Ok. I’ve done a little research and it appears that type 1 diabetes is on the rise, at a rate of about 3% a year. So, I was wrong in my earlier post about diabetes and pregnancy when I said type 2 was on the rise, not type 1. However, I still stand by my argument that the study should have separated the groups of women with diabetes into type 1 and type 2.
Diabetes and Pregnancy
According to a recent study conducted by Kaiser Permanente and funded by the ADA, “diabetes before motherhood” has doubled in the last six years. The study is the largest and most diverse to examine type 1 and type 2 women with diabetes in childbearing years. We need this kind of research; we need more information about managing diabetes during pregnancy. However, this report which was released in the May issue of Diabetes Care and has been plastered on Diabetes health, Science Daily and Yahoo news makes some important mistakes. The point of the research, I think, is to encourage women to engage in healthier lifestyles before they get pregnant to decrease the risks of miscarriage and/or birth defects. This is all well and good…..However, as a woman who has been living with type 1 diabetes for 23 years and as a mother to two healthy boys, I am frustrated by this report for the following reasons.
“In the study, Kaiser researchers did not look at whether any of the women had prenatal diabetes care or how the babies fared after their birth. They also could not determine the type of diabetes the women had.” (Associated Press, www.physorg.com) Wait, what? They could not determine what type of diabetes these women had??? The study looked at the increase of diabetes in women in childbearing years, and they couldn’t determine whether they were type 1 or type 2!?! The story in the Associated Press shows a photograph of a woman who has type 1 diabetes and is 7 months pregnant with her second child, her beautiful 3 year old daughter smiles in the front corner of the photo. The woman tells the interviewer how when she was pregnant the first time, she checked her blood sugar sometimes 15 times a day. I did that too, I thought and I read on…
The story in Diabetes Health discusses the dangers of high blood sugar during pregnancy, “If a mother’s diabetes is poorly controlled, she can have up to a 25 percent risk of delivering a baby with a major malformation of the heart, brain or skeleton. (But) with excellent care, these women have an excellent chance of having a healthy baby.” Yikes! I think, this is so scary to read and I’m done having children…..I keep reading. In Science Daily, the story explains some of the reasons for the increase in women with diabetes before pregnancy are, “due to the fact that our society has become more overweight and obese.” (www.sciencedaily.com) Okay, I think. Maybe they are not talking about me. So wait a minute, who are they talking about then? I keep reading.
None of these articles differentiate between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. This is what I discover after I print everything out. Research shows:
So….hmmmm…Type 1 diabetes is not on the rise. The study did not bother to separate those of us who must inject ourselves with insulin and those who can “Reverse Diabetes.” (Such a cruel phrase!) The study lumped those of us who have been living with this disease for years with women who have type 2 diabetes, probably not diagnosed until they were in their 20’s (because even though type 2 is on the rise in childhood, the majority are still diagnosed when they are older).
I find it hard to believe that a study funded by the ADA couldn’t bother to group the women according to type 1 or type 2. While I appreciate the challenges every woman faces with type 2 diabetes, I know that her disease is not the same as mine and I resent that these researchers refused to take our differences into consideration. I resent that these researchers are using scare tactics about birth defects to grab the attention of all women with diabetes, type 1 and type 2.
The part that angers me the most about this research is that a woman with type 1 will read these stories and feel afraid to have children. Women with type 1 diabetes can lead healthy, normal lives, have healthy, normal pregnancies and have beautiful, lovely, healthy children. Don’t let this research tell you any different.
Sorry for the crazy font on my blog…I’m not sure what has happened, but I’ve got NW designs working on fixing these visuals! Bear with me….
I don’t know about you, mama writers, but I feel like May is for me. I have spent too many hours volunteering at my kid’s pre-school field trips, Easter plays and birthday parties and I am spent. I have said yes to too many blogs, columns and editing projects and my creative writing, my passion has paid the price. So May is for me, May is for saying no, May is for sitting in front of the computer each day and writing for me.
