6 Replies to “Diabetes! Diabetes! Diabetes!”

  2. That video is weirdly enraging. I’m not sure how an injection every few hours is any good without food or counting (which he makes no mention of). That would kill you faster than not taking anything. His only saving grace might be that in his world the disease is misunderstood and that’s why the association between ‘too much candy’ and T1D is made. But on the other hand, they obviously have insulin injections…

    Mis-portrayal of diabetes in the media can be so frustrating.

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    1. Hey, Sanne. I think the post is geared more toward the emotional roller coaster people with T1D suffer. My grandson is just like that. When he goes high he starts bouncing off the walls. And when he drops he turns moody and cries at the drop of a hat. Once you recognize the symptoms it’s easier to understand what’s happening. My worry is for him. What about the people he will interact with growing up? Many won’t know what’s wrong with him. Many will think he’s an ass, or mentally unstable. His life is hard enough without the added stress of not being accepted by his peers.
      That is my worry for my grandson.

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      1. I see what happened now, I meant to respond directly to the post itself but didn’t realize it was a reblog. My apologies!

        The next parts aren’t meant in a bad way, I merely wish to express how I feel. I apologize in advance if I worded something in a bad way, that wasn’t my intention.

        I do take some minor offense to the way the term ‘mentally unstable’ is used here. I’m a diabetic as well, and I suffer from depression and anxiety among other things. I am mentally unstable, although my situation is currently stable. Reality is that it only takes one blow to throw me back into the deep, but I have a good support system backing me up when that happens. Being mentally unstable is not a bad thing that makes me a bad person, it’s as much of an illness as diabetes is. Being an ass is a choice, being mentally unstable is an illness that nobody chooses – that’s why this comparison is jarring to me.

        I know that there are many taboos and ‘we don’t speak of this’ things involved with mental illness, but if you fear your grandson as being seen as someone like me, that is upsetting to hear. Diabetes is nothing shameful, and neither is mental illness.

        We can never have any major effect on how people see us. All we can do is communicate with them and be ourselves. If they choose to see us as bad people, that is their problem, not ours, and to invest energy into worrying about that is wasted. All your grandson has (and CAN) do is be kind, to talk and let his peers know what’s up and what to expect in case of hypo/hyper induced behavior, and engage in activities with them as much as possible to form friendships. Taking the mystery and myths out of the illness is the only thing you can do to ease the tension around it, and if people choose not to listen and draw their own conclusions, they are not worth our time until they decide they want to learn.

        It’s not always easy, and I understand wanting a worry-free life for someone who is already saddled with the burden of an illness as severe as diabetes, but the best thing you can do is give him the tools to learn how to deal with the inevitable. He will run into people who refuse to educate themselves at some point. I don’t know how old he is (assuming by the way you speak of him, I will assume he is still young – forgive me if I’m wrong!), but it’s more than likely this will happen before he’s legally an adult.

        He would benefit greatly from being guided into adult life with diabetes with the knowledge that some people will not want to listen and understand, and that until these people are willing to change they are not people he should invest energy in. It can only help him to know what his symptoms are and to pass their descriptions on to the people around him so that they can help and understand instead of scoff and turn on him.

        I really understand where you’re coming from, and I agree that people are severely uneducated on an illness as common as diabetes (although T1D forms only a small percentage of it). It is made harder by the fact the symptoms can be different for every diabetic, and there are so many different types and treatments it even makes our heads spin, never mind those who stand outside of it. But if diabetes is treated as something normal in his life (which it is, whether we like it or not), and people are educated about it, I don’t think he will have to worry a whole lot about it.

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        1. I really appreciate your comments! It’s a learning curve for everyone. He’s lucky because his mom is there one hundred and ten percent for him. They’ve done demonstrations of his kit and how important it is to his classmates, and encourages him to continue with the sports he loves. I worry more for his future, than now. The teen years are hard without a burden like that, I pray he has the wisdom you speak of to carry him through.
          I wish you the very best {{hugs}}

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