I have been pretty open and transparent in articles I’ve written in the past. I have even mentioned my mental health in recent articles, as I have become more confident with myself. One thing I haven’t written about before is the chronic health condition that I live with every day – type one diabetes.
First of all, let’s get a little bit of education out of the way, before society’s ignorant views get into your head. Type 1 diabetes is not something that is self-inflicted. I didn’t get it because of how much junk food I ate. And I certainly didn’t develop the condition because of how much I weigh.
The facts
There is often a lot of confusion between type one and type two diabetes. The principle causes of type 2 diabetes are your age and your weight; and what more does the media love than damaging narratives around weight? Diabetes is seen as an interchangeable term for both types (there are also rarer types like gestational diabetes). Yet type 1 diabetes is much more ‘random’ in its cause.
Type 1 diabetes is often developed when your body is fighting a virus and attacks the wrong cells, causing your pancreas to stop producing insulin. This of course means becoming a type 1 diabetic can happen to anyone. Although it most commonly develops in children and teenagers.
I have tried to sum up a pretty complex condition, but further details and explanations can be found online. I would recommend looking at Diabetes UK. The NHS website will also give you an overview of the condition.
To give a bit of context, I was first diagnosed at the age of eight. For the first six years, I injected around four times a day. However, at the age of fourteen, I switched to using an insulin pump, which is connected to my body pretty much 24/7; except for showers and some exercise. I finger-prick to check my blood sugar but also have a sensor (something I didn’t have when I was younger) which helps me monitor my blood sugars.
Living with it
So, what is it like living with it? Hell. Okay, maybe that is me being a tad dramatic. I know I’m lucky in the sense that it could be much worse. But it doesn’t change the fact that it is still something that affects every aspect of my day, including university life.
University is all about spontaneity, right? Well, that is great and all, but it’s a little more difficult with type 1 diabetes. Those alcohol-fueled nights uni students are well known for don’t exactly go hand-in-hand with the condition. First of all, lugging all your equipment to the nightclub is neither convenient nor fashionable.
Not only when clubbing, but whenever I leave the house, I always have a blood sugar meter a ketone meter, a spare cannula, and sweets for if my blood sugar drops low. No cute tiny purses for me! And that’s really the bare minimum.
Back to the alcohol. Alcohol can mess with your blood sugar levels, causing highs in the club, but lows when you are sleeping the night off.
Plan everything
Essentially, type 1 diabetes at university is all about planning. What time are you going to eat? Trying to eat at the same time of the day. Making sure to calculate all the carbohydrates prior to eating and give your insulin 15 minutes before your meal.
Type one diabetes at university is also about trying to sneakily check your blood sugar and eat sweets in a silent lecture while everyone stares at you because your machine is beeping. It’s about stressing because you forgot to change your cannula the night before. It’s about getting used to the fear of being judged. The constant questions. The not understanding.
Type 1 diabetes at university is a challenge; one that I am able to manage about 90% of the time. However, the A&E trips in the middle of the night because you are scared, the long-term complications to be expected, the constant management of your life, and the acceptance that some things are out of your control, are a lot to handle
I’m not ashamed to admit that sometimes I want to give up. Sometimes I am sick of my diabetes . But it makes me who I am and I’m going to keep fighting. And continue to eat chocolate because yes, I can eat it.