“I didn’t want to be defined by my illness and I didn’t want to be seen as weak, but having type 1 makes you different and it’s important that everyone knows that so they can help you if you have severe hypoglycemia. sugar,” said Mr. Boudreaux, 35, who lives in Monterey, Calif., and works for the nonprofit group Beyond Type 1.
Ms Hepner has also spent much of her life downplaying the disease, even with her husband, Mr Mossman. She recalled her confusion at the start of their relationship when he awoke to find her bewildered and drenched in sweat, the result of hypoglycaemia or low blood sugar. The more Mr. Mossman, a cinematographer, learned about the disease, the more he pressed her to make the film.
For years, Ms Hepner held her ground, fearful of bringing unwanted attention to her health. “It’s a competitive world and I just didn’t want people to think, ‘Oh, she’s not thinking straight because her blood sugar is high,'” she said.
But over time, the ubiquity of pink-ribbon breast cancer awareness campaigns and high-profile efforts to cure Alzheimer’s disease made Ms. Hepner realize that her talents as a filmmaker could change public perception of the type. 1, an almost invisible disease, in part because many people who have it don’t look sick.
She hopes to change other misperceptions, including the idea that diabetes is a relatively inconsequential and “manageable” disease, one that has been popularized by Big Pharma’s wellness drug TV ads that feature confident patients playing tennis and basketball and flying hot air. Balloons.
