Diabetic Recipes
To: Michelle's boss
From: Michelle
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008
Subject: Tomorrow morning
Hey, boss. I'm going to have some bloodwork done on my way in tomorrow. I should be in by 8:30. I went to do it on Friday afternoon, but my doctor's office failed to tell me I had to be fasting. Grrr.
To: Michelle
From: Michelle's boss
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008
Subject: Re: Tomorrow morning
OK. I hope everything's OK.
To: Michelle's boss
From: Michelle
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008
Subject: Re: Tomorrow morning
Oh, yeah. Just routine bloodwork. Especially since I have a new endocrinologist and I haven't had any bloodwork since before I left Missouri. No worries. Bloodwork is pretty common in my life.
(I left work before I read her response. I imagine she'll either know what an endocrinologist is for or she'll consult Dr. Google. Even Dr. Google won't give her a concrete answer, though. Perhaps I should start a conversation tomorrow...especially considering I found myself at 46 while in a meeting this morning with few symptoms. Fortunately I was near my desk and could test and (over) treat.)
Michelle,
Ít's simply amazing how clueless Joe Public is about diabetes. They just don't get it. Even if you come right out and tell your boss, I doubt he/she is going to know what it means. Did you see Georgés post about the honey? Wow...how revealing. I get a kick out of my well educated friends going at my not very well educated friends on how to treat me when I'm low. I often wish I felt good enough to enjoy their arguments, but I'm low at the time... I swear! :-)
Mousie
While I agree that Joe Public is often clueless about diabetes, and especially about Type I, I must admit I'm pretty clueless about many other medical conditions. It's a common theme of Joe Diabetes Blogger to bemoan the lack of understanding of Joe Public about diabetes. I mean no disrespect to you Michelle, or any other blogger, but what do you know about asthma or bipolar disease? Do you know what it is to live with Crohn's disease or heart failure? What is it like to live as a quadriplegic or an amputee? You get the idea. Unless it effects you or someone you love, are you all that interested? Why is it so important that people understand us??
It is very important for those that interact with us on a daily basis to understand what it means to live with Diabetes. Not that they should have a complete education on the subject, but it is important that they have a good grasp on the basics. Michelle's e-mails are a good example. Having my boss understand that there will be routine check ups with my doctor helps to keep his mind at ease. Also, I'd like to know that if something were to happen and I needed help, that the people around me would know what to do.
It's not Joe Public that concerns me, it's friends, family and co-workers. If I worked with someone who had Crohn's disease, I would find out as much as I could about the disease so that I could help or be supportive in an educated and sensitive manner. (My best girlfriend has Crohns, so it was a good example). I understand poster astronomers point, but I don't really think Michelle or Mousie were commenting on the general population as a whole, just those who spend time with us on a daily basis.
The reason it's important is because diabetes--like few other diseases--carries the tinge of 'I told you so' with it wherever you go. People think type 2s brought it on themselves by eating too much, and have no clue that type 1 is a wholly different disease. Meanwhile type 2s feel guilty because people think their D is self-inflicted, and type 1s either fear being exposed as PWDs at all, or hate the complete lack of empathy most people show when they find out. Can you think of any other major disease (short of lung cancer) where Joe/Jane Public blame the victim as heartily as they do with diabetes?! I mean, I certainly don't secretly wonder about the habits of Crohn's disease sufferers or people with asthma...
I worked as a church administrator from home for 16 years, which made it easy to take breaks to check my bs, snack if needed, etc. As luck would have it, when the church finally decided to put in an office, and have me work in the building, my blood sugars suddenly got totally wonky. Normal insulin doses were sending me into scary, unpredictable lows. Think I had a seizure once (at home) during this time, but, of course, I'm not sure since I wasn't really there :)
Explained my Type 1 status, and described symptoms of very low bs to our recently hired minister (the only other staff member in the building). Showed him where I kept my snacks. But, as I went into the details, I could see his eyes kinda glazing over. He clearly didn't want to deal with this. Maybe it scared him? So, I backed off and reassured him that it hardly ever happens ... but just in case ... He's a classic absent-minded minister. I doubt he remembers much of anything I said.
This was particularly upsetting when I was dropping so low without any apparent reason. Turns out, it was because I was going through menopause, and it seems that estrogen is an insulin antagonist. The less estrogen I had in my body, the less insulin I needed to take. I've been Type 1 for 36 years, and I'd never experienced the kind of lows I was going through during that time.
I'm evened out now. Haven't had a scary low in a couple of years, but it sure is frustrating when you can't count on the people around you to understand and react accordingly ...