Ok, I think I need to vent. I went to running class this morning and started talking to this guy and the topic turned to health..and eventually my Diabetes. Here is the thing that he said, like so many others who have no clue... "I have heard about this doctor who can cure diabetes. Reallly, it Can be reversed through proper diet and supplements"
Can you believe this guy. I wanted to say "Really, wow I have had this disease for 20 years and my doctor hasn't told me this. I can't believe I can be cured. Wow!! Thanks so much. To think, all I needed was to talk to you"
I am sure that he ment well, but does he really think that if this could truely be cured that the millions of us out here wouldn't have done it. Does he think we are just stupid? Or that our doctors are stupid?
And then of course he continued with the ever famous diet, weight loss and exercise theory. According to him, these things will also cure us. Does he know that Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are completely different.
I just hate it when people think they know so much more about our disease then we do, and think they can educate us on the latest research and medical treatments.
Anyway, thanks for letting me vent. I am grateful that I have a place like this to do it, my family gets a little tired of hearing me sometimes :)
I totally hear what you mean! With a diabetic child, I hear all the time how it must have been all the junk food I fed her that caused her diabetes, or that if I just would feed her better foods that I wouldn't have to give her insulin. Please. If they only knew how much work and heartache such a diease causes. I feel your pain and all I can say is that there are many uneducated people out there.
I know how you feel, I get the "why don't you just stop eating sugar" and the "I heard there was some kind of water cure" all the time.
Part of the problem is confusion between different types of diabetes. Another part is the fact that websites and infomercials can advertise "cures" for all kinds of diseases, as long as they add disclaimers that the FDA did not evaluate their claims and that their information is no substitute for real medical advice. Ugh.
The problem is these people are just not educated, yea its annoying but you can't blame them if they don't know the differences between type 1 and 2. If more people were educated about the differences we wouldn't have to explain it to them. But, then again if these things don't affect the person directly they won't actually know anyway, they just read what mainstream media tells them and when people hear about diabetes its always geared toward type 2 people and the differences between 1 and 2 are so different. It is frustrating.
seriously!! i totaly agree with you guys! one of the biggest things that im so sick of hearing from non-diabetics is that their assumptions that i have type 2 diabetes since i am on the heavy side but my type 1 is under good control! but this women came up to me one day and said "dont worry my sister weighs 250 pounds too and has type 2 diabetes as well like you do" i was about to sock that lady in the nose i swear but i as calmly as i could said to her "miss, i do not have type 2 diabetes i was diagnosed with type 1 at 10 months old and type 1 and type 2 are polar opposite from eachother" her face went ghostly white and she walked off.
Hi Lindgayle. I completely hear what u are saying. I am child with type one diabetes. I have alot of friends and some don't know what Diabtes are. and before I get a chance to say if I am around another child they will talk before I do. And when they tell what it is their useally WRONG! Annoying. Their like you have to eat certain kind of stuff or you'll get sick. I'm like ugh no! Ya can have anything you want you just have to have a shot and the right units of the insulin thats in the shot. Very dumb.
I understand what you are saying. I just shake my head and say to myself poor soul doesn't know anything about this and is not educated enough to know when to keep there mouth shut.
Try to just let it roll off my back. Can't change them I can only change myself.
that has happened with me alot. i was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when i was in 4th grade. this year, my school went on a field trip and in my 504 plan it said that i need one of my parents to be chaperones because no one knows how to give my glucagon if i pass out from low blood sugar or if i just need plain help. it doesnt help that our school nurse wasnt there that day. so my dad was going to go along and my school told my dad that he cant go along because i am just faking it and that i should be more responsible for myself & not have him go along because im a biggy girl. and let me tell ya that has happened more than once for me and my friend who also has type 1.
but on the flip side, it is our responsibilty to get the word about type 1 and type 2 diabetes out there and tell people about it, because it is becoming more and more..... out there. i know that they are annoying and that someitmes you just wana punch them in the face, but they dont know about us as type 1's and type 2's. :) i mean my family, me, and my friend's family did a bake sale last year for the JDRF Walk and we met so many people who didnt know what type 1 and type 2 diabetes was and what can happen if we dont take control over it and not control our lives. that we need to be strong everyday and that we have to put up with it everyday of our lives and that there is no cure. no matter what the tv tells ya, there is no cure for diabetes. type 1 or type 2.
i hope this helps you understand my point of view on the subject. thanks. :)<3
ALl we need is main stream video commercial on TV saying that T1 diabetes is totally diffrent from T2 and if they wanna kno the difference to visit this website or just google the difference...ahh but yea this past weekend my 4th grade teacher told me to go talk to her husband because he was recently diagnosed with diabetes...and I was pretty sure he had T2..so i got a lil irratated and told her there is defference and i cudnt do anythin to help because i dont kno what it feels like to have type 2
You tell em girl! I know what you mean. Last summer my sister told a stranger at dinner that I had diabetes, that stranger turned to me and said "you said you have diabetes", I said: "no, she said I have diabetes".., ha,ha!!!.... she still didn't get the message. She continued to tell me that I shouldn't be drinking a diet coke and that she was into Holistic Medicine and could cure me. I then looked at my sister with a "thank you very much" smile, we left shortly after that. I told my sister never to tell anyone I have diabetes again, that is my decision. She use to tell her friends that I was her sister... "the diabetic", that still makes me mad. Most of the time, I don't care and tell people I have diabetes, sometimes I just don't want to talk about it, you know?
