I was thinking about when I need to let someone know that I am a diabetic.... and some of the dumb things that come out of their mouths..... I figured maybe others could relay what people have said to them, as I am sure we could all use a laugh.... like "Oh you have diabetes, is that the sugar diabetes?" or "is that the serious kind?"
I couldn't agree more! One of my favorites is when people ask me if I'm "still taking insulin". I just want to reply, "oh no, I got that cure they developed, so nope, don't have to take it anymore!!!!" I don't mean to be sour, but boy I could go on and on in this department... I've been diabetic for 30 years! Nice to know I'm not alone!
See, and I thought I was the only one who got stupid things said to them! We could have a lot of fun with this! What other phrases have you heard?
"You have to take insulin? Wow. It must be pretty bad."
When we tell people about our son, we usually get something like 'oh that poor little boy' or something similar. 'Oh, that's terrible...will he grow out of it?'
Couple of things, from our point of view, number one being that he's a poor little boy. He's an otherwise healthy kid living with two loving parents in a country with above average T1 care and a great support cast to get him through this. His brother is his best friend, he is learning all about his body and how to live with the disease. Yeah, it sucks that he was diagnosed, but you deal with it and then face the road.
'Oh, I don't know how you do it, giving him needles all the time like that!'
Uh..yeah..it's pretty easy. We decided that we prefered children of the alive kind.
James - I could have written your reply myself! My daughter is 9 and was diagnosed in May of 2008. She sounds a lot like your son, as she's learning how to live with this and understanding everything. It always amazes me how resilient kids are.
The "will she grow out of it?" and "will she always need insulin or can she take medication?" questions are my favorites. I don't think people realize that you can't live without insulin!
Her birthday is this Thursday and I'm already getting "She won't be able to eat any cake so what will you do?" She can very well eat a piece of cake - we'll just have to adjust for it with her insulin. It's not like she'll eat the whole thing herself!
I love the bits about parties and cakes hehehe...I mean, yeah, it's tough dealing with birthday parties that fall at 2pm and throw off the schedule, but you can eat anything, pretty much any time.
Some people are really just trying to be sweet, sending us 'diabetic' treats for Christmas or 'no sugar added' fruit treats for the kids. We really do appreciate the sentiment but wished to Heaven that people understood better!
Oh Yes, Here come those Holidy Diabetc delights! My Aunt used to go out of her way to get me sugar-free this and that.... finally I had to tell here that Sugar-free chocolate tastes horrible and plus, it has a laxative effect on me no matter how small a piece i eat!
I remember one year she gave me this huge, sugar- free almond bark bar I dont even know what almond bark is)........ I think I would up donating it to a food panrty!
as far as other people go, I remember once when I got to the parking lot at work (it was my 3rd day) and seeing my supervisor watch me do an insulin injection. I think she thought I was doing drugs......... the look on her face was priceless! LOL
I got the one about, "oh, you're on insulin? It must be pretty bad!" from my dentist. I told him a couple times that it was Type 1, and he still said it. I'm looking for a new dentist.
i've heard "should you eat that pretzel? it has a TON of salt on it" more times than i can count.
I had someone the other day say to me " Oh I could never give myself shots every day" I told her that shots pail in comparison to I don't know... DYING. lol
I have so many lines in my library of dumb things people say about diabetes... but my ultimate favorite one was when I was in grade 11 French class. My blood sugars were going low and so I went to ask the teacher if I could go to my locker to get some sugar, and that I wanted a friend to come with me just in case. She replied 'oh.. well.. will water help?' Ugh :D
As a mom of two kids with diabetes, it hurts when I talk with someone about diabetes and they tell me how they restrict their kids sugar intact, so their kids won't "get" diabetes. If it were only that simple?!
My daughter was diagnosed at 8, my all time favorite response I received from one person was "really, she is not fat, how did she get diabetes?" It was at that moment it became crystal clear to me that we had a LOT of educating to do in America!! Up until then I thought I was only fighting staying off the sugar free band wagon.
[quote user="Carol Stiefer"]
As a mom of two kids with diabetes, it hurts when I talk with someone about diabetes and they tell me how they restrict their kids sugar intact, so their kids won't "get" diabetes. If it were only that simple?!
[/quote]I'm afraid I'd have a really hard time not being mean and saying something like, "Oh, didn't you know? It has nothing to do with sugar intake. But did you know they think viruses can trigger it? Sure hope your kids aren't prone to colds!"
That'd be pretty evil though, I suppose! ;)
Then you get the one's that say, ohh when are you going blind? Or ohhh my grandma just had her leg removed from that...gee thanks!!
That's what i want to say, but I try to use it as an opportunity to educate. I try to remember that they speak from a place of ignorance and fear.
I have to say that after the day I had at work today, this post really cheered me up..... I thought I was the only one who attracted all the people with stupid things to say........
The other day at work i got, well your a diabetic, thats why your skinny........... I think they meant it as a compliment.....
Very similar to us. My son is 7 now and I always get the will he grow out of this. One we got the other day from a child was, yeah, he "has to do that cuz he ate to much sugar and pop." We were at hockey practice, so they always see him testing. I just try to remember how uneducated I use to be.
just last night a friend of the family, who my parents have known since before i was born, was at my house while i was baking some light waffery cookies called pizzelles. He said something along the lines of, "you're making those and you can't even eat that stuff!" To which i replied, "i can eat whatever i want actually." My dad also replied "yeah, she just has to take some insulin before she eats" the family friend then replied, "so and so's son is diabetic." my dad asked "type 1?" and his friend replied "yeah he's really bad. takes the shots and everything. he's really overweight and doesn't take care of himself." i said "not taking care of himself isn't the reason he has diabetes and has to take shots. if he's type 1...ALL type 1's have to take shots because their bodies don't produce insulin, through no fault of their own" his convo with my dad continued, my comment didn't really sink in. This is the type of guy who has a lot to say about a lot of things, and is usually off-base with most of the things he says. my dad usually lets him talk instead of try to convince him otherwise. this time, we both gave up trying to explain. sometimes i just don't have the energy to educate.