5. Today I will break my texting record for a month, even though I have over a week left to my cell phone month. (No I do not know why. No I will not tell you what my previous record was. No I am not proud of it.)
6. Yesterday I  made yet another (unsuccessful) attempt to go to sleep before 2am.
7. My hair is going to be very tough for me to cover when I get married. It is one of my favorite features.
8. I will never willingly or knowingly eat tuna fish.

I will now tag anyone who wishes to reveal things about themselves to the entire world wide web.

SD Needs:

This is a meme that was going around the various diabetes blogs a while ago. Here's how it works:

You type "[your first name] needs" into google. (If you have a very Jewish name it may not come up with many results. Try an englishized version of your name or your legal english name if you have one.) Copy and paste the words into your blog.

I think you are supposed to tag people or something...but I am really not into that. So I'll just tag everyone. It's really fun and good for a laugh...even if you don't actually post it...try it!

SD needs a Productivity Partner to help her stay on track

Maybe then I will be able to get some work done...any volunteers?

SD needs help!

And who doesn't need help?

SD NEEDS YOUR HELP!

Now that is different. Do I need your help? What help can you offer me?

SD needs lipstick to ski

LOL to this one. I don't understand it at all. (Maybe that's cuz I don't like to ski, so I don't know about these things.)

SD needs friends

Is that implying that SD needs them more than most people? Or that SD needs friends the same way that the whole world needs friends? Hmmm...

SD needs a death benefit of $425000

SD doesn't really care if it is a death benefit or not, in fact, she isn't sure what a death benefit is, but she does need 425,000 dollars.

SD needs to loose that irritating and inappropriate giggle

I think they mean my cackle. My father always tells me that it is awful and unladylike and I should stop it.

SD needs to borrow $100

Not if I get that death benefit.

SD needs art & craft materials for her summer craft camp

SD is not making a summer craft camp. SD has never been to a summer crafts camp and doesn't quite know what making one would entail. But she is pretty sure she wouldn't want to make a summer camp of any sort. 

SD needs our support

Ummm....monetary  support? Cuz then that all comes down to this death benefit. Or are we talking about emotional support? What kind of support do I need? Please give me some suggestions. 

SD NEEDS A HELMET!!

Wow. That sounds urgent. I don't know why though, because I don't ride bikes. I like cars better. Maybe with my driving style I should wear a helmet anyway.  

SD needs to forgive Judith!

I don't even know who Judith is. So, yeah, Judith, whoever you are, I forgive you.

SD needs to be answered

That is very true. When I text someone and they don't text back I find it very frustrating. Don't do this to me. I also don't like not getting my blog posts answered.  Please comment.  

SD needs to land a full-time job quickly

No. That is about the last thing I need right now. I think I need that death benefit so I can quit my full time job. 

SD needs some visitors

Now?  No thanks. SD is tired and needs a little peace and quiet. Try her again next week. 

SD needs to vacuum

How true, how true. Unfortunately her sister broke the vaccum cleaner and she is waiting for her father to shlep it back to the store to return it and get a new one. 

SD needs to go to bed

She really does. And she didn't even have coffee today! 

The other meaning of TBB

This story happened to the proverbial Best Boy in the yeshivah. The shiduch crisis being what it is, he was constantly being set up. Date after date, girl after girl...yet he wasn't engaged. He kept saying no, on the grounds that the girl wasn't good enough for him, wasn't worthy of being Rebbetzin Best. His parents were very worried, and called his Rosh Yeshivah to discuss the problem. His Rosh Yeshivah promised to talk to him.
The next day, The Best Boy was called into his Rosh Yeshiva's office for a talk.

RY: I'm concerned that you seem to be having a hard time in shiduchim
TBB: I know, it's so hard to find a girl who is good enough for me.
RY: I have an idea that might help. I want you to take a few months off from shiduchim. Instead, I want you to learn mussar, work on your anivus, and hopefully you will have an easier time finding a girl who is worthy of you.

So, being the excellent masmid that he was, he set up a rigorous schedule of mussar learning (bein hasedarim of course). He learned chovos halevavos and mesilas yesharim and every other kind of mussar Sefer there is. Six months later, it was a humbled boy who walked into his Rosh Yeshiva's office to say that he is ready to begin dating again.
A number of girls, and an equal number of "no's" later, the exasperated Rosh Yeshiva called The Best Boy into his office.
RY: I don't understand what's going on? I thought that after you learned all this mussar you would have an easier time finding a girl who is worthy if you! Why do you keep turning these fine girls down?
TBB: I'm having an even harder time finding a girl who is worthy of me, now that I am also the biggest anav in the yeshivah!

