Reinventing Ourselves: Diabetes and Public Perception

I’m not sure why the public perception of diabetes seems to be so wildly inaccurate.  So often, I am met with statements like: “Oh, you have an insulin pump. So that manages your diabetes for you?” or “Did you eat a lot of sugar when you were a kid?”

No and no.

I don’t expect that every person I meet should have a perfectly clear and accurate understanding of what living with diabetes is like.  I realize that this is completely unreasonable and a wee-bit self centred.  I do, however, think that a reinvention of the public perception of diabetes is definitely in order.  Myths need to be busted and the general public needs to realize that, while we may be plagued with constant finger poking, carb counting and insulin dosing, our lives don’t have to be compromised, or defined, by this disease.

Last week, Kerri Sparling (of SixUntilMe.com) wrote a heartfelt post about diabetes guilt, stating that diabetes, “always seems to come with some added bonus of “You did this to yourself.” It sounds harsh, but I hear it all the time.”  I want the world to be rid of this unfounded blame and, instead, to see all the incredible and inspiring things of which we, as a community, are capable…

• There are the cyclists on Team Type 1 and Team Type 2, showing the world that, with proper management and the use of the latest in diabetes technology, diabetes need not hold us back from reaching our goals and potential.

• There’s Chloe Steepe and her Connected in Motion team, who are “breathing fresh air into diabetes education” through a face-to-face, hands-on and outdoorsy approach to diabetes education.

• There’s all my fellow D-bloggers, writing and vlogging about their day-to-day experiences, educating their non-diabetic readers about life with diabetes and facilitating international, patient-to-patient dialogue about our frustrations, successes, insights and worries.

• There’s George Canyon, Canadian country music artist who, this past summer, flew his own plane across the country on a Canada-wide tour (free to all people with type 1 diabetes), focused on inspiring individuals with type 1 to pursue their life goals.

• Heck, there’s even Nick Jonas — Grammy nominated, mega-pop star and poster-boy for the Bayer Contour meter — singing about his diagnosis and testifying at the JDRF Children’s Congress about the need for further funding for diabetes research.

And there are, oh, so many, many, many more!

This is my world.  These are my inspirations.  And today, on DBlog Day, my hat goes off to each and every member of the type 1 diabetes club. We may be faced with challenges (and we might sometimes run late because of low blood sugar), but we are capable and creative and we are strong.

Here’s to reinventing public perception.  Here’s to changing the way diabetes is viewed by the world at large.