Diabetes Squared

DIABETES SQUARED by Roger Bourdeau

I am a filmmaker who began my career in experimental film and went on to work as a director and editor on documentaries, commercials and  reality TV.  A year and a half ago my 3 year old son, then a toddler, was diagnosed with the Type 1 diabetes. This past February, my 5 year old daughter, who statistically had less than a 5% chance of sharing his fate, was also diagnosed with Type 1.  Due to these unusual and trying circumstances, I turned the camera on my family. My wife and I have created this series of  webisodes titled DIABETES SQUARED: RAISING TWO KIDS WITH TYPE 1 DIABETES, which documents how our family lives with diabetes times 2.

There are so many misconceptions about Type 1 diabetes — it’s reversable, just eat better; if you cut out sugar and take your insulin, everything will be fine;  it’s something you’ll grow out of; you ate too many sweets and that’s why you have diabetes. None of that is true.  What is true is that Type 1 diabetes is now twice as common as it was 20 years ago and five times more common than it was after World War II.  It is a relentless disease that demands constant attention to keep our kids safe and alive.  And even with our vigilance, severe low and high blood sugars are part of living with a disease that kills children every day.  I want to use my filmmaking experience to make DIABETES SQUARED a series that is an intimate, raw, real look at living with Type 1 diabetes.  It’s my hope that the films, along with the blogs on this site written by my wife Elisabeth, will not only speak to those families and parents who deal with diabetes daily, but will also be an eye opening look to those who had just no idea what it was all about.

The films and blogs will change weekly so we encourage viewers to stop by, watch and comment.