Obviously, this story is a joke. I like to think that it didn't happen. But, there is some truth to every joke. The truth of this joke is that there is not simply the best boy in the yeshiva. He is The. Best. Boy. And he knows it.
And therefore, I wouldn't date him.
Imagine, The Best Boy goes out with a girl, then, on the third date, he finds out that she has diabetes. WHAT? HIM, The Best Boy in the yeshivah was forced to spend a couple of evenings together with a less than perfect girl?
But that's a minor part of my reasoning. Now, I am not trying to deepen the shiduch crisis by deterring girls from going out with The Best Boy, but I don't think I would want to marry such a boy. Imagine trying to live up to it: The Wife Of The Best Boy. Ugh. I wouldn't want to deal with that.
So, to quote a friend of mine (I hope you are reading this and give yourself credit ;) "let's leave The Best Boy for other, worthier girls"

Couldn't have said it better myself. :)

Gotta Love Those Jewish Mothers!

I was browsing the comix on Jewlarious.com, a jewish humor site from Aish Hatorah. I found this one really funny. Obviously this mother was reffering to type 2 diabetes (which is partially caused by poor lifestyle choices and obesity.)

It made me LOL...

:-D

Remember Those Good Old Days?

Remember those good old days when a snow flurry sent you into a state of excitement that lasted for a week?
Remember those good old days when you'd wake up to see snow on the ground and bound out of bed, running to your mother and squealing "is school canceled??"
Remember the good old days when snow on the ground meant building a snowman with the neighbors?
Remember the good old days when a snowstorm meant pulling out your hat, scarf, gloves and boots and running out for a snowball fight?
Remember the good old days when snow was something to look forward to?

I do.
And I feeling very nostalgic.

Now, a forecast of snow means a pit in your stomach that won't go away for a week.
Now, snow on the ground makes you roll over in bed, press snooze another time, and make you wish you would have work cancelled.
Now, a snow storm means digging the car out before you can drive anywhere.
Now, snow on the ground means skidding, slipping and loosing control of your car.
Now, a blanket of snow on the ground leaves you pulling out your boots, and looking for your short skirt, so you can walk without getting hypothermia.

I'm feeling nostalgic. I'm feeling old. I'm feeling jealous. Age and maturity have taken the fun out of something as fun as snow. How is that fair?

Road Rage Quiz

Take the BOSD Road Rage Quiz:

 Add up your points, as indicated by the number next to your answer.

1)When driving, you don't want to be without:
0- your driver's licence and insurance card.
1- your booming loud stereo.
2- your loud voice for cursing out the other drivers.
3- your loud horn.

2)Turn signals:
0- are so important! Driving would be really dangerous without them!
1- are important to use when other drivers are on the road.
2- are important to use when there are cops around.
3- ruin that element of surprise!

3)The main use of the horn is:
0- for emergencies, such as to warn a child that you are coming if he runs out onto the street and doesn't see you.
1- to let someone know you are waiting outside their house...
2- to beep at someone who is about to back out of his driveway if you think he doesn't see you driving by.
3- to vent your anger at someone who cuts you off.

4)At a four way stop:
0- you have the right of way, but you'll wait for him to go just to be a little safer.
1- you have the right of way so you go.
2- you both got to the stop sign at the same time, so technically neither of you has the right of way, but you figure he'll wait, and you go first.
3- you slow down enough to make sure there are no cops around.

5)The light is turning yellow:
0- you were approaching the intersection slowly anyway, so you have plenty of time to stop.
1- you really wanted to make this light, but you'll wait for the next green.
2- you speed up to make the light. You are in a hurry after all.
3- if you close your eyes and don't see it turning red then it doesn't count as running a red.

6)The cop pulls you over:
0- oh my gosh it must be terrifying! It never happened to me.
1- my headlight is out.
2- I was speeding through a "yellow" light.
3- why can't they make up their minds? Last week they took my licence away and today they want me to show it to them?!?

7)You are in traffic court:
0- accompanying your friend. You can't imagine how scary it must be for her!
1- to show proof that you had your headlight fixed within 24 hours so your ticket comes off.
2- the lady at the desk is starting to look familiar.
3- the judge offers you a 3 for 1 special on your tickets.


