Dear GMA: I Want You To Know...

Dear GMA,

There's a few things I Want You to Know...

I've heard about your segment with Ricki Lake all day.  What I like to call... "The Lake Mistake".  About how, once again, the public was informed that Juvenile (Type 1) Diabetes is a preventable disease. 

Being at work, I didn't see it live. However, I just watched it. And even though I KNEW...  I KNEW what was going to be said. It still made me want to cry.  It still made me want to scream.... 

 TYPE 1 DIABETES IS NOT PREVENTABLE. It is NOT caused by diet or lack of exercise. Type 1 is an AUTO IMMUNE DISEASE! 

 Why does this hurt so much? Why can't I just chalk it up to a mistake and let it go at that?

Because my daughter was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes just weeks after turning 3 years old. She weighed 25 pounds.  She was skin and bones. She was deathly ill.  She had never tasted soda.  She had never had a sucker until she was 2.  We have no history of diabetes in either of our families. It came out of the blue and changed our lives forever. 

We now deal with this deadly disease every single day. We test her blood sugar around 10 times a day. We get up at least once (although it's often more) a night to check her blood and make sure she is still alive.  We count every carbohydrate that goes into her mouth. We insert needles into her body every day.  

She wears an insulin pump 24 hours a day - 7 days a week. Just to stay ALIVE.

If you have ever had to hold your child down, while she kicks and screams and BEGS you not to hurt her, to give her a shot of the medicine that keeps her alive... and done that five or more times a day...  You know it's hard to just let that hurt go. 

How do we find a cure when celebrities keep going on television and getting it wrong? Who wants to donate money to help us find that cure if the disease was something we could have prevented? NO ONE. 

I want a cure. I want to be able to go to bed at night without worrying that diabetes is going to steal my child's life away while I sleep. I want to go a few hours without seeing her blood. I want to never pierce her skin with a needle again. I want her to have a long, healthy, complication free life. I want a cure. We NEED a cure!

Every mistake sets us back. 

And we don't have time for this.

Right now, there is a disease raging thru my child's body. Causing damage. No matter how good our care is. Because no matter what we do, we will NEVER be as good as a "real" pancreas.

Hearing this is a smack in the face. 

We struggle every day to keep our kids alive. Every single one. 

We worry. We don't sleep at night. We spend THOUSANDS of dollars on medical supplies and equipment. We watch everything they eat. We take them to the endocrinologist every three months.  We hold our children while they cry in pain. We hide our own tears.

 

 One week of supplies...

I commend Ricki Lake for apologizing.  Not only did she release a statement but she also apologized on The Joy Behar Show.  I think she's sincere.  I think it was an honest mistake.

I appreciate your correction. I appreciate you taking this seriously.

But while an apology is nice.....  

It still stings.

That's why I'm looking forward to your show tomorrow when I hear a LIVE ON AIR correction will be made!

There are so many of us living with diabetes who would LOVE the opportunity to share with you and your audience about this disease.  My daughter is one.  Noah, The Diabetes Dude is another.  I'm sure they, along with all the other Diabetes Dude Ambassadors, would happily flock your studios to tell you all about life with Type 1.  And how they might have diabetes, but they don't let diabetes have them. 

Living with diabetes is hard. 

Knowing that people understand... Knowing that people "get it".... Knowing that people care....  

It makes living the D Life a little easier.