Diabetics arm themselves with knowledge and support

MT. PLEASANT — Living with Diabetes can change many aspects of life, however, with support and education, many find it does not have to impede their lives.

According to the Center for Disease Control, Diabetes affects 37.3 million Americans.

Juleighan Klein, a junior studying business administration at Iowa Wesleyan University, intimately knows the impact Diabetes brings to everyday life.

“I'm a type one diabetic,” Klein said. “My body does not produce any kind of insulin, while in the case of type two diabetics, theirs are just insulin resistant.”

According to the National Institutes of Health, “In the United States, about 5 percent of people with diabetes have Type 1.”

At 11 years old Klein found themself admitted to the hospital just before Christmas following a routine doctor’s visit.

“I had just turned eleven in October of that year,” Klein recalled. “Then two months later, December 21, the week of Christmas, they caught it at a doctor's appointment.”

According to the Mayo Clinic, “Type 1 diabetes can appear at any age, but it appears at two noticeable peaks. The first peak occurs in children between four and seven years old. The second is in children between 10 and 14 years old.”

“I don't remember any other way of living at this point, but at the time, they sat me down and they looked at me and they went, ‘Juleighan, we think you have type one diabetes,’” Klein said. “And I sat there, and I tried to hold in my tears and they were like, it's OK to cry, and then I just sobbed.”

While in the hospital, medical staff gave Klein, their mother, and their grandmother a crash course in Diabetes education.

“I stabbed an orange with a syringe to practice giving shots because an orange is the most similar to human skin,” Klein remembered. “ … they had us watch these videos on the TV, and I can't remember what they were about now, but it was very much like, this is your life with diabetes.”

“At one point, sat us down in a room with a nurse practitioner or a doctor or a nurse,” Klein said. “They went over, like, what to do if I had a low blood sugar or a high blood sugar, and the kind of food and snacks we should keep around the house in case of emergencies.”

Right now, in Southeast Iowa, Henry County Health Center offers a variety of options to learn about living with diabetes much like Klein had to many years before.

According to the HCHC website, they offer individual classes which include “Diabetes overview, glucose monitoring, prevention and treatment of high and low blood sugars, pattern control, meal planning, food preparation, insulin therapy, weight management and exercise.”

They also offer group classes that cover topics ranging from “What is Diabetes?” to “The Importance of Exercise,” and even “Skin and Dental Care.”

Since receiving their first intensive education 10 years ago, Klein has learned a lot about managing their diabetes alongside the support of family and friends.

“My friends have always been great about it,” Klein said. “They've always gotten me what I've needed and helped to prioritize me and taken care of myself when I have issues. Sometimes, however, I tend to downplay it just because I feel weird accepting help like that.”

According to Klein, however, their mother instilled the importance of self-advocacy early.

“I have something that can impede my life,” Klein said. “If I don't advocate for myself, if I don't take the necessary steps and put my foot down, then it will impede my life.”

“My high school was very accommodating,” Klein said. “I only had a few hiccups.”

Klein described a time a teacher had a hard time granting permission for a bathroom break despite an accommodation provided by a 504 plan.

“I pressed the issue and he let me go,” Klein said. “When I told my mom about it, though, she made sure it didn’t happen again.”

Despite the ability to advocate well, Klein has always felt that sense of “other.”

“The issues with diabetics aren't always visual,” Klein said. “Like, you see people who did lose limbs or lose eyesight, but so much of it is just this internal checks and balances.”

“It's important to remember that because when somebody, you know, isn't acting, when they look fine and everything is going right, that doesn't mean everything is going right inside,” they said.

Klein remembers a specific time growing up that gave them back some sense of normalcy, however.

“Something that genuinely changed my life was when I went to a diabetic camp that is held in Monticello, Illinois,” Klein said.

“You don’t have phones for a week, and it’s you and every other camper is a Type 1 Diabetic,” Klein said. “There are nurses to work with you, and the camp counselors are also diabetics for the most part.”

“It's so nice knowing that every single person here is going through the exact same things that I am,” they said. “It was wonderful getting to sit with other people and have them go, oh, my blood sugar is 60, and just have them nod and just go, ‘That's rough, buddy.’ They just know and you don't have to explain it.”

“Whether informal or structured, in-person or online, one-to-one or in a group, connecting with other people dealing with diabetes can be relieving, encouraging, and empowering,” Clinical Psychologist Gary Levenston shared with the Diabetes Research Institute.

HCHC offers some support groups for those managing Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

Monday, April 17 they will offer a Prediabetes support group from 2-3 p.m., in suite 25 of the health center.

Tuesday, April 20 they will offer a Continuous Glucose Meter support group also from 2-3 p.m. in suite 25.

For Klein, those years spent “feeling normal” with other diabetic campers made a huge impact in their life, and they feel a camaraderie with others that carry the extra weight of a diabetes diagnosis.

I was diagnosed. I was very lucky. They caught it in a routine doctor's checkup. And I know a lot of diabetics who the way theirs was caught, where they fell into comas, or they were like literally babies. I'm very grateful mine was caught when it was.

Comments: AnnaMarie.Ward@southeastiowaunion.com