8) Tailgating:
0- Is really dangerous. I don't know what people are thinking when they do it!
1- Is OK when you are following someone and you don't want to lose them, as long as you don't follow too close.
2- Can be useful from time to time.
3- Is the best tool to use when some little old lady decides to suddenly become all law-abiding right when YOU pull up behind her!


9) The light turns green and the person in front of you doesn't seem to realize. You:
0- just wait patiently. These things happen.
1- inch up a little, hoping he'll notice eventually.
2- lean on the horn.
3- swerve around him on the right, narrowly missing some pedestrians and a big wooden fence.

10)Your driving motto is:

0- "arrive alive, drive 25"

1- "this car is constipated; hasn't passed a thing all day"

2- "never drive faster than your guardian angel can fly"

3- "caution! I drive like you drive!"

Your Point Ranking:

0-5- Please stay at home.

6-10- You are the kind of people that irritate me when I am driving behind you. Please pull over and let me pass.

11-15-You should be taking some lessons on how to deal with irate drivers.

16-26- You aren't too bad. Just stay out of the left lane!

26-30-Caution! You drive like I drive!

Now tell me how you did. ;) I'll tell you soon....I need to find a calculator to add up all my points. :-D

D-Myths Lesson 5: People With Diabetes Can't Eat Any Sugar. Ever.

(this post is dedicated to a very special friend of mine who spent a very frightening who-knows-how-long on motzei shabbos on the phone screaming at me not to go to sleep and trying to explain to my sugar craved brain that I need to take the plastic wrapper off of the straw before I can drink the juice out of it. Darling, I am not naming you for obvious reasons, but please know that however thankful I told you I was, I was a LOT more thankful. More than you can imagine.)

In a previous post I alluded to this widespread, highly aggravating, and possibly dangerous myth. "Everybody" knows (perhaps the same "everybody" that goes out with the best bachur in Lakewood every night.) that diabetics can't eat any sugar. That's why, in the babysitters club books (remember those? :-p) the diabetic girl, Stacy, pulls out a package of crackers, or an apple when the other girls are eating candy and chocolate. Now, in an interview with the author, she said she knows all about diabetes because her cat has it. I hope this won't sound very depressed of me, but if I would ever have a cat (I wouldn't) and the cat would get diabetes, I'd have it put down. I mean, I don't think cats serve a purpose in this world, but diabetic cats have a very specific purpose. To use up your money. I mean, imagine using your hard earned money buying insulin and syringes for a dumb CAT?!? And then imagine using more hard earned money getting your claw marks taken care of when the cat doesn't show appropriate hakaros hatov to you for keeping him alive with shots...
Back to our friend Stacy, who was being unfairly excluded from the candy fest that the other girls had. If she would have pulled out a bag of celery sticks, or maybe some mixed nuts, it would have made some sense. I would have assumed she was high and was waiting for her blood sugar to come down before pigging out on a whole bunch of candy.
Let me explain:
Diabetes means the person has a problem processing and using carbohydrates. Carbs include all kinds of grains, potatos, fruits...things like that. When you eat these forms of carbs, the body breaks it down into the smallest form: glucose. From there, the body (through the use of insulin, whether produced or injected) absorbs the glucose from the bloodstream to the cells. Once in the cells, the glucose is converted into energy. There is a certain balance that needs to be maintained. The glucose level in the bloodstream needs to be about 80-100 mg/dl. A "normal" person's body maintains this level on it's own. A person with diabetes needs to do it manually. Here's the point: a person with type 1 diabetes needs to calculate the amount of carbs he is eating, and take insulin accordingly. While he does have to think about all carbs, it doesn't matter what kind of carbs they are.
So now you see why I was confused at Stacy's poor food choices. I mean, I assume this was in the days. Before insulin pumps, when we had to take injections when we wanted to eat, but it still doesn't make sense. Stacy had to take an injection for the apple, the crackers and the rice cakes, so why couldn't she just enjoy herself? Weird huh? Maybe she was a health nut or something...
Here is the second half of the myth, the dangerous half. I am running the risk of boring people, as I am repeating myself somewhat, but it's a risk I will take. I figure the knowledge I am about to give you might save a life one day, in which case, it's worth it. As I said, this myth is dangerous. If people with diabetes can't have sugar, then it makes sense to snatch the sugar out of that diabetic's hands, right? Or maybe the juice box in the glove carpatment of her car would be a good choice, as would the winkies in her pocketbook. Um... Nope. WRONG! as I said before, diabetes is about maintaining proper blood sugar levels through insulin injections. For those diabetics, like me, who failed 7th grade math, this could present a problem. (Thank God for bolus wizards, as you are about to discover inspired....;). And miscalculations do happen.
For example:
I am supposed to take one unit of insulin for every ten grams of carbs. Imagine I think I am eating 50 grams of carbs, and thus take 5 units of insulin. Turns out, it was only 30 grand of carbs. So I took two units more than I should have. That means that despite the fact that normally my body needs insulin, in a case like this, you would say that my body is suffering from an excess of insulin. Because blood sugar levels don't only need to be kept from going too high, they also need to be kept from going too low. As I said, it's a balance. Low blood sugar actually poses a more immediate threat to people with diabetes than a high blood sugar. So, back to this motzei shabbos. I can't tell you what happened to make it go so low. I was on the phone with my friend when suddenly I mentioned I might be low. To make the entire morbid story a little shorter, my brain was suffering from a real lack of sugar, and I couldn't even figure out how to check my blood sugar. (!) A lot of coaxing, coaching, and crying later, and I actually managed the incredible feat of unwrapping a plastic straw and sticking it into a little juice box. All that effort....just for a little bit of......SUGAR! Now you see what the dangers are? There are times when a diabetics lack of sugar can be life threatening!
If you learn only one lesson from reading my blog, please make it this:
If a diabetic is unconcious, if you are unable to check his blood sugar, JUST GIVE HIM SUGAR. It is a lot more likely to pass out from a low than a high, and thus imperitive to give some form of sugar to the unconcious diabetic. (An EMT who sees a medical alert bracelet saying that someone is a diabetic will give him sugar.)