Here’s some tips to help you reclaim you:
· Set a limit on the number of times you check your email during the day. For example, once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and one time in the evening. The less you check your email, the less distracted from your creative writing you will be. As a mother, I’ve begun to feel guilty about the time I spend in front of my lap-top, away from my children and when I read an article in the New York Times about a writer who decided to regulate/restrict the time he spent on the computer, I was intrigued. Could I do the same thing? The idea of limiting my access to my computer made me hyperventilate. So I knew I had to try. I have not yet made it through a full day off-line, but I am attempting to limit my access and I’ve noticed that after hours away, when I log back on, I haven’t missed much.
· Whether you are a type A or a fly by the seat of your pants kind of girl, pull out your planner, organize and catalog your writing goals. Having them on paper, in an organized fashion will help even the most spontaneous of us. And don’t forget to assess your progress. How are you doing on your New Year’s Resolutions? So far, so good? Or do you need to recommit? Write those down too.
· Practice saying no. Start small…No, I can’t make something sweet for the school’s Spring picnic. No, I can’t edit your article. No, I can’t volunteer for this writing group. And No, I can’t watch you ride your bike right now. Mommy needs to write. No is hard to say sometimes and you may feel guilty, but after a few tries, you’ll get more comfortable saying no and it will come easier. Soon, you will find yourself with time to write those stories that have been coming together in the back of your mind. You will breathe easier. You will smile more often. And you will remember that you are a writer.
(From The Writer Mama zine)
Varnell, of Austin, has a knack for finding joy in small moments. She also has multiple sclerosis and has used a wheelchair for many years. Since her diagnosis in 1991, she says, she has sought out everyday positive experiences, such as that toddler-TV break.
As a result, she says, “my life is better now than before I had MS.”
Varnell’s story is not just another anecdote. It’s the inspiration for a recently published study that showed that others with MS who engage in uplifting activities — even saying “thank you” and dining with friends — report fewer symptoms of depression and a higher quality of life than those who don’t.
Here’s the back story: Varnell participates in a long-term study of MS patients run by the University of Texas at Austin and financed by the National Institute on Nursing. One year, while filling out page after page of study questions, Varnell became frustrated. The scientists wanted to know how much pain she had, how often she felt sad, whether she was losing her sight and whether she was ever embarrassed by her appearance. “It was all negative, negative, negative.”
So Varnell sent researchers Lorraine Phillips and Alexa Stuifbergen a list of about 60 questions she wished they had asked — such as whether she had taken a nice nap, gone to a movie or enjoyed a picnic lately.
To her delight, the researchers agreed, in 2005, to ask participants whether they had engaged in 35 positive experiences, all chosen from Varnell’s list.
The results, published in the March issue of the Journal of Holistic Nursing: People who checked off the most items for a given week were the least depressed and had the highest quality of life. That was true even for those who had the most severe MS-related limitations, such as not being able to walk.
The study does not prove that positive habits stave off depression in such chronically ill people. It’s possible that people who do those things are just more resiliently happy anyway. But seeking positive experiences might help, says Phillips, now at the University of Missouri. In other words, she says, Varnell’s list “could be an intervention” for people with MS and other chronic illnesses.
Included on the final list: “I watched Sesame Street just to see children laughing, playing and singing.” Also included:
“I said thank you and meant it.”
“I phoned a friend.”
“I went to visit a friend.”
“I said something pleasant to someone else who didn’t expect it.”
“I crossed off something on my to-do list because I finished it.”
“I learned something new.”
“I was a volunteer or agreed to become a volunteer.”
“I went to a library and checked out a book to read.”
“I went shopping and bought something for myself.”
“I pampered myself with a manicure, massage, new haircut or relaxing bath or shower with a new cologne or perfume.”
“I don’t think I’ve watched Sesame Street lately, but I’ve used just about everything else on that list,” says Jenni Prokopy, a writer in Chicago who has fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition, and blogs at ChronicBabe.com.
“When I’m not feeling well, doing some of these things can help me feel better.”
Helping others is also a tonic, she says.
Varnell agrees. Recently she volunteered at a MS charity walk. She worked all day, signing the certificates of people who finished the walk, chatting with participants and thanking them. She should have been exhausted the next day. Instead, she says, “I felt great.”
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/painter/2008-04-27-your-health_N.htm
What are your small moments?????
