Some kids are so rude

Find Community
1

Well , I had to start my last year of middle school with Type 1 Diabetes .

I hate it .

The part I hate most is knowing that I will never escape from it .

But anyways , since I was just diagnosed in August 09 , I still have a hard time accepting that I actually have a chronic disease and alot of times I get embarassed .

People ask me alot what it's like having diabetes . I can't really explain it to them , and they wouldnt understand .

You can't understand unless you actually have felt having low blood sugar or high blood sugar .

I feel like sometimes im alone with it , even though this site has proved there are TONS of other people with it .

I just hate answering questions about it . Alot of people at school are curious , and i feel like the teachers feel bad for me .

I dont want sympathy from thm .

People ask me all the time " did you get if from eating to much sugar ? " NO NO NO NO NO i didnt !!

I HATE that . I always feel like somehow its my fault i got this althought i know it isnt.

I just wish people could stop asking me dumb questions . . .

But since im only in 8th grade i dont know what its like in highschool .. how is it ? does it get better or are people still as dumb ?

Also , next year do you think i will have to go to the nurse before and after lunch still like i do this year ?

Thanks , and if there is anyone that would like to help me and give me some tips / motivation i would appreciate it(:

Thanks !

2

i found all through school that as long as you aren't walking around telling people you're diabetic, they generally don't bother to even notice.

i think the only friends in middle school or highschool that knew i had diabetes were the ones that had been long time friends or had witnessed me low or taking a shot. generally though, even those guys forgot and didn't ask me anything about it because i barely talked about it.

 

3

Hey Haile!! :) Don't worry for me high school got A LOT better!!! & just explain to them that no i did not get it from being fat/ eating too much suger blah blah blah... point-blank they are jus being uneducated about this! 

In all my middle school years i went to the office & elementry, but now i just test in my locker or the bathroom, its too annoying to have to go to the office! 

And if people keep giving you the wrong kind of sympathy... just smile, and say well you know its really not that bad...! 

If you need anything else, feel free to ask! :)

Aneka. 

4

At my high school, I take care of my own bloodsugars.  Most teachers don't understand, the thing i encountered the most was that teachers thought my insulin pump was a cell phone and they would try to take it.  I'm a senior so i'm talking over four years so keep this in mind.  A lot of teachers will give you grief because they just arent educated.  I have had issues with trying to get cokes to treat lows, but by my junior year it got a lot easier because most teachers knew about my diabeties.  I hope you will get lucky and have one teacher your freshman year that will do anything in her or his, but her in my case, to fight for you if you needed it.  She also kept juice and sugary drinks in her fridge in her classroom for me anytime I needed it.  One I got into high school the stupid questions stopped.  But what you said about them never understanding is completely true.  Sometimes I try to talk to my best friend about what i go through and he has a good grasp on diabeties itself and i have tought him what to do if i passed out ect. but he will never fully understand what its like on a daily basis.  You have to ignore peoples stupid questions and kind of take it as an opportunity to educate them if they are willing to listen.   And there is no reason to be embarrassed about your diabeties.  I know i was in middle school because i went high a lot, causing me to have to check in class a lot and get unnecessary attention, but in high school they just dont gawk like they do in middle school.  Trust me it all gets better the more years you go with it.  But I still have times where I think why did I have to have this,  why cant i just be a normal teenager like all of my friends.  I did meet this girl last year from a different school in my county and we use eachother as a support system and we get together and talk about things that no one else can ever understand.  I know this is long and I hope something I said will help. Just keep your chin up because high school is a billion times more fun than middle school.

 

5

Truthfully, some of what you will go through, experience, encounter with kids is how you yourself handle being a person with type one diabetes. You truly need to own this illness. In high school I was one who hid the illness, while I won't say hid these things on purpose, I was just a private person. So while my teachers knew about the illness, it was never a big, big issue. Working in Youth Ministry and such, I have run into kids who have or are currently going through high school with type one. One thing I have seen from some of them is their attitude. One kid is very open about being a type one diabetic. He is all about show and tell with his pump. He wants to educate people and guide others. He has embraced everything. This I think has made the difference for him, while he may not be happy about being a type one diabteic and has had ups and downs. The happiest he has been is when he accepts his illness and doesn't let it get him down.

If you are able to do this, to embrace being a type one diabetic you will be fine. It can be difficult at times. Listening to the jokes of people can be annoying. But don't let it get you down. There are some people who maybe be heartless in their comments, but people are inherently good. If you can embrace your problems, if you can embrace being a person with type one. No matter the comments, no matter the problems, no matter what happens you can overcome the problems or fears you may be encountering.

6

Brian -- agreed! I think if you're confident about sharing your story, but don't make it the whole of who you are, people will know you have it and just accept it.

I know it feels hard now. But, for me personally, I've just accepted it the older I got. I still hate it, but I've accepted I have it, will have it in the future, and this is my life. It's made it less painful for me.

