A lukewarm rant: You know they have machines to measure your blood sugar?
I'm really not upset because I'm used to it. It's just irritating.
I was out to lunch with a group of people today. The topics of pets came up. I mentioned that I had a cat who passed after 19 years. (Loved her).
Anyway, now that I zig-zag in and out of hypo unawareness and have actually passed out before, I signed up to get a service dog. There is a wait list, so it will be awhile.
The person I was talking to was like "well, they have devices to measure your sugar, you know."
Duh? I pointed out to him that I'd taken my glucose before the meal and gave myself a dose of insulin all while I was sitting at the table. (I've had type 1 for so long that it's pretty unnoticeable unless someone is watching me.)
I then explained hypo unawareness. However, I was just like, "WTF?" I always feel like people who don't have diabetes and don't know much about it have stuff to say.
(Honestly, I think it's worse if someone's related to someone with type 2 because they start talking about oral medication and other stuff that simply doesn't apply to me.)
Okay, lukewarm rant over, but the longer I have diabetes (it's been over 20 years now) the more I want to punch people who try to be smart about it around me. I didn't though. ;)
Tags: rant
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Regina on
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Trust me, I was very aggravated by this guy. I mean how would I not know that they have machines to test my blood sugar levels?
I guess his point was just so stupid that I would have felt really cruel pointing out how dumb it was to tell me that.
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Permalink Reply by mspencer6480 on -
Regina,
One of my favorites is "well, you can't eat that cause you got the sugar." If by "the sugar" you been diabetes, then yes. That is true. If you now assume I cannot eat something because it is sweet, thanks for caring, but I've been managing sugar levels for half of my life. I know how to count carbs, I know how much of a bolus to take, I know how to take sweets in moderation. Ahhhhh. So frustrating. Then, the same people buy sugar free cookies, pudding, etc. I don't even like sweets, but stop making it a big deal. I'm a big boy who has things under control. My rant is over. Thanks for the vent.
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Hard to say, but it seems like there is just an overwhelming number of people who are simply jerks. Sometimes I'm one of them when the T2 topic comes up as I feel T1s are just invisible a lot of the time. Forgive me.
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Permalink Reply by Betty J on
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Type 2s are worldwide just as T1s are but I believe there is something more to T2s lifestyle it's too global to blame simply on lifestyle...umm medical experts way of saying they don't know.
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My point was, as a type 1, I get attention envy re type 2s. Since the large percentage of diabetics are type 2s most of the stuff that I hear is about them. It's just attention envy. ;)
I won't even get into the causes because I don't know. They're wide ranging. That's for sure.
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Permalink Reply by April on -
Hi - I was actually looking into getting my Dear angel Doggie trained (she's 5) to detect hypos, just so she could be a Service Dog. It IS possible - but a FORTUNE and NOT justifiable. I am ON insulin, but ALWAYS hypo-unaware. I am sure insurance would not pay for her to be trained and my situation is not severe enough to warrant a service dog. . . but having her with me all the time was a very attractive proposition. . . so I looked into it. And, as a MODY diabetic on insulin who is very sensitive to insulin, I do go low at times.
Just today, I was at the mall longer than expected and walked significantly more than I had expected (and wasn't pay attention to how much), before I knew it the odd feeling of being distant from the world came on, so I sat myself down on a bench, popped 6 glucose tabs (didn't even bother to take my BG, cuz I knew what was going on. By the time I'd sat down-60 seconds later I was freezing cold and shaking like a leaf . . . but 10 mins later I was fine and and able to stand up and go about my business).
But, get this. . .
5 months ago, I had called the local Therapy Dog organization (YES, I know it was a THERAPY DOG program not a SERVICE DOG program and there IS a big difference) and left message for them to call me back. I provided a COMPLETE explanation of my situation: I take insulin, I am not always aware when hypoglycemic episodes are coming on and I have read that dogs can be trained to detect hypo and hyper glycemic episodes and alert their owners. I am wondering whether you have any information about this - please call me. . .
The woman who called back fancied herself a diabetes expert and was clearly married to a type 2 who was on insulin - but was not counting carbs. He took a routine dose at bed time and a set bolus dose before meals. He apparently had never had a hypo episode and she had NO idea what I was talking about. She was absolutely clueless about what a service dog for diabetes was and started questioning WHY I WAS ON INSULIN IF I WAS HAVING HYPOGLYCEMIC EPISODES????
OMG...just a little bit frustrating to be accused of not understanding my own disease therapy - THANK YOU - by the Therapy Dog Expert.
Bottom line is, I am fine for now and Sophie is 5 and healthy.
However, if we get to a point where I am in the market for another dog and my situation with hypo awareness has changed, I may look into puppy training . . . there are organizations that will train your OWN dog. and that is what I would be interested in I think though it would use a chunk of savings. I love my breed of dogs and it would be the big thing I spent money on for that period of time (rather than travel, house upgrades, new car or anything else -- my dog is companionship and in this case, literally, a life-saver).
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Well, I hope it works out. The program I applied to trains dogs to specifically sense glucose changes. They're limited to the area that I live in right now, so I'm just thrilled I moved back from the hell that is NYC because it wouldn't be possible to work with them there.
I know there are issues and costs with training a dog to do this. As far as I know, this org makes sure they're one of two breeds that have proven to be good service dog breeds. I hope you can figure it out. I'm sure you're working with your doctor to level that out too. Mine flows in and out. Right now, I'm sensing lows but there have been times I haven't. We just have to stay vigilant.
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Permalink Reply by April on
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Hi, Regina - Yes, absolutely - I test, test, test and, fortunately, I usually eat low carb and the same foods. But, wouldn't you know, I went out to a restaurant and had some yummy french bread with butter. And I think I would have been fine if I had not done so much walking after lunch. I just did not stop. So, boom.
I do wish you the very best. I am such a dog lover and I think that the relationships between service dogs and their owners is beyond special.
Congrats on making the tough decision to move. I know that NYC has some great advantages. . . and I have a friend from OH (Cincy area) who was very successful as a set designer (Broadway!) there for 25 years. . . but the last I heard, she was having serious difficulties because she was losing her sight to macular degeneration.
You know, the prospect of going blind is pretty scary -- but the thought of it happening in New York and negotiating every day life between the Broadway theater district and Washington Park where she lived was really daunting.
She had been thinking of retraining in elementary ed. . . but I do hope she found her way back to the Midwest. . .
Best wishes.
April
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My move wasn't a hard decision. Life is hard, but life there is really hard. I love visiting, but hate living there. I did it for two years and tried living in 3 different areas. None compare to life in the SF Bay Area. It's a bit slower here but that's the trade-off.
It's a socio-economic issue. If I could live in a loft in SoHo and not be poor, I'd move back. ;) I can work from anywhere, so I figured I'd move back and live in a place that makes me happy. As long as my work gets done, my clients don't care. They're all in NYC.
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Permalink Reply by April on
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Ha ha! Isn't the age of the internet wondeful!
My hubby lives in Traverse City, MI by the water (Lake MI) - my company is in Cincinnati OH - I commute and spend 2 weeks with him up there every 5-6 weeks.
Have my own small market research company -- most of the work we do is online (market research studies, both qualitative focus groups and quantitative studies,like satisfaction surveys.
But - since the consumer participates on line - no issues with my part being all on line! I love it. The respondents love it. It works!
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April I agree with you about computers. Computers have put me in touch with people around the world. This is my 53rd year of living with D but for 40 years I knew or communicated with no one like me. But the computer has changed that and I am one who is happy to have lived long enough to see this new tech world.
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