Ok, there. I have gone through all the diabetes myths I can think of off the top of my head. This was by no means a comprehensive list. If you have other questions please post them as comments or email me justablob[at]gmail[com].
If you think I made a mistake, please bring it to my attention. I don't want to spread any misinformation. If you or someone you know has diabetes please email me at the above mentioned email address, I'd love to talk to you or help in any way I can.

Sorry if i bored you. Thank you for listening. Now I promise we'll move on from the diabetes posts, at least for a bit. Deal?

D-Myths Lesson 4: You Get Diabetes From Eating Too Much Sugar

This is probably the only diabetes myth that actually has a basis in fact, as remote as it may be. Now, I know that I keep promising an explanation of the various differences between type 1 diabetes and type 2, but please be patient as I want to finish these myths first. In order to understand this myth though, you have to understand something.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. That means that the body, for some Unknown, unpreventable reason, decides to attack itself. There are various things that the body will attack, and based on that, there are various autoimmune diseases. Type 1 diabetes is just one of many. (Unfortunately.) Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body attacks and kills the insulin producing cells in the pancreas. This results in no insulin production, which results in a need for insulin from an external source. There is nothing you can do to prevent type 1 diabetes. They don't know what causes it. Most of the people who get diabetes are young children, many of whom are skinny.

There are quite a number of reasons that someone would make this mistake. Let's go through them:
~The full name for what we know as diabetes is Diabetes Mellitus. Mellitus means sugar. There are other kinds of diabetes out there, but this one is Sugar Diabetes, (or sugar 'betes... ;). So it makes sense, that someone with deficiencies in their intelligence would think that sugar causes it, right?
~When the scientists first began to understand a little about diabetes, they realized that if the patient would be put on a starvation diet it would prolong their life. Now we know that it is because diabetes is a result of the body's inability to metabolize food properly, but in those days they didn't understand that. So I guess it stands to reason that there are people who are 100 years behind on their knowledge of medicine.
~This is, I believe, the main reason for this myth. Type 2 diabetes is not autoimmune. It is caused by a number of factors, including lifestyle and genetics. While many prominent endocrinologists insist that genetics play a stronger role in the development of type 2 diabetes, the fact remains that lifestyle options are a contributing factor. In addition, people are often diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and told: "You need to watch your sugar intake". I will go into this more in a later post, but for now, suffice it to say that type 2 diabetes is preventable, and in some cases treatable, through healthy lifestyle choices. Type 1 diabetes is not.

