Sarah, I am with you on that !!!!
I Actually wrote the CDC and asked them to change the name of either Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes. Still waiting to hear back :)
I think it would be great if they would change the name!!
one thing im also sick of hearing from non diabetics mainly what my dad told me earlier today was that he told me to my face "how are you going to live on your own with your diabetes?" that honestly almost put me in tears its not like im mentally handicapped and cannot function with out someone by my side 24/7.
i hear ya! i find it funny that people think gastric bypass surgery and diet and excersize will cure us. it used to agrivate me that people thought that, but anymore i laugh.
my friends always think that they know more about diabetes than me, when i am the one living with it. "so... wht does that mean?", "but your pancreas still makes insulin right?", and "then you cant have sugar," i get a lot. when they take away anything that has sugar in it and im low i wanna rip their heads off!
thanks for letting me vent!
-Melanie
I know what you mean, even though i was recently diagnosed with Diabetes, i hear that stuff almost every day!!
I was at my best friends house and her little sister comes in and we end up talking about my Diabetes...she asks me how i got it and i said my dad has type 2 so i probably genetically got it from him (i'm not sure how to word that right) and she said "i doubt you got it from that...you can get it if you mix ur blood with someone else's, you probably did that without knowing it..." i was shocked...and very mad, i tried explaining to her that thats not what causes diabetes cus its mainly cus of ur pancreas...but nooo she wouldnt listen to me...THE PERSON WITH DIABETES, she goes by her back and just wouldn't stop argueing until her mom came in the room...but you know...she was only 10!!! Yet she thinks she knows EVERYTHING about a disease she doesnt even have!
I know what you mean. Someone asked me if i used to be fat, and thats how i got diabetes. Someone else asked me if i got it from a virus, and when i was in 9th grade a kid told me that it was my fault that i have diabetes. My ex girlfriend even made fun of me for having diabetes after we broke up. In reality, these people have no idea what they are talking about. I used to get so mad at ignorant people...being mad consumed my life for a long time. They're just stupid. When ignorant people try to tell me about some miracle cure they heard about, I'll be honest....i usually just tell them that they dont know what they are talking about...or tell them that I'm the one with diabetes, so i think i know better. People are just so ignorant sometimes--theres nothing we can do about it. But dont spend so much time thinking about this sort of stuff, because what people think and say doesnt really matter, especially when it comes to Diabetes.
In my family I am the go to gal for random info. What I really do not like is when someone calls to ask me something and before they do, they say " how is your blood sugar"? Okay so you might be thinking what is wrong with that they are just concerned, well no they are not. I have been told by various people, some in my own family that they think that if my sugar isn't exactly 80-120 that I am out of my mind. Whatever. The second one is "go take your sugar if you are upset". No I am upset because of what you just told me. Find your own answers and don't call me if you are going to be that rude. Sorry to be so grr, but this was pretty recent. Okay feeling better now :)
I seriously had someone tell me "you don't look like a diabetic" just wondering what a diabetic looks like :)
That if you eat to many sweets as a child u will get it!! and that if u get the flu, and dont take care of it within like 2 or 3 days u will get it! and that we cant have diet drinks!!! no diet cokem or sprite zero for you, you have diabetes!!!!! people can be so dumb!!!
Yes on all the above...and i'm tired of hearing "you're just using this as a crutch"..? serciouly? wow now could things we better? more sleep, more excerscise, etc...?? yes!! of course, but just b/c you're not the 'energizer bunny' doesn't mean you're using a legitament health problem as a crutch..there are more but that's the one that breaks my heart these days...they have no idea
As a mom of a Type 1, and my DH also has T1 and his sister also has T1(her from age 12 and him from age 24) and my DD was 7 when she was dx last year. I am fully immersed in D and the understanding of it. But even my SIL who I think of as very well managed, still is under the impression that she has to go carb free or very low carb to manage her D. I think it is a huge learning curve to come from what was taught to diabetics 30 years ago to what we are taught now. My DD and My DH are now on the pump but my SIL has yet to try it. She prefers to skip high sugar foods . . .I don;t really think she is doing it wrong - its just her mindset and what she is comfortable with.
When our DD was dx last year - I did not change everything to NO SUGAR - instead - I made sure that we continued to give her healthy foods with normal kid snacks on occasion. When we eat out she get a diet coke - but other than that she rarely has sweeteners. I prefer to give her insulin to match her carb needs even if that means that I have to give more insulin bc she is having kool-aid with friends. (mind you - I am a bit of a health nut - so she does not get kool aid often.
