ARE WE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR WORDS AND ACTIONS WHEN LOW

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Permalink Reply by Brunetta on July 18, 2009 at 10:31am

Sheila, I have had diabetes for 41 years. I had an incident at my work place ( public school) this spring:Every one I work with knows that I am insulin-dpendent diabetic, I do not hide it and I wear a pump.. On that day, I was in the low forties, scurrrying toward the nurses office for help. Anyway, the hastily discarded lancet (from the hypo brain fuzz )ended up on my work-space, instead of my personal sharps container, and a co-worker was impaled the next day. I had to write up a letter detiailing how I would deal with testing from here on out, go see human relations, We both had to take blood tests to rule out hepatititis and HIV ( both of us were, of course, negative). I realize that I was responsible for my actions, even if low, and though no one suffered any future negative ramifications, my document that discussed how we would deal with future low-blood sugar issues and testing is in my personnel file. However, a positive result of this incident is that the legal gurus from my school district are now looking at establishing a formal procedure to deal with employees who have chronic illnesses; so that they have some kind of case-by case standard to go by that will neither violate the Americans with Disabilities Act ( ADA), nor put our school district in a compomising legal position in regards to blood-born pathogens and the like.It had been established for students with type one diaabtes, and sharps containers were provided for them, but this was not widely available for employees, unless they asked about it.. I was not punished nor put on any type of suspension for this incident.
Please get over the defensive stance about hiding diabetes; If you learned it from childhood, it is time to UNLEARN IT. You have nothing to be ashamed of from having diabetes and you are NOT DEFECTIVE. GOD DOES NOT MAKE JUNK. Maybe if your supervisors or co-workers had been made more aware of diabetes, its management ,and symptoms of hypogylcemia, they would be more understanding.

Let's talk. We are here at TUdiabetes to help.

God bless,
Brunetta

Permalink Reply by Brunetta on July 18, 2009 at 10:51am

You are in my prayers

Permalink Reply by Sheila Green on July 18, 2009 at 12:40pm

Thank you so much for the advice. Yes I agree, educating my boss more about diabetes would be very helpful but unfortunately I have to try and catch a few words with him while he is answering the phone, playing with his crack-berry, reading his e-mails and his cell phone is ringing...!!!! all at once. Certainly I will do my best to have a few moments with him. Maybe a good look at the Americans with Disabilities Act would help. I work for a small company - only 5 full-time people and my boss always states "that the rules don't apply to him because he is under 10 employees "!!
Yes, I will certainly make sure everything is documented and in my file - I am hoping that he does not terminate me permantly, although that would be discrimination ? right ? Yes, it is unfortunate that years ago (1950-60-70's) we were taught that it was a major defect in us and we had to hide it. I will certainly try and educate my fello workers.
Sheila

Permalink Reply by Mark Hagen on July 19, 2009 at 2:02pm

ADA applies to all employers! Some OSHA and IRS rulings do not but ADA applies to all. I have ran into the same attitude with previous employers. THey are confused about which laws apply and which don't. I have had employers break more laws than they obeyed.

Permalink Reply by Kristy on August 9, 2009 at 10:07am

EEOC Diabetes Facts
Disability Discrimination "The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a federal law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Title I of the ADA covers employment by private employers with 15 or more employees as well as state and local government employers. The Rehabilitation Act provides similar protections related to federal employment. Title I of the ADA, which became effective for employers with 25 or more employees on July 26, 1992, prohibits employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities. Since July 26, 1994, Title I has applied to employers with 15 or more employees. Title V contains miscellaneous provisions which apply to EEOC's enforcement of Title I."
Titles I and V

Sheila,

Hopefully this will blow over and your boss will see he's just being too insensitive. Have you tried to apologize and inform him of why this happened in the first place? As long as he is following policy on this type of incident (would everyone be punished for shouting profanities at their boss?) I don't really see where you have anything to stand on. Most people would say you're lucky you weren't fired on the spot.

Permalink Reply by Marps on July 20, 2009 at 7:52am

I don't believe that him firing you would be discrimination. I may be harsh and unfair, but not illegal and discriminatory.

If you're looking to get re-hired (or taken off of suspension) I would not mention the discrimination piece to him. :)

Permalink Reply by Mark Hagen on July 20, 2009 at 8:01am

Very true Marps! But remember for the future that even when he says ADA doesn't apply he is incorrect. He has to make reasonable accommodations for you. Allow you to go to the doc. But does not have to allow a low to disrupt the work place. ADA should be a last resort as it will forever change the relationship you have with the employer and co-workers.

Permalink Reply by faye on August 7, 2009 at 9:04pm

**APPLAUSE** well said! i'm tired of fellow diabetics blaming diabetes for their own lack of control.

yes, you are responsible. psychological issues aside, you ARE in control. you are in control of testing frequently and keeping yourself from getting that low. trust me, i've had some major lows (hypoglycemia unawareness), but you test, you treat, you move on. sometimes i'll feel funny at work and think i'm low, test, and see that i'm at 135. okay cool, that's a good thing to know. still, even if i drop to 35 and cuss my boss out, that is MY responsibility and mine alone.

Permalink Reply by Hawley on August 8, 2009 at 1:18am

I'm glad I happened upon your post. I am dating someone who is in flight school at Spartan Academy, and he has gotten me interested in learning to fly. We have been through some medical messes lately because he had some kidney stones. With all of the protocol he had to go through to get approved to fly while on medication, I was wondering if a diabetic would be allowed to be a pilot. So, I'm assuming that I could get my private license, then? Would like to hear from you on what you have to do to get approved, etc. Thanks!

Permalink Reply by Hawley on August 8, 2009 at 6:49pm

Thanks, Mike! I appreciate the info. I have pretty tight control except around once a month when being a woman affects your blood sugars in all kinds of wonderful ways. I check a gazillion times a day already, so checking more often during flight wouldn't bother me. I'm excited about possibly learning to fly!

Thanks again,
Hawley

Permalink Reply by Dave   _ on August 8, 2009 at 6:55pm

I took up flying about a year before I found out i was diabetic. Now, here's irony for you: because I was totally honest when filling out the forms for the physical in preparation for getting a pilot's license, I was held back for more than a month because I mentioned that I had a blood test to see if I was a hypoglycemic. When the doctor balked, I said, "wait a minute! I'm not at ALL hypoglycemic--it was just a test a doc wanted to run to see why I was having certain symptoms". No matter to him--he had to investigate further, which took many weeks.

In actuality, the fasting test result was rather high, but the bozo doctor didn't screen me further for diabetes, which I had (looking back) already. It was another year before the dx was made. Not til I went to a pulmonary specialist, did I find out I was diabetic through routine blood tests, as a new patient. Frickin' doctors! Some are good, and some are worthless.

Permalink Reply by Sheila Green on August 11, 2009 at 6:16am

You know there is a reason the FAA don't allow you to fly commercial. No matter HOW well you control your diabetes, things happen. It has nothing to do with the number of times you test.or the "good control" you have or do not have....you HAVE to remember the RATE your BG drops. You can be 400 and drop rapidly to 200 and have the symptoms of HYPOGLYCEMIA - I have proven it many a time. So if you check and you are 200 you would assume you are OK to fly - guess what ??? You are not - you have the symptoms of hypoglycemia and may get very confused. I don;t claim to know it all - but after 55 years I certainly know what I am doing. I certainly would not want to be in a plane with a type 1 as a pilot.
Sheila

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