Child Ish Behavior, I hope I made myself clear. The next myth will be a further explanation of sugar intake for people with diabetes.

I think I need some candy..... :-D

D-Myths Lesson 3: You Outgrow Juvenile Diabetes

(Little Sheep, this is for you! ;)

In the olden days, before they knew much about diabetes, they noticed a pattern. People were being diagnosed with diabetes, but it seemed like there were some differences.
Firstly, they noticed that people were being diagnosed at a very young age OR when they were older. They also noticed that the diabetes at the two different ages seemed different. So they decided that there are two different types of diabetes. Maturity Onset diabetes is the kind that older people get (made sense, right?). Juvenile Diabetes is the kind that children get.
That worked for a while, until the idiots came along.

SMI: oh, you have juvenile diabetes. I guess when you grow up you'll outgrow it and you'll have the other kind.
SD: Is your stupidity a transient thing also?

So they had to change the names. Well, ok, that's not why they had to change the name. It was more as a result if the confusion. Picture this scenario:

(A 90 year old man is in the hospital.)
Dr: you have diabetes.
NYOM: I do?
Dr: yes. You have Juvenile Diabetes.
NYOM: I DO??? (excited) maybe they'll start asking me for ID to buy alcohol!

So, as they learned more and more about diabetes, doctors realized they had a problem. Young people can get Maturity Onset Diabetes, and old people can get Juvenile Diabetes. So they renamed it type 1 and type 2. Type 1 is the name for the former Juvenile Diabetes and type 2 is the name for the former Maturity Onset Diabetes. I will explain the difference between them in a later post, but for now please realize that they are actually opposites!
Back to the names for the various types of diabetes types, they have a new problem. They are starting to see that there are more types of diabetes than those original two. Many of you may have heard of gestational diabetes, which is the type you get in pregnancy. I personally think that name is so boring. I mean, it doesn't leave people wondering. So the new names for the newer types of diabetes are much better: LADA, MODY....makes people wonder. Can you figure out what they mean? Maybe we should petition for the next form of diabetes to be called BOSD....
But I digress. The point is, aside from the fact that the term JD is totally outdated, it never had anything to do with the time that you are supposed to outgrow it. The depressing reality is, you never outgrow type 1 diabetes. It is for life. There is no cure. And it certainly doesn't go away on it's own. And please try to understand this now, because I get sad writing it, and I don't plan to repeat it.
So don't bother telling me to grow up. It won't make the diabetes go away....

D-Myths Lesson 2: Diabetes is Contagious

While many diseases are contagious, diabetes is not a disease, remember?
Type 1 diabetes is caused by unknown reasons, but they are pretty sure association is not one of them. I mean, take my friends, THEY don't have diabetes. And if I was able to give diabetes to somone, I know some of MWMF that might enjoy trying it first hand...
I'll admit that I never had personal experience with this matter. I mean, I was diagnosed too late in life to have kids in my class taunt me by calling me "sugar girl" and run and hide as a result of their fear of catching diabetes.
So, while I don't think this myth is very widely believed anymore, I wanted to throw it out there. Unfortunately, I can't give away my diabetes. I can't even share it.

D-Myths Lesson 1: People With Diabetes Are Sick

Fact: People with diabetes are fine. Period. End of story. I explained this in a detailed manner already, but let me explain some of the ways this irks me.
Allow me to introduce you to MWMF, or Mom's well meaning friend. The sweeter they are, the more they hurt. (Omg, I just realized that awful pun. Excuse me.)

MWMF #1: It's so sad to see a young girl like you having to deal with these terrible medical problems. It mamish breaks my heart.
SD: Drop dead.

MWMF #2: Oy, your poor daughter is sick with diabetes!
SD: Drop Dead.

MWMF #3: Oy vey, it's so sad that your daughter is so sick but at least it's only juvenile diabetes so she'll outgrow it soon.
SD: Drop dead.

MWMF #4: Wow, you are so accomplished even though you are sick.
SD: DROP DEAD.

Ok, I know I shouldn't be wishing for such sweet (:-p) well meaning people to drop dead so often, so I came up with a better solution. Encourage Mom to become a hermit. So far no progress on that front, but I'll let you know....

So, to sum it up: People with diabetes are not sick. People with diabetes simply need to work a little harder to stay healthy. Telling people with diabetes that they are sick will result in nasty wishes heaped upon your sweet (:-p) head.

Stay tuned for more diabetes myths....