Ten years ago my son was not feeling well. He was not eating much and he was constantly thirsty and going to the washroom. This went on for 5 days. My wife did some research and the symptoms appeared to be consistent with Diabetes. We took him into the Stony Plain Hospital. They immediately checked his blood glucose level and rushed him into the Diabetes Centre at the Stollery Hospital in Edmonton. He was immediately diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.
My family has now been dealing with this disease for over 10 years. My son has to constantly check his blood glucose levels: 5 to 7 times a day. He has to take Insulin injections: 3 to 5 times a day. This is an ongoing vigilant process managing this disease. Whenever his blood glucose either spikes (high glucose level) or crashes (low glucose level) it is causing damage to his body.
Type 1 diabetes occurs when the immune system mistakenly attacks and kills the beta cells of the pancreas. No, or very little, insulin is released into the body. As a result, glucose builds up in the blood instead of being used as energy.
The reason I bring this up is I have had many conversations with people over the years who do not know about this disease but think they can offer advice. I might have been the same way if I didn't live with it day in and day out. I guess my point is what I can learn from my encounters with other people with a disease or issue they are dealing with, it is best to be empathetic but don't offer advice on something I don't know anything about.
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