 

7

I agree with Brain as well. Its how I am trying to teach my daughter to be right now.

8

hey. i was diagnosed with type 1 half way through my 8th grade year. this year i started high school, in a different state, and people, honestly, don't seem to care. i go to a big school and there a quite a few T1s. when i check my sugar before lunch, i just check it at the lunch table. the nurse told me i didn't have to come into the clinic, but i could if i wanted too. my friends were curious at first, but now they're used to it, so it's not a big deal when i check my sugar. it gets easier, i promise! (:

9

In my experiences, the best thing to do is just not let it embarrass you. I don't usually go around telling people that I'm diabetic, but most ask if they see me checking my BS or taking insulin. I then just try to explain it to them as best as I can. I've never really ran across anyone that acted rude or obnoxious about it. And if they joke around with me, I just go along with it and take things lighthearted instead of getting mad. I do carry my injections around with me, so I dont have to go to the nurse, but I'm not sure if that's different for different schools.

The best thing I've learned to do is just be confident with yourself. Let your teachers know that you take care of yourself and they don't need to feel bad for you. And if you don't feel like explaining diabetes to someone who asks, tell them to go research it. Some people will just assume the wrong thing and don't listen whenever you try to explain it. But then there are also people who genuinly want to know about the disease. All you can do is give people a chance, but don't let them bring you down. Good luck in high school!

10

I'm not saying highschool is really bad but how do yall get away with taking ur shoot and blood sugar not in the office my school the first day which was this year back in december they were like yeah were going to have to watch u and sign a sheet of paper i was like come on and i still don't even know if i can leave the office and o it

11

Hey......When I was in middle school, one of my health teachers asked me to speak about Diabetes to my peers.....I was extremely scared to do so, but I chose to educate them and after that....they kind of admired what I had to go through......I had a teacher who made me feel embarassed about my diabetes....it wasn't the students who harassed me, it was this teacher who made me feel small when I had to eat a little snack during his class.  Obviously he had no clue about the disease. 

So I say EDUCATE!!!  Maybe they'll actually learn something!! (That's the teacher in me:))

12

Did you ever consider doing a fundraiser for Diabetes???  This could really get people involved and educated about the disease!!!  Just a suggestion??!!

13

Halie,

It does get easier as you get older, as everyone becomes more mature with age. It is hard even today sometimes explaining what it is like living with this disease after 27 years! I just say it is a way of life.

Going to the nurse, I don't know, it would depend upon your districts policies, and your parents help. I lived in two very conservative school districts in my middle/high school years, and was forced to go to the nurses office for BG test and all insulin shots. With more and more recently diagnosed diabetics being put on insulin pumps almost right away you may be able to do what you need to do. I would work with your parents, and maybe use a line like I will not always have access to a nurse and need to learn how to handle this by myself, it is something I will have to live with for the rest of my life, and need to know how to control it.

Feeling alone is something I believe everyone with D has to deal with everyday. Even when I have been in a good relationship with someone they still forget or just ask weird questions. I have gotten use to it, and know that there are others in the D community who can help.

Like said above I got the opportunity to speak to a class every year about type 1 diabetes. Doing that helps you become more comfortable with the disease and explaining it to others. I spoke to more of a vocational class, not a heath class and that was fun doing for 4 years in my high school years. They had many questions, some which I could not answer at the time. Never feel bad to answer "I don't know" if you have to, it is better than making up an answer that is incorrect.

Dumb questions will come from people the rest of your life. Just last month I had a job interview with an insurance company and the branch manager was surprised when I spoke about my diabetes "You don't look like a diabetic, your not fat?!" I am at the right weight for my height, maybe a little underweight. With the recent explosion of obesity and T2 diagnosis in America D is seen by most as a disease of the fat. I just let it roll, and try to educate the people on the differences between T1 and T2, and hope that I have made a difference.

Keep your head up, a smile on your face, and all will work out for the best!

14

I went into Freshman year a "normal" kid and came back from Winter break a Type 1 diabetic kid. It was a little ridiculous to begin with because a) how do you explain "So now I'm diabetic" and b) what Type 1 even is! I had a ton of questions I eventually got tired answering but because I wasn't talking about it all the time and I was generally discrete about taking shots, people stopped noticing. The rudeness is just something you have to deal with but I always tried to tell the "how I got diagnosed story" with some humor and exaggeration just to entertain myself...after telling it so many times it begins to get a little monotonous. My advice would be MAKE IT INTERESTING. Even if you aren't interested, you should be. Its an opportunity to educate people on a disease that we have to deal with everyday. Diabetes has helped me so much with growing up, even though it's frustrating, I'm happy. It's not something to be pitied. That's what always annoyed me about it, they act like you need to be pitied. But you don't and as soon as they see that they will leave it alone. ;)