Is there any way to read this essay and not feel deflated? Rachel Donadio writes about the NEA’s report which showed that 53% of Americans hadn’t read a book in the previous year, but in 2007, (according to the industry tracker Bowker) 4000,000 books were published/distributed in the United States, up from 3000,000 in 2006. So, according to this research, fewer American are reading, while more are writing. In the essay Ms. Donadio writes that IUniverse has grown 30% a year in recent years, producing now 500 new titles each month. Susan Driscoll, vice president of its parent company states that, “most writers using IUniverse sell fewer than 200 books.”
Yikes! How is it possible to feel motivated by these statistics? 200 books!?! After reading this essay, I wanted to crawl into a closet with my book proposal and lock the door, give up, throw in the towel….But then I thought, no way. There is no way after all this work that I could give up. I don’t know where this journey will take me, but I’m in it and when my book gets published, I’m going to make sure I sell at least 201 books!
We’d like to invite diabetes professionals, persons with diabetes (and the people who love and help them) to contribute articles to Diabetes Health.
We’re interested in almost every topic imaginable:
• Promising research
• First-person stories
• Memorable people and characters
• Letters to the editor
• Beginners’ stories – Coping with a diagnosis of diabetes and developing a knowledge of the disease
• Diabetes from teens’ and children’s points of view
• Interesting recipes (10 carbs per serving maximum)
• Medications – what has worked for you and what hasn’t?
• Living with diabetes – The disease’s day-to-day challenges
• Traveling with diabetes
• Meters, insulin pumps and CGMs – Tips for best use
• Advice on any topic you have advice to give
It’s easy to submit an article, letter or query! Just send it to editor@diabeteshealth.com
My film studies graduate class will be over next week. I turned my final paper in last night and need to start studying (today!) for the final….Last night we discussed the film, Lone Star and I actually left early because Will has strep throat and my boys don’t like to be with a babysitter, grandparent or not, when they are sick.
Anyway, the point of my story is that there is another woman in my class who has diabetes. I found out about it the first week of school because we were sitting next to each other and she was eating and kind of apologized about it, explaining that “I need the sugar, I’m a diabetic.” I told her I was diabetic too and we both smiled, as if we’d discovered we were both newly pregnant. I was excited in the way I’ve been on the past on the few occasions when I’ve met another women with diabetes in person. I snuck glances at her out of the corner of my eye, listened extra close whenever she spoke in class and wondered where she was when she was late.
That first class was the only time we spoke about diabetes. Our professor had us fill out some questions about ourselves to get to know us better, questions like what was our favorite movie, book etc. One of the questions was, “what is your defining characteristic?” I didn’t know what to say that wouldn’t sound cheesey, ex. “green eyes” (My professor is very good looking!) so I wrote that I had type 1 diabetes. A week or two later, my professor was lecturing about something, I can’t remember what, and he compared the topic to diabetes, to needing a cure and I blushed, sure he was talking abut me and then I remembered my classmate and looked at her, maybe she’d written diabetes as her defining characteristic as well.
From then on, whenever my classmate talked in class and stumbled over her words, or the point she was trying to make, I was convinced that her blood sugar was low and was embarassed. I had no proof but my own suspicions and wanted to nudge her leg under the table, to arch my eyebrow at her and get her to stop talking, she wasn’t making any sense. It got so bad that all semester, I’ve suspected her of being low and dismissed her arguements, listened to her with less focus than when I listened to someone else, someone different than us.
It reminds me of the time I went on a blind date with a guy who had diabetes. He was a great guy, cute, nice, smart…all those things but I just couldn’t do it. He took me for a boat ride, up the river and packed a picnic lunch, and when we both reached for our shot bags, I wanted to run. I never returned his calls after that. I knew I was being horrible.
It reminds me of when I see my sister give her shot or lick the blood from her finger tips after she’s tested her blood, and I cringe, it’s gross. It makes me stop, and turn away when I give my own shot in front of my friends. It makes me wonder what they are thinking, and I hope their thoughts are kinder than mine.
The rejections have been coming in slowly but surely…..They have been nice and supportive, but they don’t want my book. I know I need to be patient. Easier said than done. I’m writing a column for Diabetes Sisters and will start the Chronic Mamas column for Literary Mama in May and I feel sure that these efforts will bring attention to my book. But still, all this waiting s hard for someone like me who likes immediate gratification……I will try to be patient, our stories are worth it.
alsmercer