Since our life with diabetes began, I have come across quite a few people that have tried to convince me that they have the cure....that it is right there in front of our eyes and we are just to blinded and too brainwashed by the medical community to see it. It can be quite comical actually the different things that people will say is the magic cure to our daily battle...everything from juice, to cinammon, to eating a raw food diet, and even to cannabis oil. As a somewhat seasoned D-Mom....and by seasoned, I mean slightly cynical with a side of skepticism...I know these things to be untrue. I know that no matter how many raw veggies I feed Emma....she is still going to have a pancreas that no longer produces insulin. I know that no matter how much juice I pour down her throat...it's not going to miraculously kickstart her pancreas back to fully functioning anymore. I know this. I get this. I understand and have accepted the fact that we are in this for the long haul. That does not mean that I have given up hope for a cure....because I will always have hope...what kind of life would I have to live if I didn't allow hope to take up space in my heart?
I know that there are bad people out there in the world. I know that more often than not...these people are out to make money...no matter who they hurt...who they deceive...whose hopes they get up......they don't care...they just want to make a quick and easy buck. It's disturbing and pathetic. Now that we are almost 5 years into this life, when I read these things....my heart hurts for the newly diagnosed Mom that may happen across it. I want to stop her from believing these things so I can save her the pain of realizing they are not true.
How can I do that though when the internet is literally saturated with misinformation about type 1 diabetes? Movies, tv shows, newspaper articles and interviews....all spouting these falsehoods and perpetuating the ignorance. How can I attempt to save this newly diagnosed Mom from the inevitable pain? It's all around us. The general public is under the assumption that diabetes is easily taken care of...easily managed...all we need to do is stop eating sugary foods and get some exercise. We brought this upon ourselves and now we must pay the price with needles and depriving ourselves of what we once indulged in. It makes me sad. It makes me frustrated. It makes me angry to know that my daughter will have to endure this ignorance for the rest of her life...or at least until a cure is found.
Once a week at school, there is a health teacher that comes to Emma's classroom. In my mind, a health teacher should have a smidge more knowledge than the general public about diabetes....just a smidge. Apparently I was wrong in assuming this as well. Emma came home from school today and told me that her health teacher told the class that Emma has the type of diabetes that she was born with and she will have for the rest of her life.
First of all, she was not born with it. Yes, some would argue the fact that her genetic makeup was predisposed to having type 1 diabetes...that genetic makeup obviously being there from day 1 of her life. However, she was not diagnosed with diabetes until she was 4 years old. The first 4 blissful years of her life were diabetes free. Second of all, how can one grown adult who works with children on a daily basis think that it is ok to announce to the class that an 8 yr old will have this disease for the rest of her life? Even if that turns out to be the truth, is a room full of 8 yr olds really the place to announce that fact? I prefer to teach my child to have hope. She deserves to have that hope...and for a teacher...someone who she perceives to be an authority figure...someone who knows a lot more than she does...to basically tell her she is wrong in having that hope....not ok in my opinion...not ok at all.
So, this is my little rant for the day. Educate yourself before you make the decision to open your mouth. Education is the key to everything. If we are not willing to take a second to crack open a book and learn something, than we might as well accept the fact that we will remain idle for the rest of our lives. Imagine where the world would be if all of those before us decided to remain idle.
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