hey, is anyone else the only diabetic at their school. well i am the only one in my grade and feel like i can only talk to my diabetes camp friends or on here. its hard being different at school. But it also kinda gives you special treatment. Anyone have stories about how they used their diabetes to get out of something, plz share.
until grade 7, when a girl in my class was diganosed, i was the only diabetic in my grade. there was a boy who was in grade 1 i think, but i didn't have to interact with him and none of my classmates did; there was also a girl who had matched with me in the JDRF mentor program but she was 4years older than me and on to junior high by the time i was in grade 4.
it wasn't that bad actually, from what i remember. except when my teacher would snap at me for being hyper or something and order me out of the room to go get some water from the foundation.
i used my diabetes to get outta stuff all the time in junior high..almost never in elementary school. wasn't as easy to go "oh my blood sugar has been really low today, i don't think i should particpate in gym today" when the teacher's been around you all morning! haha.
I was the only diabetic in my school. It wasn't too big of a deal but it would have been nice to have another soul there to share war stories with. I didn't meet another diabetic my age until I got to college, coincidentally, she lived just a few doors down the hall from me.
Although I am now 35 years old, I was diagnosed in 1st grade and was the only person that I knew of in the entire school, middle school and high school that was diabetic. However, back then things were not like they are now. People didn't know about diabetes like they do now. I remember having to eat a snack in class and other kids getting mad. I also remember being allowed to carry candy into class and students in high school getting mad over it. I also remember not being able to eat school lunch because I was on the old NPH and Regular insulin which was not as savvy as the newer Humalog and Novologs, or a pump, and always bringing a lunch. All I ever wanted was to buy a slice of pizza like everyone else.
As far as using my diabetes as an excuse, yes, I did it back then. I would occasionally say my blood sugar was low so I could go to the nurses office and eat something. Back then blood checkers were expensive so we didn't carry them around like we can now. They couldn't check my blood to make sure I was low so I would go and eat and sandwich and get out of class. Times have really changed since then and be glad they have.
i feel like having been the only one all through school just made me stronger and maybe a bit more understanding towards others that may not be "just like everyone else". Good luck!
I tried to never use my D an excuse to get out of things when I was in school b/c when I was younger, I felt embarrassed. I wanted to prove that I could do anything, I was normal, etc. I guess that was just my take on things as a kid... didn't want to stand out.
i use that excuse sonmetimes too, to use the bathroom or to sit out in gym, it usually works to my advantage lol
I'm the only one in my grade. I think that there are two more.
All through my school, I was the only diabetic in my school. Of course I got special treatment in the sport grounds but I had no one with whom i could talk about diabetes. Whenever i felt tired or slowed down my pace,the coach would allow me to go while the others had to stay back even if they were tired.
i have only been the only one in first grade when my dad was transfered to nj but later that year we were transfered back but other wise never my parents made sure i didnt feel alone and now most of my besties are my diabetic friends!!
There are a couple of others at my school, but both are one year below me, so I don't really talk to them that much. One of them I went to the same diabetes camp as, and we were close for a while, but haven't really talked much for a long time, probably because we're in different grades and hang out with different people. The other one I've only met once, but she's going to be on the newspaper staff this year with me, so I'm hoping I'll become good friends with her.
do any of ur non-diabetic friends tell u what u can and can't eat? well I have 2 non-d friends who don't trust I know what to do when it comes to my health. They tell me how to manage my diabetes,they don't even offer constructive criticism. Ughhh! They aren't experts on diabetes or my health.
