A Battle With My Body
Every day my body tries to kill itself. With two unique strategies, my body can be very clever in its mission. Sometimes my blood is flooded with sugar. Sugary blood abuses my veins and nerves. It punches my kidneys, from the inside. It strains my eyes. It feels awful. When sugars are high I avoid eating, implement countermeasures, and try to lower the sugar levels before irreversible bodily damage eventually transpires.
Other times, there is not enough sugar in my blood. I run out of gas and bonk. It feels like my body is trying to shut down. I can’t concentrate, get sweaty, confused, depressed, and angry. As my blood sugar drops my brain simply can’t function. If I don’t notice my brain slowing down and fill the tank immediately, I can become quite zombie-like. The longer the zombie goes without being fed, the more likely the zombie ceases to exist. It is even more scary when the zombie comes out at night, while riding a bike, or while driving!
What causes these involuntary suicidal tendencies? I have Type I diabetes. I’ve been battling it for 27 years. The word battle might sound dramatic, but if left alone, my body would self destruct. Even when I think I’m winning, my body finds a way to surprise me and tries to self destruct. The battle wages on.
Fortunately, I bring some good weapons to battle. I have an insulin pump holstered to my arm and a continuous blood sugar monitor stuck on my butt. I prick my finger to check my blood sugar level five to ten times a day. I carry shot bloks in case my sugars go low and dial up a bolus through my insulin pump when sugars go high. It is a constant back and forth, but obviously I’m alive and thus winning!
There is no cure for diabetes. The only thing I can do is keep my blood sugars as normal as possible, raise awareness, and help raise money to fund those working hard to find a cure. On the research forefront encapsulation cell therapy has emerged to potentially eliminate diabetes for extended periods of time. Encapsulation is so exciting that I’m personally applying to clinical trials to help the cause and hopefully embrace the success.
In order for encapsulation, or any potential cure, to come to fruition, research efforts need major support. Which brings me to the plea: on October 26th, 2014, my team, “The Glucagons”, will be walking 3 miles in the San Francisco JDRF One Walk to raise awareness and funds for diabetes research, including encapsulation research. Please come out and walk with my family and I (join our team) and/or donate. If I’m going to be an encapsulation guinea pig, I’d prefer they had enough dough to do it right!