Yes, It can be very frustrating when people don't know the difference between type1 and type2. My 9 year old son has type1 and my mom(his grandma) passes along to me all the information from her type2 friend. She continues to tell me her type2 friend is doing well and all the things I need to give my son to cure him. My mom doesn't realize her type 2 friend lost weight and is on a low carb diet. Her type2 friend was able to get off insulin. My son is thin and I have him on a strict low carb diet and he is still insulin dependent. It's really frustrating for me and I've given up on my mom. She'll never understand the difference between type 1 and type2. I try to limit my conversation with her when it comes to diabetes. On the other hand, my father understands completely the differences and tells my mom to shut up. heee hee hee
When my son started attending school, they had no clue of the difference between type1 and type2. I met with the administrator and staff and informed them. They now understand but there are days when they have to be reminded over and over again.I am very thankful for our wonderful school nurse who never gets tired of reminding them my son has type1.
I undersand exactly how you feel and it's ok to vent. Through all this, I've learned to be kind and inform people of the difference. I've learned to not get offended when I'm blamed for my son's diabetes. Most of all.......I've learned to be strong and trust GOD. I vent to GOD everyday and he always listens to me. I know there will be a cure soon.
I know that they are uneducated and I have no problem explaining things to them. What bothers me is when they think they know everything and proceed to "explain" things to me. And advise me as to how to solve my problem with Diabetes.
I agree that Type 2 is so mainstreamed that many people don't realize there are 2 types. Trust me, I educate as many people as I can about the disease. Educating others is part of the disease, everyone around us must know what we have and what to do if we become hypoglycemic. Every excersise class or running event I am at, I always find someone to inform about my diabetes and what to do if I act certain ways.
Education is the key to this disease. It is what makes it controllable, somewhat understandable and helps us not to feel helpless.
I am less fearful of things that I understand. I may not be able to stop things from happening or completely controlling everything like I would like to however, by understanding my disease and how it effects my body and my emotions I find myself better able to cope with the things happen.
I also didn't know. I was DX'ed 08-08 at age 52. I know now ICU can teach you a lot. Most people think I am type 2 because type 1 is for children, but we know it's not. You must have been eating wrong cause you don't look overweight for your age. Thanks, I think? Yea those that don't know can say some pretty dumb things. Yes I think the media helps with this, has anybody seen the TV ad for Nutrisystems D it will help with your diabetes and your weight problem, anything for money.Try to have understanding as I think most people really care they just don't know
Our son was diagnosed with Type I when he was 16 months old. I have noticed several things:
1) It makes it easy to describe the difference between Type I and Type II when you can begin with the logic that neither a mother's milk nor Gerber baby foods *cause* Juvenile Diabetes. A 16 month old hasn't had a chance to gorge on Froot Loops and soda for months on end. Afterwards, the "student" actually seems to comprehend the auto-immune response discussion that follows. I always focus on the fact that the afflicted's immune system got confused and killed off the perfectly healthy part of the pancreas required to tell your body to use glucose for energry. Type II Diabetics may have a *partially functioning* insulin cycle, Type I Diabetics have *no functioning* insulin cycle.
2) All pharmaceutical advertisements I have seen (print, TV, etc.) address Type II diabetes.
3) All awareness advertisements I have seen (with the exception of the JDRF walk) address Type II Diabetes. In fact, it seems that all the ADA adverts focus solely on Type II. People that are at high risk for Type I either already have another auto-immune disorder or are the relative of a Type I. Neither of these groups need a TV or magazine advert to inform them, it would be a poor investiment for awareness purposes.
4) As I understand it, the Diabetes "crisis" is almost entirely related to Type II.
5) Juvenile Diabetes has transformed into Type I Diabetes, while Adult Onset Diabetes has transformed into simply Diabetes. I never see the advertisements call it Type II Diabetes (have you?). This last item may be the most destructive to the education of the average Joe concerning the uniqueness of Type I Diabetes.
I think the best thing that can be done is to write a letter to the ADA and any pharmaceutical company you see advertised and ask them to clearly indicate "Type II". From my point of view, that's the biggest problem. There may even be a lot of Type II Diabetics who are unaware of the difference.
OMG! My dad was absolutely convinced of the water cure!!! I couldn't even hear him out, after he talked about it for five minutes, I told him .. "Dad, that's not true. I don't even need to see evidence." It's amazing people think that water could be a cure for something that so many people suffer with. It makes me frustrated.
Okay, so where are our "T1 education" cards? Really! I want to be able to hand a playing-card-sized information card to everyone I meet who thinks they know something about diabetes. Quick. Clear. Simple. "This is what T1 diabetes IS and what it is NOT; Go HERE for more information". And, the idea of having it on playing cards enforces the concept that T1 this is just about as random as it can get...no pre-existing conditions, no warning, don't even need a family history. It can happen to just about anyone...any CHILD... as far as most of us can tell. Maybe the image of a child as a watermark.
I was just asked the other day "will he grow out of it?" by a really sweet, kind, intellingent person. And, then, same day, asked "is that the bad kind?" by another really intelligent person. Just UNeducated. But then, so was I two months ago.
Really, let's get working on this. You all are some of the most creative people I know. Let's pull it together and make it happen. On one side, "This is what T1 Diabetes IS", and on the other side, "This is what T1 Diabetes is NOT". And, a standard "elevator speech" we can all internalize and use as discussion material each time the subject comes up. Quick, clear, simple. Designed to elicit the "oh, I get it" response.