I had been in classes with the same girl for 2 years, it took us that long to realize that both of us were diabetic. It happened when she ran out of insulin and didn't have insurance and was complaining about it to her close friend. I had a coupon for a free insulin fill from Lilly so I gave it to her.
Really, it is tough being best buddies with people based on a disease you have in common, specially diabetes with the amount of commitment that we each have. lol but it is nice being there.
I'm the same way :) I went to Penn State, so I knew that somewhere in the crowd of 40,000+ students there had to be a fellow diabetic there somewhere. On occasion I'd walk by someone and they give a little flash of their pump haha But it was almost always in passing and I never stopped to have an in depth conversation.
I interned with the JDRF when I was in college so I had a few diabetic acquaintances, but most were younger kids haha I think college is an especially challenging time for diabetics. With so much other stuff going on, I tended to put my D on the back burner and I think others have too.. maybe that's why you don't see as much interest from other diabetics..
Lindsay, how did you like having an internship with JDRF? Just out of curiosity, what did you major in? I think that's really cool:) I get what you mean about balance. It's hard enough trying to make sufficient time for studying, working out, maintaining a social life, etc. let alone always having to remember extra strips, checker, insulin, infusion sets, and billions of juice boxes, haha. Cheers to us being great multi-taskers whether we know it or not. :)
That was really nice of you to give her a coupon :) It's the little things.
Ideen, I agree with you about people who blame everything on diabetes, even though I've struggled a lot in the past year with trying to keep my blood sugar regulated while working out. But, if anything, having diabetes makes me want to become as healthy as possible; it's an enforcer, not an inhibitor.
I was a marketing/international business major. One on my marketing professors did a huge class project each year involving JDRF. So when she mentioned there was a marketing internship with the JDRF open, I jumped on that opportunity! :)
I've never been friends with another type 1, and on some level it sounds intriguing, but I have to say that I also worry that it might be a double-edged sword. Most of the people I've met in person with D and who have talked openly about it (granted there have only been a few) seem to universalize their own hang-ups and/or spread downright inaccurate information. When I've been in situations like that, I've often tried to avoid disclosing myself and risk having people who are listening to what they have to say and no doubt already have more than enough misinformation make assumptions about me and/or my self-care.
I still cringe when I think about a birthday party I had some years ago when someone I had never met before in my life, a friend of a friend of my ex (who was not an ex at the time) loudly announced, when someone brought a cake or something, "I don't eat sugar. Ever. I'm diabetic." At which point, my ex - whom I still consider a good friend and I can't really have any ill will toward, but who was generally too paranoid about sickness of any kind to even go to a doctor himself in the 2+ years we were together, let alone take it upon himself to know much of anything about my diabetes management - turned to me and said, "Oh, maybe you shouldn't be eating sugar, either?"
[quote user="John"]
I've never been friends with another type 1, and on some level it sounds intriguing, but I have to say that I also worry that it might be a double-edged sword. Most of the people I've met in person with D and who have talked openly about it (granted there have only been a few) seem to universalize their own hang-ups and/or spread downright inaccurate information. When I've been in situations like that, I've often tried to avoid disclosing myself and risk having people who are listening to what they have to say and no doubt already have more than enough misinformation make assumptions about me and/or my self-care.
[/quote]
PS: Yikes, I totally did not mean offense to anyone here. I've gotten a lot of useful info from this site over the years, and am glad that I started posting recently. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that maybe I'm not ready to have others with D in my personal life - and the responsibility for educating third parties when I feel that the condition is being misrepresented that it might entail - without the option of a "sign out" button.
The irony that I began my rant by complaining about other people projecting their own hang-ups is not lost on me...
This reminds me, there's a MeetUp (this website that facilitates people meeting up over common interests, check it out at meetup.com) for T1 PWD in NYC.
If you're interested in attending please RSVP by making an account on meetup.com. I've never done any events with them but I'm hoping to make this one just to meet some other diabetics, trade tips and tricks. etc.
When: Wednesday, January 19, 2011 7:30 PM
Where: Stand
24 W 12th St
New York, NY 10011
(212) 488-5900
ALSO there's a JDRF event at Roseland ballroom (NYC again) for kids and I think they're still looking for volunteers (I volunteered to do tickets/whatever in the front of the house) http://events.nydailynews.com/new-york-ny/events/show/123816465-jdrf-extravaganza
OH, and why aren't JDRF events posted around here at all? This IS a JDRF site... seems a little goofy that everything is siloed.
Cool, I may be able to make it to Strand next Wednesday, but I will definitely get signed up, in any case.
Well, I'm only in junior high, and when I told my math teacher about my diabetes, she mentioned a grade 7 who missed a shot once this year. So since then I've been trying to find out who it was just to feel like someone in my school is like me!