One 18 year old girl from Missouri, Madeline Milzark, decided to take a stand in the face of those around her making light of a condition she has grappled with throughout much of her life, diabetes.
Milzark herself suffers from Type 1 diabetes, and wanted to show the world, “What diabetes really looks like”. There are three main types of diabetes: Type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin (the hormone that allows your body to use sugar). Type 1 diabetes is typically diagnosed in children (Milzark herself was just 10 years old when she was diagnosed).
Type 2 diabetes usually is diagnosed later in life and affects the way your body processes glucose (sugar). Of the three main types, the final is gestational diabetes which can occur during pregnancy and affects new mothers with unusually high blood sugar levels.
Milzark wrote a facebook post aimed at those who disassociate the word “diabetes” with those who suffer from it, and off-handedly refer to fast-food or sugary foods by the word. Milzark, for example. draws it back to the reality of
“an 18 year old girl sitting on her bathroom floor shaking and not able to breathe because her blood sugar dropped and praying her grandmas phone is near her and she got the text message to bring some sugar since she’s too weak to yell and the whole room is spinning.” -Madeline Milzark
Indeed Milzark asks everyone to “think before they speak”, and consider the reality that faces many Americans, and those around the world, who have to adjust their daily lives to accommodate the particular condition of diabetes.
Milzark herself became moved to write her widely-shared post after her blood sugar crashed. Milzark reported that it was her grandmother that gave her the sugar that saved her life. This particular fact Milzark felt should ring truer for people as it is in simpler words the “absence of sugar” that she suffers from and thus it was the consumption of sugar which balanced her blood sugar enough so she could receive further medical attention.
Milzark gave the world an insider’s look into the reality she faces everyday by posting the materials she has to use every day to check and make sure her blood sugar levels are at a healthy level. Sharing that coping with diabetes requires active participation by the one who suffers from it by checking their blood sugar levels anywhere from 6-10 times a day by extracting blood via a prick from a needle.
Diabetes isn’t your piece of cake, or that super sized McDonald’s meal with extra fries, or anything you see coated with sugar. Diabetes is an 18 year old girl sitting on her bathroom floor shaking and not able to breathe because her blood sugar dropped and praying her grandmas phone is near her and she got the text message to bring some sugar since she’s too weak to yell and the whole room is spinning. It’s a 9 year old boy who is trying to play outside with his friends and ends up being carted away in an ambulance because he went unconscious when he didn’t feel his sugar slipping. It’s a 32 year old girl who FINALLY got the news that she’s pregnant and going to have the family she’s always wanted, but instead of celebrating like she should be she’s worried to death that her blood sugars won’t stay in range with all of the hormones and that it’s going to kill her baby before she gets to meet it… and maybe even her. It’s a 3 year old who doesn’t understand why her mommy has to stab her with a syringe every single time she eats, but not her brother. It’s a 4 year old girl that I read about recently who lost her life because a doctor misdiagnosed her diabetes as the flu and she ended up a victim of diabetic ketoacidoses, where your blood literally turns acidic from the lack of insulin in your body and attacks your organs. Diabetes is your mother, your neighbor, your cousin. Diabetes isn’t the morbidly obese man you see on tv. It isn’t something people ask for or give themselves. It’s a disease that isn’t picky when it chooses who to attack, it doesn’t care if you’re 2 months old or if you’re 73. It doesn’t care if you eat Big Macs and McChickens every day of your life or if you’re a strict vegan who goes to the gym daily. Diabetes is me. Diabetes is a whole ton of people who fight for their life every single day and go to bed not sure if they’re going to wake up the next morning. So before you tag your huge dessert #Diabetes, think about what #Diabetes really looks like.
Madeline Milzark has been grateful for the positive reception her post has received, and asks people to use the #WhatDiabetesReallyLooksLike to share their stories on social media! Madeline truly is a role-model for promoting the mindfulness and awareness of this condition that affects so many people’s daily lives!
Please SHARE this with your friends and family!
