American Diabetics spread awareness and health-conscious habits in November

Every year, November commemorates Americans with Diabetes. Over 29 million people in the country are affected by this metabolic disease which includes type 1, type 2 and gestational diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is a less common form of the disease that typically impacts children. It forms when a person’s immune system starts to destroy the insulin producing cells, called Beta cells, in the pancreas. T1, can often be highly symptomatic, but also difficult to detect in a growing child’s body and lifestyle.

Senior Abbey Wickersham, diagnosed with type 1 in July 2011, remembers the significant weight loss and consistent thirst that marked the milestone that would be her diagnosis.

“My mom had been doing research on what was going on with me, and [my doctor’s check up] was really [her confirming] that it was diabetes,” Wickersham said.

Though at first Wickersham recalls the surreal shock and emotional fragility she felt with her diagnosis, she was able to seek out opportunities that T1 gave her like Camp Sweeney. Camp Sweeney is a camp specifically designed to take T1 kids’ minds off the insulin injections and focus on being a “normal” kid.

“[Camp Sweeney] helped me understand and maintain my diabetes, while feeling [a sense of normalcy] and [making] connections with people who share the disease with me,” Wickersham said. “I don’t think I’d be half the person I am today without [Camp Sweeney].”

Living with diabetes can be a lifelong struggle that ranges from constantly checking your blood sugar levels to maintaining a strict diet. The upkeep that comes with it is unique to each affected individual.

“I check my blood sugar 3-8 times a day, give myself insulin before every meal, and adjust my blood sugar often,” Wickersham said. “It sounds simple but there’s no real science to what your blood sugar is going to do.”

The unpredictability of diabetics’ blood sugar levels can pose problems even with intense moderation and carefulness.

“You [could] be eating healthy, working out, and your blood sugar could be super high,” Wickersham said. “There’s just some things we can’t control.”

In other instances, diabetes can be a product of poor lifestyle choices. The CDC reports that over 20 percent of children ages 11-20 are considered obese. Pediatric nurse practitioner Heather Begun has experience dealing with issues that the metabolic disease has brought on adolescents

“I would guess one-third of the patients I see are overweight,” Begun said. “These children are at high-risk or already have diabetes.”

Diabetic shock is often the way most people are diagnosed. Once diagnosed, if they do not properly follow their regimen, they are once again at risk for the effects of diabetic shock.

“Diabetic ketoacidosis, which is a result of extremely high glucose levels for a period of time, happens when-typically teens- are not taking their insulin or gain a lot of weight quickly,” Begun said.

Non-diabetics will often feel extreme side effects when they have not eaten in some time. Diabetics start to lose the dizziness, fatigue and headaches accompanied by this hunger which in turn causes their glucose levels to rapidly decline. This can cause a different type of shock.

“If not managed tightly, over time [it] can lead to poor wound healing, eye and kidney issues, blindness, loss of limbs,” Begun said.

Ten years ago when she was having blackouts while driving and drinking an abnormal and unhealthy amount of soda every day, Allen High School AP Biology teacher Lee Ferguson decided to seek out her physician’s help. It was then that her doctor told her she was a type 2 diabetic, and could have possibly been diabetic for a while before their visit.

“I actually had to go through diabetes education classes with a dietitian, take two different medications, learn how to test my blood sugar levels four times a day; which was not awesome,” Ferguson said.

Seven years after her initial diagnosis, Ferguson’s doctor notified her that her health was still not where it needed to be.

“I was [overweight],” Ferguson said. “Summer 2013 I decided to have bariatric surgery. Two months later my diabetes was gone.”

Ferguson’s remission period meant that she no longer had to take her medications, test her blood, or deal with the other common symptoms T2 had brought into her life.

“People don’t understand how serious having diabetes is. It gives you poor circulation. It can cause really hurt your body,” Ferguson said. “Unless you’ve lived [a diabetic’s] life you don’t understand.”

Pairing with our country’s escalating obesity rates is the increasing onset of diabetes and pre-diabetes at younger ages. High-sugar diets are the typical suspect in these preventable cases. Genetic predisposition is often confused with habits people learn from their parents, one of the most common being diets.

“Yes, there is some genetic predisposition but if you don’t encourage children to eat healthy diets and exercise, then [type 2] is the inevitable result,” Ferguson said. “I see lots of little kids who now have this and I wouldn’t want that for any kid.”

While the prognosis might not always be positive, organizations like the American Diabetes Association remind those impacted by the disease to be aware, active, and most of all optimistic during the month of November.

“Even people who aren’t diabetic or fit the stereotype of a diabetic need to be aware,” Ferguson said. “You’ve got to take care of yourself.”