One of the things that has annoyed me the most was once we were at the ic e rink and we tested her bg and she was really low. So I bought her a bag of skittles - I had not prepared and forgot to bring our usual low treats. Someone came up to me in front of her and started telling me about one of the hockey players who is always getting candy and that is why he now has D and had I thought that maybe giving her candy would make her D worse. I smiled politely and asked if he woudl prefer me to pull out the glucagon in a few minutes when she passes out on the floor from severe low blood sugar . . . then proceeded that I am fully aware of my daughters food needs and insulin requirements . . .but I was boiling inside.
Then just the other day we had a babysitter who called me literally at every bg to tell me she was 205, then 198, then 268 - when I got home - she scolded me and told me that I should not let Willow eat what her sisters eat bc it was affecting her bgs and that I am supposed to keep her bg no higher than 115. She knows bc her brother was dx last year and he HAS to stay between 90 and 115. Needless to say we don't use that babysitter very often . . .
Old mindsets are hard to change. And now with more modern treatments such as pumping and MDI where your insulin really meets your carb needs - it is hard for people to get out of that mindset. For the 1st year of her dx I was so full of education for just about anyone I came in contact with. Looking back - I might have been just as annoying to them as they were to me with their lack of knowledge.
I am also really annoyed by people who think they can CURE d with a raw diet or low carb diet. I want to shake them and say WAKE UP!!! Type 1 is Autoimmune - it will not go away bc you change your diet - albiet - a lower carb diet might decrease your insulin needs - all foods convert to carbs - so unless you are living solely on lettuce and water - you are going to need some sort of infusion of insulin . . .
This topic really gets to me . . .sorry for the rant! :)
Just got off of Facebook talking to a friend of my mother's. She asked how my son was doing with his diabetes. I told her he had been hitting some lows yesterday and today (40s +50s) but other than that he was fine. She told me to stop giving him refined sugar because that is what caused this thing in the first place. That our diet can cure us of anything. When i explained that it was an autoimmune disease and there was nothing i knew of that my son could eat to "renew" his beta cells...she said that getting him off refined sugars would help. oh, and also i should give him a piece of fruit first thing in the morning and right before bedtime...and from now on i should give him fruit when his sugar drops! Wow!!! Of course i am sure we could improve our diet and eat healthier, but if it was as easy as eating fruit in the AM and PM, all of there wouldn't be anymore type 1's. I am not positive, but i will bet there are plenty of T1's on this site who ate very healthy prior to the diagnosis. I appreciate her concern and suggestions, but at least have an idea of the disease you are talking about before promoting a "cure". At least her hearts in the right place!
How about this one: Does your daughter have "it"?
if fruit cured diabetes, i'd be eating it every day, twice a day. but it doesnt. :( i wish it did!!!!
i get the "oh your just using your diabetes as a crutch" thing a lot. i do use it as an excuse, but thats only to get out of gym class. haha! and my pe teacher believed me. i have an interesting story about that actually. last year aorund the end of the school year, i over heard a few people talking about how I used my diabetes as crutch to get out of doing something. i dont remember what it was now cause its been a really long summer, but just hearign people say that outloud and behind my back hurt. why would someone assume that in the first place?? it bugs me that someone would think that considering that they know nothing about diabetes. they havent experienced what i go through each day. it bugs me when people say things like that.
The day after we got home from the hospital following my son's dx, he went with me to pick up my younger son from elementary school. Since it was the last day before Christmas break and all the "good moms" were there that day for the whole Winter Party extravaganza, I figured I could at least make an appearance at the last minute for the kid that had been ignored all week long and pick him up in person rather than relegate him to the carpool line with the other "neglected" children. Plus, we both needed to get back out and join the real world, if only for a few minutes. Mistake. While I was waiting for his little brother, "Thing II", to gather his stuff from his main classroom, the teacher that he goes to for math & science came over to chat. She said something like, "well, it's tough to do, but you'll just have to change what he eats and get him on a healthy diet" while pointing out that she knew, since she was diagnosed as type 2. My son and I exchanged glances, I gave her an "mmm-hmmm, thanks", and scurried away. Was not in the mood to start a lengthy dissertation on the differences.
A few months later, a mom of one of Thing II's friends, who has a kid in school with Thing I (the dx'd son), accosted me at another exercise in elementary madness, the Open House. She asked me to confirm what she had heard about Thing I being dx'd, then, much to her daughter's dismay, reached over and pushed her daughter's hair out of the way, so that she could show me the dark rings on her neck. She had just been dx'd with type 2. We talked for a bit, and just before the conversation ended, she said to her daughter, "See, skinny kids get it, too". Again, I got another look from my son, since he is now quite the expert.
Another time, during a field trip, I was talking to another mom about Thing I's dx when her husband came over and joined the conversation. He looked at my son, who was running around playing a pickup game of football and said, "but he's so skinny!" I then went into a quick spiel on the differences between the two types.
