Episode 39: Gifts of a Diabetic

This episode was the first since the decision to let my nephew transition.Diabetic since age 12, 41 years with no complicationsEven though she came of age with diabetes, it never made her feel bad.Latwonna tells everyone that when someone is diagnosed as a childit starts with their parents. Her parents gave her a great foundation at 12 that formed who she would become. She has lost quite a bit of ppl/ family and friendsfrom diabetes in their 20's and 30'sShe calls t1d her gift that she gained at 12 because she was able to learn early before adulthood. She doesn't have to change her mindset as an older person would.She is passionate about helping others understand diabetes and be their bestbecause the medical teams just don't put enough individual time to soFor almost 20 years she did mdi and manual glucometerShe recalls going to the Dr with her parents and them writing a note for her to give to her teachers.Her parents intiated this for her. She remenisces on one young lady that we lost at 30, her kidneys and eyesight failed.that was diagnosed at 14 and when she was in her 20's that family came to Latwonna for guidanceShe wants ppl to know that you need to take care of your blood sugars today so that it wont kill youlater. She gifts a great pac man analogy of diabetes care.Latwonna came up with Gifts of a Diabetic because she wants to have open dialogue and want ppl to be able to ask questions. In 43 years her A1C has never been higher than 7.3We need to train ourselves to change our palletWants to talk to groups of people about foodAdvocate for informing the workplace about your diabetic needsShe recalls the story her mom tells ppl about her diagnosis at 12, drinking a lot of water on aftercoming back from vacation from disney world eating a little snicker and feeling awful.After her mom phone the doctor her symptoms they told her to take her to the hospital.At the hospital they struggled to find a veing and had to go through her groinAfter being given her diagnosis she stayed for the hospital for about a week.Her dad, being the military man he is and disciplinarian used. Her mom used to always tell him, "don't make her upset."She would say these things so that her blood sugar wouldn't spike.She used to give insulin in her thighs and buttocks untuil she started gettin tissue damageThats when her doctor introduced her to an insulin pump. She was already in her 30's.Not until recently she found out her sister resented the diagnosis because of the changein diet in her home, coke zero, sugar free kool aid and all.If Latwonna would go to a birthday party at 13-14 she would scrape the icing off of the cake. She remembers her first low blood sugar an waking up in the hospital. After leaving andgetting back home she saw sugar all over the bedroom floor.Theres times when she's had car accidents. About a year ago she had a severe lowWhen her son was younger, he could tell if she was suffering from a sever low by checking herforehead for trickling sweat.For almost 20 years she kept to the same routine "breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack" until she goton an insulin pump. She would pack her own snacks everywhere, including in hs totalkent shows it was a bologna and cheese sandwhich. She explained it to her friends and theyunderstood it. At hs parties when ppl would drink and come over to offer her a drink allher guy friends would step in, "No, she don't drink!"In HS she was voted "Most Unique." As she says "weirdo" but she was ok with that!Through her entire course of a diabetic she hasn't had a burnout. LT and I reminisce on drinking orange for lows for years and how we both can't stand it today! A gem she'd like to share with our community is, "Get your pride out of it! Never be to embarassed to talk about it. Ask questions.Please don't sit there with the unknowns. No question is dumb, rediculous or unheard of!"