Jenna's right, Think Like a Pancreas is a fantastic book. I had the pleasure of seeing Gary for my endo for a while in college, I just couldn't afford it for very long! His website is full of great information for beginners and experts alike - check it out!
www.integrateddiabetes.com
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Also don't not take insulin. worst thing ever, at least when your BG goes low you just pass out and die; you don't have to pee every five minutes and drink litres of water.
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I'm not sure this is the most helpful information for someone who has just been diagnosed. Why don't we try to put ourselves in her shoes and imagine how scary it is? Hearing someway say you'll "just" go low and die isn't helpful.
In reality, the chances of that are very small! Just because you take insulin, doesn't mean it will happen! You'll be testing and adjusting your doses to make sure you avoid going super low. You'll treat lows by eating sugar and bring them right up and be fine. If you ever really had an emergency, your roommates would call 911 and they'd help you. I was low all day today (don't ask -- bad day, blech!) and was fine all day -- not passed out yet!!!!
Why don't we try to be a supportive community rather than scaring someone with information which really isn't true!
For my undergrad degree I went to a university of about 40,000 students. I met two other Type 1s in my Early Childhood Education program. I mentioned in a class how I'm a type one and as a kid needed certain accommodations (we were discussing as a class how to make accommodations for students with certain needs, etc.). The girl next to me looked at me, didn't say a word, and flashed her pump at me. It was so great to see someone 'connect' even if just by flashing their pump as if to say 'Hey, I get it!'.
A semester or so later I was in a class that met in the evenings and we decided we'd all bring food to pass; each person would have a week to treat the class to a meal. Well, through some of taking certain foods or passing on certain foods, I discovered another Type 1 diabetic. She was doing MDI, as I was back then too. She was more receptive to me talking to her about it, which was cool. One time we even had dinner together (after a different class the next semester) and we bolused with our insulin pens in the bathroom at the same time and freaked out an old lady who thought we were doing drugs! Ha!
Hey Katie,
If you're still watching this post, how is everything after the first month??
Hi Adam!
Everything is actually going really well! I've kind of figured out for the most part how much insulin I need to take and what my blood sugar should be during the day. My friends have been so awesome and very supportive, even testing their blood sugar to see what I have to do multiple times a day. That really made me see that they truly care about me and they are willing to do anything for me. I've also been really open about my diabetes with anyone that sees me test or take shots because I want them to know that I'm still the same person and they shouldn't be afraid to ask me any questions. So far I have been doing pretty well! :)