What an amazing weekend.
It's a wonderful feeling when things come together and are successful. What is even more special is some of us met for the first time on Saturday.
Together we had Diabetes Power!, raised lots of money and I believe for a short period
of time raised the profile of Diabetes.
Lee set me thinking, why is there little known about Diabetes in the big wide world? I wasn't surprised to hear from people that I spoke to on the walk, that although they had heard of diabetes they knew very little about the condition in comparison to other long term or life threatening illnesses.
Interestingly, a majority of people were concerned that the children's service was so underfunded and gave generously. Sadly many hospitals and PCT's don't share the same concerns.
I have come to these conclusions:
The NHS have given Type 2 Diabetes a bad press, linking it with obesity, poor diet and lack of exercise. Whilst this can contribute, factors such as Type 2 is more likely to travel through families, often people are not over weight and indeed live a healthy life.
Lets be honest who really wants to admit openly that they have diabetes, when it is linked primarily to the above.
Type 1, for years , children & adults have been injecting themselves in toilets or away from the public eye. Schools have made the condition seem unimportant by not allowing children to snack or assisting them with testing their blood glucose,or injecting insulin and excluding them from activities, in reality a lot of children within education are made to feel as if they are a burden.
Many of the medical profession just expect you to get on with it.!(not all!!!)
Yet this is a condition, when left untreated leads to death.
My friend told me to be ready for the inevitable question!!! It came !! Claudia asked "mummy if I don't have my insulin will I die"? Holding back the tears, I said "Yes". I have never lied to Claudia and have always been honest, even when speaking the truth, hurts deep within.
It came again at a later date from one of her school friends. "will Claudia always have to have insulin"? I said "yes, unless they find a cure". "Oh, does that mean she would die if she didn't take it"?
Like many of the other well known charities such as Cancer Research, Macmillan, Oxfam, Help the Aged. We need to catch the roller coaster ride and raise the awareness of Diabetes over and over again, never getting off until we have raised awareness and recognition on a global scale.
So I say, lets be proud we have diabetes, no more hiding behind closed doors or in toilets.
Let's together get on that roller coaster and stay on together until we have achieved our goal.
Together we had Diabetes Power!, raised lots of money and I believe for a short period
of time raised the profile of Diabetes.Lee set me thinking, why is there little known about Diabetes in the big wide world? I wasn't surprised to hear from people that I spoke to on the walk, that although they had heard of diabetes they knew very little about the condition in comparison to other long term or life threatening illnesses.
Interestingly, a majority of people were concerned that the children's service was so underfunded and gave generously. Sadly many hospitals and PCT's don't share the same concerns.
I have come to these conclusions:
The NHS have given Type 2 Diabetes a bad press, linking it with obesity, poor diet and lack of exercise. Whilst this can contribute, factors such as Type 2 is more likely to travel through families, often people are not over weight and indeed live a healthy life.
Lets be honest who really wants to admit openly that they have diabetes, when it is linked primarily to the above.
Type 1, for years , children & adults have been injecting themselves in toilets or away from the public eye. Schools have made the condition seem unimportant by not allowing children to snack or assisting them with testing their blood glucose,or injecting insulin and excluding them from activities, in reality a lot of children within education are made to feel as if they are a burden.
Many of the medical profession just expect you to get on with it.!(not all!!!)
Yet this is a condition, when left untreated leads to death.
My friend told me to be ready for the inevitable question!!! It came !! Claudia asked "mummy if I don't have my insulin will I die"? Holding back the tears, I said "Yes". I have never lied to Claudia and have always been honest, even when speaking the truth, hurts deep within.
It came again at a later date from one of her school friends. "will Claudia always have to have insulin"? I said "yes, unless they find a cure". "Oh, does that mean she would die if she didn't take it"?
Like many of the other well known charities such as Cancer Research, Macmillan, Oxfam, Help the Aged. We need to catch the roller coaster ride and raise the awareness of Diabetes over and over again, never getting off until we have raised awareness and recognition on a global scale.
So I say, lets be proud we have diabetes, no more hiding behind closed doors or in toilets.
Let's together get on that roller coaster and stay on together until we have achieved our goal.
I made some ribbons for our event, pink and blue ribbons with a butterfly and a heart. The pink was for Diabetes Uk, the blue ribbon for JDRF, the Butterfly stands for freedom and the Heart for the love within the Diabetes Community.
As Lee said,this is just the beginning!
As Lee said,this is just the beginning!
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