Whats the most annoying comment you've ever gotten about diabetes?

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Permalink Reply by Jan on January 24, 2009 at 9:01am

Here's another, that just cropped up last week (niece with Type 1 is in Middle School). Student A: "Why do you keep leaving class to go to the nurse all the time?" DN "Because I have diabetes and I leave a little early so I have time to eat lunch." Student A: "Why do you have diabetes already? Do you eat a lot of sweets?" DN (who is one of the thinnest students in school), "Does it LOOK like I eat a lot of sweets?" LOL.

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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth on January 24, 2009 at 10:12am

MY POINT EXACTLY!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Jenn B. on January 24, 2009 at 10:20am

On a good day, (or good current BG level) I try to remind myself how ignorant I was just 8 months ago before I was diagnosed T1 and was FORCED to educate myself. And then I take a deep breath and try to be patient with the ignorant comments and use these as opportunities to educate others.

That's on a good day.

Most other times, I am filled with attitude and quick replies. I even have replies ready for comments that haven't happened yet, just daring someone to say something to me. I haven't yet had someone comment about me testing or shooting up in public, but I wish they would. If it makes them uncomfortable, I will say "yeah, me too."

Most annoying?
1) I could never do what you do. Really? Well, then you would die.
2) You are a very important part of your Diabetes Team. (this from the CDE at my Endos' office!). Most important? I AM THE TEAM! That's like telling a pregnant woman in labor that she is a very important part of delivering her baby.
3) I can't believe YOU have Diabetes! This I hear most, since I am a life-long healthy vegetarian, I teach yoga, I work out regularly, I don't like sweets (never ate birthday cake anyway), don't drink, smoke, etc. Basic health nut. I haven't come up with a great reply to this, other than taking the opportunity to explain how T1 is not related to diet and exercise, but is auto-immune.
4) You don't need to test that much. This was also from the CDE at my Endo's office. I went on a tirade about all the things that could or couldn't happen if I don't test as often as I do. My last two A1Cs have been under 6, so I'm not trying to hear ANY advice from her about what I'm doing not working when it is.

and the one that seems to be popping up on many others comments:
5) At least it isn't Cancer. I reply "I wish it was" to which I get HORRIFIED looks. And then I add, "I don't want BOTH, but I have been diagnosed with Cancer before. Cancer you can sometimes fight and survive and be done with. Diabetes is FOREVER." I hope this doesn't offend anyone dealing with this or who have lost loved ones to Cancer (I have too) but I am still struggling with the fact that when you get Cancer you FIGHT and with T1Diabetes you just SURRENDER.

Haven't resolved that yet.

And so it goes....sometimes I snap back. Sometimes I educate. But I know that the person I am responding to will be left with something to think about. :)

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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth on January 24, 2009 at 10:49am

Cancer was once considered a death sentence. In fact, cancer was once something you didn't dare talk about--it was taboo. Now, though, most cancers at least have a fighting chance at a cure. There's plenty of hope that someday that will be true of T1 diabetes too.

I have this horrid fear of needles and when Eric was first diagnosed, I thought, "I can't do this," for all of about a millisecond, then realized, "I HAVE to do this" because not doing it meant my baby would die in front of me. It's AMAZING what you can do with the right incentives.

Once, I had to give Eric insulin at the hairdresser's—my daughter's appointment had run a lot longer than expected and I had no choice but to feed him his lunch there in the waiting room, and of course that meant injecting him too. The people sitting in the waiting room with us were politely horrified when I got out the needle (one even got up and left, looking ill), but when I started explaining it to the woman next to me (who was the only one who thought to ASK what was going on), they all crowded around like they wanted to learn something. So I think it's good to make opportunities to teach...

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Permalink Reply by elaine peterson on January 24, 2009 at 2:36pm

Jenn.....It doesn't sound to me as though you have "surrendered."