My biggest struggles in life have been balancing the care my family and friends have shown me by questioning what I am eating, why I am bolusing, and how I choose to exercise/not exercise. Who are they and what right do they have to tell me? Well, they are the people that love me. My wife still is aggravated about how obstinate I am when hypoglycemic, and yes, I am obstinate. One time I wasn't obstinate, because I was trying not to be, and I kept pestering her, "I was good wasn't I? I didn't fight you, did I? Did I?" As for friends, I certainly hear you and remember my own friends, saying thing like, "Should YOU really be eating those chips/crackers/ice creams?" with such impudence that you feel like you are being forced to explain yourself. And why to explain ourselves? Like some accused trying to plead a case? My only suggestion is that you approach your two friends when your sugar comes back up with your endocrinologist's favorite diagrams and literature and start simply by saying, "I understand my disease, but I believe you don't. Let me take the time to explain it to you." Then start explaining the history, the current approaches involving pumps, carb counting, etc, and then possible routes to the cure and prevention. Their brains may be so blitzed by the time you real the word hemoglobin A1c, that they won't ever bring it up again, or if not, then they are good friends that really care about you and will grow to try and understand even better....Hopefully.
I am one of two diabetics in my school, she's three grades below me so i don't really talk to her. my school's very small [each grade has one class, there are 185-ish kids in the whole school] so there are only 18 kids in my 8th grade class,which means i'm the only diabetic in my grade. but i don't really care cuz i like being unique :)
I never knew another Diabetic while in school. When I was in college and I would tell people that I was a T1 Diabetic and sometimes I would get "oh my friend so and so has that" but I personally never met them. It's a big campus though. The only T1 I have met in "real life" are My Paternal Grandfather, people in the hospital while I was there for one of my various stays growing up, a girl I was friends with dated a T1, and then earlier this month I went to a pump info class for my pump upgrade that is coming and there were some other T1 there. So I am very thankful to have been told about this site :)
I got diabetes my freshman year of college, when I was 19, and didn't really know any diabetics... I still don't really... I remember the lone diabetic kid in my elementary school, and I even remember the day that she passed out and was diagnosed in 5th grade. I was also friends with the lone diabetic in my high school... little did I know that I would be diagnosed a few short years later! BLEH! ...and, sadly, I definitely asked her 'does that hurt?'... It's so funny for me to think back on that, because I thought it was a brilliant thing to say since I didn't know what else to say without making her feel weird... ironic.
I always remember in grade school think this diabetic boy that was in my class was weird because I had no idea why he was always in the nurses office or eating snacks....then in 4th grade I joined him when I was diagnosed. We went into Middle School together and another diabetic joined our group. They placed all three diabetics in the same classroom and at the same table(why to segregate us..man!). That way we were always each other's buddies and would walk back and forth to the nurses office to test.
However sadly, in 5th grade...I'll never forget that in our switch class their was a girl that died because they didn't realize that she was diabetic. She slipped into a coma and died because the doctors didn't find out in time that her symptoms pinpointed to her having diabetes. Can you imagine?! It shocked all of us...and I can never forget and still am thankful that I was diagnosed early enough so that didn't have to happen to me.
whoa! That's crazy... how scary!!! I can't believe they didn't realize she was diabetic in time... dang.
Are you still in contact with your buddies?
The only other diabetic I knew used to put her head down on her desk and that was our signal to take her to the office. I never understood what she had. Then in the 4th grade, I was diagnosed and I realized she was the same as me - sorta. I coudn't understand why she would just put her head down and passout. The first sign I was going low, I'd give a signal to our teacher and I was off to the office. I wasn't in the same class as her after that but I know she continued to do the same thing. I know she went to my high school but it was large so I rarely ran into her nor did we talk about it. I think I'm going to try and look her up thanks to this post - try to find her on facebook or something and get her to join! In response to the main question - I can't remember using diabetes as an excuse to get out of things, mainly, I think, because I was private about it and didn't want people to know about it.
I really didn't stay in contact with my friends from school, but I am still in contact with the friends that I met at Diabetes Camp when I was little. In fact, one of those friends was the one that told me about this site!! =)
at my school there was another girl who was a year younger than me. at the begining of the year when i was diagnosed the principal got her to come talk to me and that was it. then at the end of the year i was bolusing for a granola bar and she was sitting near me outside and she started staring at me(from what i could see from around the pump while i bolused) then we talked for a minute. at the high school im going to there is a girl who i met at the hospital going there and we are in the same grade. i dont know how many others are going to be there though