Dear American TV,
Why do you insist on making fun of people with Diabetes. Did you know that over 25 million people in the US have diabetes, around 8.3% of the population. Not all of those people got diabetes by laying around on the couch, watching TV, drinking soda, and eating cupcakes! Not all of those people have had or will have a leg amputated. Some of those people with diabetes are kids, and they didn't get it because their parents let them have a sweet treat every now and then, they certainly didn't get it from a Happy Meal at McDonalds.
You develop Diabetes when your body either stops producing insulin or when your body builds up resistance to insulin. It is a serious chronic illness! There are many different types of diabetes. Do your research, when you report about diabetes, report about all types of them, not just one.
Why do you insist on painting the country pink in October, and then forgetting about everything else for the rest of the year. Diabetes has a month too, its November, devote some time in November to educating about the differences, of course its good to talk about the preventions but when you talk about preventing diabetes, tell the world which diabetes you are trying to prevent. Take into consideration the children and adults with Type 1 Diabetes, the ones whose immune system turned on them. Take into consideration the ones who have hereditary diabetes.
No more jokes on talk shows, late night shows, and news shows about sugar highs or amputations. That stuff scares my kid who has diabetes. You don't make fun of cancer, mentally handicapped, or other illness, so don't make fun of diabetes either. It is anything but fun!
If you're going to talk about, research it, get your facts straight, make a well-informed piece.
Thank you, Amanda
Now, for the Wego Health NHBPM prompts for today, they were to make a care package for your fellow patients, or to tell a descriptive story about a memory.
Yesterday I wrote a little about Kortnie's diagnosis in Dear Diabetes or you could read about her Diagnosis Story for some of my memories.
As far as a care package for our fellow patients, I actually can't really think of anything very nifty right now. When Kortnie was in the hospital, it was a children's hospital. They had all kinds of neat things there for her, they had the Disney channel, movies, video games, board games, and books they could bring to your room. They also had a game room, arts and crafts room, and even a school room you could go to for awhile if you wanted, even a playground. The people at Child Life brought her a Bag of Hope from JDRF, which had a Rufus bear in it, Rufus also has diabetes, they also brought her a couple of blood sugar meters and skins for them. They let her pick out a medic alert bracelet too. They had free wifi there too, so that was nice for me, I could update worried friends and family through facebook (no smart phone for me back then, they were still fairly new), and I could research Type 1 when she was resting or watching tv. They gave us some books about diabetes, a whole binder full of information, great training, and free samples of meters and test strips. They gave us toothbrushes and toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, soap, towels, and washrags, they had a lounge with a Keurig type coffee machine, tv, magazines, a refrigerator, microwave, and a shower for us parents. The hospital was great to us. I can't think of anything else they could have done for us.
If I heard about a newly diagnosed family in the hospital. I might bring them some food for the parents, tv dinners or something they could keep in the refrigerator and microwave in the lounge. I might bring the kids a new pair of PJ's, for a girl some nail polish. I would definitly bring them a list of helpful websites, groups on facebook, organizations, and blogs. The biggest thing I would bring them is love, support, and prayers.
Diabetes Fact of the Day
Sugar free is not necessarily good for a Type 1 Diabetic, sugar free candy and treats are usually filled with sugar alcohol which can cause tummy issues, and they almost always have just as many carbs as the non-sugar free version.
Go take the Big Blue Test if 20,000 tests get logged by World Diabetes Day on November 14th, $100,00 will be donated by Roche Diabetes Care to humanitarian diabetes chairites around the world which will deliver lifesaving insulin and supplies to children around the world. You don't have to have diabetes to do the test. For a non-diabetic, all you need to do is 14 minutes of activity. Dancing, Running, Aerobics, Zumba, Yoga, Weight Lifting, Swimming, Walking, Playing at the Park with you kids, Bicycling, anything. It only takes a minute or less. Go log your activity and help save a child here!
AWESOME WRAP!!!! Love your letter ;) Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteIt's always interesting to hear about people's different experiences at the hospital. I wish we had been brought a few different meters and skins. And they were out of Rufus :-( But all in all it was a really nice children's hospital and there were many visitors and charitable gifts given out to all patients being the week of Christmas and all. The playrooms with arts and crafts really helped a lot!
ReplyDeleteWell, we were only given the Accu-Check meter, but they gave us 3 of them. One for home, one for school, and one for the babysitter. But the sticker skin things were cool. It must suck so bad being in there over Christmas. This year will be a much better Christmas for you guys!
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