How to Stay Healthy!

Are you more interested in how to stay healthy or what issues will happen if you do not stay healthy?  Well, we are going to go over both points, today.  I have explained to you what the healthy standards are for a JD, but you might ask how to maintain your health in order to live a long and healthy life as if you do not even have JD.

When you digest food, your body changes food into glucose, then insulin allows the glucose to enter all of your cells of your body and be used as energy.  For people with JD, their body does not make the insulin needed SO the glucose builds up in the blood instead of moving into the cells.  Too much glucose in the blood can lead to SERIOUS PROBLEMS LATER IN LIFE.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU DO NOT STAY HEALTHY AS A JD:

• Eye problems
• Diabetic kidney disease
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Nueropathy (nerve damage)

Yes, these sound like horror stories, but with today's different technologies and by living a healthy life style, issues can be fixed and prevented.

HOW TO STAY HEALTHY AS A JD:

• Follow the doctor's orders:
• If the doctor tells you to take this amount of insulin, gives certain formulas for taking insulin, says to exercise, gives ideas and guidelines on dieting, DO IT.  Do as the doctor says, after all, he knows best.
• Diet:
• Dieting is the key to a healthy lifestyle as a JD.  Watching what you eat and drink will affect your blood sugar.  Fruits and vegetables are best to eat, but people with JD also need a part of every food group.  Protein, fiber, carbohydrates (carbohydrates turn into sugar), sugar, and fat are needed, as well.
• Keep track:
• Keeping track of your blood glucose levels and the insulin you take can help you and the doctor adjust the insulin dosages in order to get blood sugar levels where the are supposed to be (70-120).  Keeping track of what you eat can be a good idea, too.
• Exercise:
• Exercising helps lower blood sugar and keeps you in shape.  When you are a JD, obesity is not good.
• Do the correct amount of insulin for the food eaten:
• For me, I divide the amount of carbohydrates I eat by the number 7.  So, if I have twenty-eight carbohydrates, I would do four units of insulin.  If I did three units of insulin, it would not be enough, therefore my sugar would go higher.  Your doctor will set you up with a formula.
• Test blood glucose level an appropriate amount daily.
• I test my sugar ten times a day!  Testing glucose levels is good so that if your sugar level is high or low, you can take care of it.

• Do not smoke.
• Smoking can lead to problems in the future even if you are not a JD. 

Remember, living a healthy lifestyle is your best bet for living a long life!

Some facts...

Instead of typing 'Juvenile Diabetes' constantly, I am going to refer to this as JD.  As I said in my last blog, JD is managable.  When I was young, I could not understand why I had to obtain this disease.  I was too young to understand that sometimes bad things happen to good people, especially children.  So, I cried.  This actually helped me become a stronger person in life, generally.  I was able to cope with things better.  Since then, I have dealth with this disease as if I was born with it; after all, it is a part of me.  When I was younger, I never wanted anyone to know of my condition, I tried to hide it at all times.  Before lunch time, I had to go to the nurse's office to test my sugar, then I would go to lunch to eat, then I would go back to the nurse's office to do insulin for the food I just ate.  (Do not worry about  when I speak about testing my sugar, taking insulin, etc.  I will explain the important aspects of having JD soon enough.)  When my sugar would go low, I would have to ask permission to go to the nurse's office to drink a juice.  One time, I went low twice in one day and my fourth grade teacher actually had the nerve to ask, "Are you SURE you need to go to the nurse's office?"  That sure drew more attention to myself from my classmates, which I did not want.  Not until about COLLEGE, did I become okay with letting everyone know I had JD.  I was not embarrassed and ashamed anymore. 


What is JD?  JD occurs when the body's immune system attacks and destroys certain cells in the pancreas.  This organ automatically produces insulin.  Since my pancreas is not producing insulin anymore, I have to manually give myself insulin through injections (I ahve an Insulin Pump now).  I was dignosed with JD right after I got Chicken Pox. As you know, Chicken Pox is a virus.  This virus attacked my pancreas, which ruined it.  No more insulin for me!


Here are the basics for a JD:  A person with JD blood glucose reading should be between 70-120, if my blood glucose level goes too low, (hypoglycemia-low blood sugar) I will have to drink 15 carbohydrates to raise my blood sugar to a normal level.  Symptoms for low blood sugar are shaking, fast heartbeat, sweating, dizziness, feeling anxious, hunger,vision problems, weakness, or feeling very tired.  And yes, I have been through this many times!  If my blood glucose level goes too high, (hyperglycemia-high blood sugar), I have to take insulin to make my sugar go down.  This is life threatening and can cause serious future problems.  Some symptoms are extreme thirst, having to urinate often, dry skin, hunger, blurred vision, drowsiness, wounds that are slow to heal.


Those are the most important points in order to understand JD.  There will be more to come next week!

Welcome to My Blog!

I thought since I have been a Juvenile Diabetic for sixteen years, I could blog about my experience and how I have gotten through it until now.  I have had Type I Diabates since I was in third grade.  Being a Diabetic is not all that bad.  When I was diagnosed at the age of eight, I did not understand what was going on.  My teacher notified my mother of me using the bathroom a lot, drinking a lot, and feeling dizzy before lunch.  My mother took me to the doctor's and then the nurse pricked my finger.  My blood sugar reading was 378, which is extremely high.  My primary doctor sent me to an Endocrinologist and from then on, my experience began. 


My goal for this blog is to inform people about the truths of Juvenile Diabetes and add some tips to lead a healthy lifestyle.  Having Juvenile Diabetes is not terrible.  There are worse diseases for a person to have other than Juvenile Diabetes.  This disease is not fatal and is manageable.  It is important to understand that a person with Juvenile Diabetes can live the same lifestyle a person without Juvenile Diabetes can live.