A few months after Neil was diagnosed in 1992, his dad dragged him to a JDRF event. Neil was 20, arms crossed, doing the math on how fast they could leave. Somewhere in the middle of a keynote, his dad leaned over and whispered, "You can do this one day." It took Neil about 10 years to understand what he meant.
This kicks off the November series, and this month is about people instead of a habit. When you got diagnosed, somebody handed you insulin and a meter, and nobody handed you a person. Neil shares the decade he spent hiding every injection in a bathroom, the 2015 research from Larry Fisher and Bill Polonsky showing about 4 in 10 adults with type 1 carry at least moderate diabetes distress, and the 2016 ADA statement that says your care team should screen for it at diagnosis. (Raise your hand if anybody asked you.)
In this episode:
- The JDRF event, "5 years away from a cure," and his dad's whisper
- 10 years of hiding type 1, Mission: Impossible style, in other people's guest bathrooms
- What diabetes distress is, and how it's different from depression
- The 2016 ADA recommendation most of us never got
- How one blog comment, and a 2008 video for his coworkers, ended the hiding
- The Real Ones: a list of people Neil would actually send you to, starting Tuesday
This week's challenge: Leave one real comment on one person's post. Not a heart, not the fire emoji. A sentence. If you love somebody with type 1, comment as the mom, the husband, the roommate.
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What is Your Best T1D Year?
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