This story is one I find somewhat amusing but also somewhat offending.
I went to the water park yesterday. One of the lifeguards (who I guess I couldn't be too mad at because he was good-looking) commented "What's wrong with your stomach?" I had my pump site on my tummy and was caught off guard by the question. I resisted telling him it was a rare lesion eating me from the outside in and tried to explain it was for a pump site because I have diabetes. It gives me insulin since my body can't.
He then stated the next common question, "Isn't that from when you eat too much sugar?" I told him Type 2 diabetes can occur from not living a healthy lifestyle, however, no one knows what causes Type 1, the type of diabetes I have.
This next question made me laugh. "So do you use an epipen?" My response after laughing out loud, "No, that's not used for diabetes. However, if something bad does happen to me here, just please call 911. Don't try to inject me with an epipen." After an awkward silence I went on my merry way.
I was nice this time. However, if someone asks me in a way such as "what is wrong with me" again, I might stick to the lesion story.
Hope everyone's having a good day! :)
Share your favorite comments that non-diabetic people have told you here!
I work at a school, and at the beginning of the year i brought in glucagon emergency kit for the school nurse to keep in her office for me - it states clearly on it what it is and said in big letters "for low blood sugar". She has on file that I'm diabetic. Twice - when I handed it to her at the beginning of the school year, and when she needed me to pick it up for the summer, she referred to it as an epipen. And she asked me what I was allergic to. Needless to say, I also choose to keep a second glucagon kit with me, and my neighboring teachers know what it is and how to use it. I'm considering getting notarized papers saying I refuse all medical treatment from our dear school nurse :)
Lol! Wow that's just ridiculous of that woman! But I would have to say I'm not much of a fan of my school nurse either. I love the pump because I never need to go to her office to take care of myself :)
When someone asked me which diabetes I have and I told him type 1, his response was "oh, that's the good kind, right?" My polite response was "what do you mean by 'good kind'?" He says to me "the one that's easier." So I smiled and said, "well, if by easier you mean that I have to stick my finger 4 times a day, count everything I eat including snacks, give myself insulin, change my site every couple days, and live with a tube attached to me 24-7, then yes, it is the easier one." He knew I was only giving him a hard time so since he was my friend I decided I should give him a brief education. Now he knows that there isn't a good type of diabetes like there are certain types of fat and cholesterol haha.
I went to our neighborhood pool and checked my blood sugar before I got in and it was 306, so I did my injection (this was before my pump) and the lifeguard came up to me and started harassing me about my "illegal narcotics." Naturally, I was in shock, does an insulin pen look like drugs? And who would do drugs in public in front of everyone?
Wouldn't someone, like a lifeguard, who is CPR/First Aid certified know about diabetes, even just a little?
Needless to say, I get bad looks from him when I go to the pool, and now I cant wait to see the stares from him when I come up there with my pump site on my belly!
I'm a teacher, and at the beginning of each school year my ninth graders write a narrative essay about a memorable childhood event. During the process I read them a narrative I wrote about my diagnosis at age 7. They always have questions about it, but I can always count on one of my students to say, "But you're not fat...?" While I'm pretty sure they're just trying to get on my good side, the question never fails to irritate me. But, I explain the differences between type 1 and type 2, and I make sure they understand that you can't get type 1 from "eating too much sugar," and we move on. I do have to say, every year my students surprise me with how much they already know about the differences. That gives me hope. Maybe in a few years, the distinctions will be common knowledge. But I'll sure miss that sycophantic phrase, "But you're not fat...?"
Ughh I hate when people say "what's wrong with you?" or "so that's from eating too much sugar, right?"
I remember in 5th grade when I got my pump and excitedly showed my classmates & teacher.. and the 1 annoying boy in my class was like, "GROSS!" when he saw my pump site. Funny..it's like 9 years later and I still remember that 1 comment. Haha..
Also, I was really irritated because my roommates & I went to a type 1 adult group kickoff meeting in my city, and later, one of my roommate's friends was disgusted by the fact that we had (gasp) CHICKEN WINGS. Diabetics. eating chicken wings. Can you believe that? ;)
I hate that question!! I usually get asked, "which is the worse one?" I never know what to say. I think people mean type 1 since you get it when you are typically younger, but in my opinion, type 2 is "worse." I don't know. They are both bad....!
My favorite thing anyone ever said was when I told someone about my diabetes I was at a pool party with a plate of food and it happened to have some cookies on it. So, naturally, she said, "So why are you eating that..."
HAHA I HAVE SOME GOOD STORIES. like i went to a restaurant one time, and the waiter passed by our table when i was taking my shot by insulin pen. and his eyes got huge and he backed away!
I told my grandma about it. and she said :You should tell him next time, WHATTT? YOU HAVEN'T HEARD OF THIS MUSCULAR CRACKK? MANN, IT'S GOOD STUFF. YOU SHOULD TRY IT! haha
I love that you qualified that with the "I couldn't be mad because he was good looking" comment. Always a little less annoying when it's coming from someone you don't mind looking at. ;)
lol, I've gotten a lot of those comments before. I also had a teacher come up to me my freshman year of highschool. It was 7 in the morning, and hour before school started, and I had never met this guy in my life. I'm at my locker getting things ready so I can go and finish my bio lab, and he walks up and tells me in a not so nice tone of voice that I better put my cell phone away. I politely told him it isn't a cell phone, and before I can finish explaining he retortes "oh, so it just looks like a cell phone!" I was kind of scared, so I just sort of stared at him and he walked away. I laughted later, but I was glad I didn't plan on taking any tech ed classes with this guy.
I remember when i was in 4th grade and a group of friends and i were walking out to the play ground. One of the girls turned to me and said "you dont look like you have diabetes?" i didnt know what to say so i just looked at her with a confused look on my face. one of my other friends said "what is she supposed to look like?" with a kind of wtf r u saying kind of tone of voice.. My senior year of High school in my reading class my pump went off telling me i didnt have any more insulin.. i brought a reservoir with me as well as my humalog bottle. so in class i just took out the reservoir and humalog and started to do what i needed to do. the boy sitting across from me, his mouth fell open and was like "omg u just whip that out anywhere and do that?" i laughed and said yeah its for my diabetes... he relaxed after that but the look on his face still makes me laugh...
I was once in an Autozone and I keep my pump clipped to my pockets in my jeans and a guy employee saw it and was like: "Whoaaaa! Is that a beeper? Keepin it all 90's style huh?" I laughed and said no, that it was my insulin pump because I am diabetic. So he nodded like he understood but then said "Man I thought you would be rockin to some Boyz 2 Men on a tape deck in your car." LOL He was funny... I have also gotten the "You don't look diabetic" comments... but then again what are we suppose to look like? AND I have gotten in trouble at work because when I first got it my managers though it was my phone... They now know what it is now and don't bug me about it. XD