Yes, I watched the MTV Real Life episode on diabetes this week. As soon as I realized it was on, I couldn’t be pried from the television.  I am always interested in seeing how the media represents people with diabetes—and I’m always hopeful that they will get it right!  I have to say that I thought it was a pretty realistic representation of diabetes—from a young adult woman who had to move home to pay for a new insulin pump (because she did not have health insurance) to a male college student who seemingly “went wild” with alcohol once he got to college to a young woman who was diagnosed with diabetes on the same day she found out she was pregnant.  The pregnant woman’s story was the most disturbing to me because the viewers watched her go to her doctor appointments and get berated by her doctor about her watching her diet and taking her meds in order to get her blood sugars down.  She was told that she would have to start taking shots—if she didn’t get her diabetes under control.  (FYI-She was either told she had type 2 or gestational diabetes—it wasn’t clear which one.)  We then saw the woman struggle with getting her blood sugars under control and being induced three weeks early because of her baby’s large size.   At the end, the viewers are told that the doctors eventually changed her diagnosis to Type 1.  As an advocate for women with diabetes, this scenario is absolutely UNACCEPTABLE!  There should be procedures in place to make accurate diagnoses of women- and all women with diabetes should go through the appropriate testing (as simple as a c-peptide test to see if the pancreas is working or not).  This young woman was blamed and shamed about her lack of blood sugar control when, in reality, it didn’t matter how many pills she took – the pills were never going to get her blood sugars under control!  She needed insulin all along and she needed good diabetes education- including carbohydrate counting.  If there was any way I could reach this young woman, I would gladly offer her a scholarship to attend our Weekend for Women Conference because she is someone who could have greatly benefitted from a support network like DiabetesSisters when she was pregnant-- and now!

The other hot topic this week was Paula Deen and her announcement that she was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes three years ago.  This created much controversy in both the media and the diabetes world.  Personally, I don’t think it would benefit anyone for me to bash Paula Deen and I have no desire to bash her.  After all, DiabetesSisters is all about empowering and celebrating women with diabetes and here is certainly a woman who could use our support.  It is much more challenging for a woman to come out about her diabetes than for a man.  Think about it—if it were an overweight male chef who announced that he had diabetes, would there have been such a backlash?  I really don’t think so…In fact, Oprah’s chef, Art Smith, who owns a famous restaurant in Chicago, was close to 100 pounds overweight when he was working as Oprah’s personal chef and announced that he had diabetes.  He has since lost 85 pounds…but my point is—Does anybody even remember this being in the news?  Probably not.  He and his recipes were featured on Oprah’s Show regularly, and I ate at his restaurant in Chicago and I can vouch that it was not anything close to health food.  Again, it was food that is reserved for special occasions.  In today’s world, it seems much more acceptable for a man to be “large” than for a woman to be large.  And we wonder why there aren’t more female role models (celebrities, athletes, etc.)???  Imagine how hard it is to announce that you have diabetes…especially type 2 diabetes…and all of the blame and shame that is hurled your way?  Would anybody willingly put themselves through that?  Unfortunately, I think the Paula Deen backlash has really hurt our opportunities for having more Type 2 female role models.  Paula is human just like us and it sounds like she probably had to deal with her diabetes diagnosis without the support of another person who understood what she was going through—a person with diabetes.

 

So, in the end, I say, “We welcome you to the Sisterhood, Paula Deen….flaws and all!”  

 

After all, none of us are perfect and we are all responsible for our own health/diet decisions.  I know that I should not eat Paula Deen’s food every day- it should be reserved for special occasions. Just because something is available doesn’t mean you have to eat it.  Just because the McDonald’s is by your house, it doesn’t mean that you have to eat it every day.  It’s all about moderation, people!  I feel like America has become a place where everyone looks for someone else to blame (or sue) when something isn’t right in their life.  Often times, they need to look inside themselves when things are right.

 

I hope that Paula uses this incredible opportunity and platform to educate herself and the public about diabetes.  I'm also hopeful that she will turn her diabetes diagnosis into a positive experience and show the world that diabetes will not stop her- nor will her critics!

 

(Note: Although I planned to post an interview from Alex Munoz--Sysy Morales' husband--this week, due to the flurry of activity in the diabetes world this week, the interview will be posted on next week's blog.  So check back soon!)