None of the comments really made me upset, though. Although all were based in not knowing the difference between the two types, the first I chalked up to her own personal experience (misery loves company), the second I wrote off as a mom trying to boost her child's confidence (middle school IS hell, after all), and the last comment...well, he seemed genuinely shocked and then very interested and curious as I explained the differences. He just didn't know. No bad intent. Fortunately my son has a pretty laid-back personality and understands that not everyone knows that there are different types. It wasn't so long ago that he didn't know, either.
true.
also, it gets annoyign when you tell people and then they act different.
i know they are trying to help, by saying "Awww" and "that sucks" but im fine.
If we really want to use it as a crutch, we have the right too. If im going to live with diabetes for the rest of my life, then of course im going to use it to my advantage. No one has ever accused me of using diabetes as a crutch to my face, but im sure they have. I dont care. sometimes i do use it as a crutch, and if anyone has anything negative to say about that, then i hope they get diabetes so that they can see what its like, and then maybe they wont care that someone who lives with a chronic illness that effects them physically and emotionally uses it to their advantage every once and a while. Im not going to appologize for that, and if you think im using diabetes as a crutch, ide love to see you prove it! Ive had diabetes for almost 14 years, and i have deffinately used it to my advantage in the past, and will continue to do so in the future. its not like im cheating or doing terrible things, ive just used it as an excuse to get out of things, i.e. P.E. and going out with people i hate. Try it!
I definitly use diabetes to my advantage! I don't do anything extreme like cheating...nothing like that but sometimes for small things it helps get me out of potential trouble :) For instance once me and a friend finished lunch early so we were going back to my locker before the bell rang so i could get the stuff i needed for my next class, and then we were going to head back to the cafeteria. We were almost to my locker when the dean (hes kind of a jerk) walks by and asked us what we were doing out of class when it wasn't passing period. To avoid getting in trouble I told him I was diabetic and had to check my blood or something like that and he immediatly launched into a 10 minute conversation about how his wife just had heart surgery for a problem that was apparently caused by her diabetes. I assumed he was confusing the two types of diabetes but I just nodded and smiled so he would leave us alone! With little things like that...its nice to have a quick excuse!
omg!!!!!!!!! i am soooo incredibally done with everyone!!!!!!! (sorry im angry) i get comments all the time from family friends and any "helpful" people who would like to show that they got themselves some good learnin'...heres just a few of what i get
- i was dxed with diabetes the day after my b-day and i always joke that diabetes is the one present i cant regift. well...after ppl hear that i was dxed on my bday they start into a rant that sounds like this " well i bet you had a huge peice of cake and so it your own fault and you should be greatful that you didnt lose a leg from your frickin sweettooth" by this time i am mad as all HE DOUBLE HOCKEYSTICKS and i usually get up and walk away fuming (i cant hjelp it im angry) thes rants last anywhere from 5-10 min btw
- picture me at a party sitting down and about to dig into a nice chocochip cookie...my BG is 90 and im all clear....i take a bite annnnnddddd......somebody takes the cookie away "WHAT R U DOING!!!! YOUR DIABETIC AND U CANT EAT SUGAR!!!!!!! THAT HOW U GAVE YOURSLEF DIABETES IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!!!! DO U WANT TO GET WORSE!!!! WHATS THE MATTER WITH YOU~!!!!!!!" they take the cookie away tell my mom i was gonna eat it and then walk away with my cookie and deliberately drop it in the bin right in front of me....i procede to get a bigger cookie and eat it right in their face
- im off my omnipod for a little while so im back on shots...i inject at a table...and every1 in the whole resturant is giving me the evil eye i say loudly "mom im hi i need to shoot up and check again later" and give them the eye right back
- well at least you dont have cancer or a real disease
5. this is my fav " you need to repent your sins and ask jesus christ our lord and savior to forgive u and take you under his wing...then you wont have diabetes, because diabetes is for sinners" and yes Luke 2:13 "And GOD SAID LET IZZYS PANCREAS NO LONGER WORK"
6. "i feel so bad about eating this in front of u" says some person that is stuffing their face in front of me" i know your diabetic" i explain nicely that i can eat whatever i want " oh no need to make up excuses"
7. i get home from school my mom says, instead of how was ur day, "how was sugar today" and then doesnt understand why i get mad
ok i promis im almost done im just really mad
8. dont eat the cake....that piece is to big. i can eat the cake. no u cant. yes, i can. fine screw up you health
9. and last but not least i was on facebook looking up diabetic stuff and i come across "coalition to end diabetic marraige" when i read that i started to cry :-(
alright im done thanx for listening lol