Diabetes: Death Sentence or Superpower?
When I was a kid my grandpa used to take me out on the farm to feed the horses in his big truck. I love to ride around with him and take care of the horses and enjoy quality time together. One thing I always noticed about my grandpa is that he kept a lot of payday candy bars in his glove box, and in his house that he will always snack on every once in a while and offer me one as well. I never thought anything odd of it but When I grew older I realized that it wasn’t just a personality quirk: my grandpa had type 1 diabetes.
Now, my grandpa was a tough old cowboy who worked hard at both his ranch and his dentist practice, and because he was such a hard worker most people likely did not realize that his life held difficulties that they did not understand. Just as the daily struggles of my grandpa faced or unseen, so many friends, family, and coworkers face the same struggles. So how can we help? The way to help is found through understanding the struggle those with diabetes face, in order to support them when they need it, and also being there as a friend and fellow human being who sees what they have to offer the world.
To understand what someone else goes through, we must walk in the shoes of someone who has diabetes. A friend of mine, let’s call him Kevin, discovered that he had type 1 diabetes when he went into a coma at 6 years old. His mother described her fear in the emergency room that she had somehow done something wrong, not knowing what diabetes was, or how it had happened, or if little Kevin might die. According to the American Diabetes Association, type 1 diabetes is when “the body does not produce insulin. The body breaks down the carbohydrates you eat into blood sugar that it uses for energy — and insulin is a hormone that the body needs to get glucose from the bloodstream into the cells of the body.” This means that at the time Kevin’s body was starting to shut down because it couldn’t produce insulin and they were later told that if they arrived at the hospital even an hour later he might have died.
Today Kevin is a well liked individual who works and plays hard. He told me about how he has learned to work around the challenges of diabetes while on the job. For example when he drops low he can tell and so he takes a short break to drink a juice box along with a carb so the sugar doesn’t travel straight through his system. This habit earned him the moniker “Juicebox” at work which serves to lighten the mood and also increase coworkers’ awareness . When asked how he overcomes the struggle of being different with a body that starts to give out periodically, he cites openness as his reason for being so at ease.
One of the large issues involving diabetes in the US is the price of insulin. Forbes magazine in an article “Insulin’s Out-Of-Pocket Cost Burden To Diabetic Patients Continues To Rise Despite Reduced Net Costs To PBMs”, stated that “Newer versions of insulin retail for between $175 and $300 a vial. Most patients with diabetes need two to three vials per month, and some can require more.” Kevin confirmed that this is accurate, as he uses about 1–2 vials a month and, with insurance, they cost about $175. This can be an issue for diabetics working minimum wage jobs, or even higher paying ones because it adds that much more to the monthly budget. There has been debate that legislation should be made to keep the price of insulin low because it is a necessity that diabetics need to live, but as of now nothing has changed and Kevin thinks that prices will only rise.
All downsides considered, what really inspired me about Kevin’s story is his complete acceptance and openness about his disability. Kevin is confident in who he is as a person and has become comfortable explaining that he has diabetes and what that is so his friends and family and coworkers know what to expect if he is acting strange, and can help. He also will joke along with people saying they can call him “Diabeto” because hey, it’s a part of him and there is no reason for him or anyone else to be uncomfortable with the fact. A good friend even went as far as to create a superhero, “The Great Diabeto” , who is stocked with vials of insulin: ready to save anyone who is in need. I hope that everyone can take a page from Kevin’s book and be bold in their humanity, accepting what they cannot change and facing challenges head on, with respect for fellow humans even if they have challenges we cannot understand.
Cohen, Joshua. “Insulin’s Out-Of-Pocket Cost Burden To Diabetic Patients Continues To Rise Despite Reduced Net Costs To PBMs.” Forbes, 2021. Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuacohen/2021/01/05/insulins-out-of-pocket-cost-burden-to-diabetic-patients-continues-to-rise-despite-reduced-net-costs-to-pbms/?sh=782f628140b2. Accessed 18 March 2021.
American Diabetes Association. “Understanding type 1.” diabetes.org, 2021, https://www.diabetes.org/diabetes. Accessed 18 March 2021.