I vaguely used the rationale that "at least it wasn't cancer" to keep positive when I was diagnosed. I just felt that the treatment for cancer would involve so many choices that I knew nothing about with no guarantees (I don't think you stop worrying about it coming back) and that the treatment, or everyday living, for diabetes involved interest and knowledge about nutrition and the interest and knowledge and will to live a healthy lifestyle. In other words, diabetes sounded like not surrendering to anything, just committing to a lifestyle. Of course, that "just committing" has turned out to be harder and had a lot more variables than I could have imagined then, but I still feel that a lot of choice is involved in our outcomes as opposed to chance.

Whatever....it sounds to me that you are doing a great job, no matter how you deal with it. I would love to hear your prepared come-backs. I am pretty private about having diabetes....I know I would be furious at any negative comments.

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Permalink Reply by miranda on January 24, 2009 at 4:07pm

although i have not been told that i have diabetes with my reading high its worryisom and two nights ago my grandmother had a really dumb thing to say about the high reading {drinking beer will do that} for one I dont drink beer and I am not a not an alcoholic.

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Permalink Reply by Linda Gauvin-Miller on January 24, 2009 at 4:49pm

There are quite a few annoying (dare I say dumb) comments that are tossed in the wind, without any thought given as to how the said comment may be hurtful!! "Do you still have that sugar thing ?"....is one such comment, the person who often comes up with that one is a friend....and the comment is usually follwed by "You can have this...it's not sweet (a cake)" who is she to dictate what I can or cannot have?!!....another one is more about the sense of being pittied. Yet another annoying comment, is when people think they're being commics when they reply with such things as this reference made by a fellow teacher, about a colleague having a high carb lunch..."Linda is just jealous".

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Permalink Reply by Chiara Ko on January 24, 2009 at 6:11pm

Hi everyone! I'm new :) Not newly diagnosed, just newly discovered we have quite an extensive diabetes support system on the web o.O I wish I found the blogs and the sites sooner... but better late than never I guess :)

The most annoying thing is when an acquaintance from church (we don't see each other much) found out I'm diabetic and she said "Are you going to have kids? You shouldn't have kids, or they'll have it! Have you thought about their lives if you have children?" I wanted to scream... And then, she found my address (I work at the church so my home address is easily found) then started sending us books.

I just kept thinking that ever since I know that a) I'm a girl, b) I'm the one who can get pregnant and c) I'm diabetic, the thought of getting pregnant and being able to care of a family, and the possibility of my future kids having diabetes, have always been in the back of my mind. I've had this for 20 years now and even my own mother said I shouldn't get married or have kids. Thankfully, I am now happily married :) No kids yet though, that's for later....

Chiara

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Permalink Reply by Linda Gauvin-Miller on January 24, 2009 at 6:29pm

Just because you have D. doesn't necessarily have to follow that your kids will have it also....and does it mean that couples who have/had or have family members with cancer....asthma....downs syndrome...etc etc simply should not have children? Well, that's pretty much the whole population, isn't it?.....Some people are so crass. Having a child with diabetes happens even in families with no history of diabetes....the advantage in your case if your child DID develop D. is that you would be well educated about it.

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Permalink Reply by Elizabeth on February 5, 2009 at 9:19am

Geez, if everyone who had anything wrong with them decided they shouldn't have kids, there'd be no kids. What is wrong with these people? That's about the dumbest thing I ever heard.

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Permalink Reply by Rick Phillips on January 24, 2009 at 6:35pm

Here is a goo done.

1975, I was a senior in HS, I ended up visiting with an army recruiter, I think my buddy had singed up. Anyway the recruiter says son you would be a wonderful arm man. Well I have type 1 diabetes and I use insulin. Well you would need to not do that for like two months then once in your in basic you can need it again and get retirement.

Sir, i cannot stop using insulin for two months I would be dead, yeah, but you woudl get a nice pension.

LOL

How funny

Rick Phillips

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Permalink Reply by Brett on February 13, 2009 at 10:00am

Geeze, I know what you mean...

I once had a (former) endo that I was visiting soon after diagnosis. I knew a fair amount about diabetes, and I had been diagnosed as a type 1. I was trying to convince her to prescribe insulin, but she only put me on metformin. She said "you just need to lose some weight and stop whining". I told her that prescribing metformin to a type 1 is like prescribing a water sensitizer to someone dying of thirst. She kicked me out of her office sans insulin....

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