#DBW2019 - diabetes and costuming

I happened to stumble upon the fact that this week it is Diabetes Blog Week 2019, and I figured it could be interesting to take part in that. This is a costuming blog though so I am going to filter the topics through my experience as a costumer.

I'm not sure if everyone who reads this blog knows about it but I have had type 1 diabetes since I was four. Like many others there is no specific reason why I got it, no genetics or stuff like that, one day my immune system just decided to kill off my insulin production and nobody knows why. I'm dependant on daily insulin injections that I take with insulin pens, usually it's 5-7 injections a day. I also need to plan my food intake so that I know that my blood sugar won't drop dangerously low. Skipping lunch at a convention or event is not an option for me.

With that introduction here comes my first post of #dbw2019 (I missed Monday)

Tuesday - things I would have liked to know when I was diagnosed

Here is the tricky point. I don't remember what it is like to live without diabetes, I was simply too young when I got it. When I was diagnosed all the information was given to my parents, I simply learnt to live with all the new routines without really thinking about it.

What I would have liked to know more about though as I got into the costuming hobby is how to work with the stress of events. Stress makes it really hard to regulate your blood sugar, and with stress I also include the adrenaline rush of just being at an event with new people, new stuff happening and basically just having fun. Here is a secret though, most people don't notice this, simply because for me stress basically raises my blood sugar, and that doesn't give any dramatic symptoms (unless it goes really bad) just a general nausea, being thirsty and headaches.

The medieval diet is good for diabethics, these were my best days of the whole summer

One thing I definitely would have learnt more about though is to actually talk about diabetes itself. I have never had a problem saying that I have diabetes, or that I need to take my insulin, but it has taken me a really long time to be able to actually tell someone that I'm not feeling ok, that I'm either too low or too high and that I need to take care of it. This is especially true on big conventions or events where you meet a lot of people, but maybe not people that you know very well.