How many times have you been talking to someone about your diabetes diagnosis, and had them respond by saying the following: "You don't look sick!"?
And how many of you have ever rattled off a list of medical conditions to someone, only to have them say "You're too young to have that much wrong with you!"?
I'd be willing to bet just about every one with diabetes or any other invisible illness has heard those lines at some point. I certainly have. Admittedly, I find them rather annoying.
Some days, I don't even acknowledge those comments, because I just don't have it in me to deal with them. Other days, however, I'm not so passive.
"So, I don't look sick, huh? Sorry if that diappoints you. How am I supposed to look?" A lot of people aren't prepared for that kind of response, and I get that "deer caught in the headlights" look from them.
Diabetes isn't like a broken leg. With the broken leg, there are usually casts, braces, and crutches involved. All things that are clearly visible to the naked eye. I've had my share of leg injuries, so I'm speaking from years of experience here. With diabetes, you can be sitting next to someone on the bus, or even sharing an office with someone, who has diabetes and not even know it.
So again I ask, how should I look? And while I'm at it, why am I too young to have so many health problems?
Apparently, I'm not too young to be living with type 2 diabetes and congestive heart failure because, well, I'm living with it. I know plently of people with diabetes who are living with multiple health problems, and many of them are a lot younger than I am.
Take, for example, the 9 year old I learned about on twitter last week who's living with type 1 diabetes and heart defects, and has gone through the trauma of open heart surgery to repair his heart. I know of children even younger than him who have been through that, and I can't even imagine what they've been through.
I guess the two things that I wish more people would bear in mind are this:
1) Just because you can’t see any visible signs that someone has a health problem, that doesn’t mean they don’t have a problem.
2) Diabetes, heart disease, and many other health problems do not discriminate based on age. It doesn’t matter whether you’re 2 weeks old, 7 years old, 26 years old, or 47 years old and beyond. They are equal opportunity and can strike anyone.
I would love to hear what others think about this. Please feel free to leave a comment. or two. :)
I am really happy that someone else has the same problem with not looking sick...LOL I try each day to look the very best I can and it is hard because I have been also using oxygen 24/7 for the passed year..LOL I have decided that if people think I look to healthy to be sick well then I am doing something right. I don't need people to feel sorry for me and so I will continue to try and look "too good to be so sick".....LOL LOL
yes i hear this from doctor to.iam trying to get help from disability because of neuropathy in my legs from the the diabetes as i am unable to do stuff any more ,and my doctor keeps saying you are to young to be sick like this,and that doesnt help while i fall behind in my bills
I'm 51 and had my first heart attack at age 35. I have had 5 heart attacks, one minor stroke and along with diabetes I have a lot of other health problems. Like the rest of you I get really sick of stupid comments by other more fortuneate people who don't know what it is like to deal with multiple health problems. Once I asked someone, "How should I look?". That left them speachless. I am on disability and I have a handicap parking permit. I have been yelled at more than once when parking in a handicap spot because I can't possibly be handicapped! One woman accused me of stealing the placard for my car and I had to show her my medicare card and stent placement cards I carry to convince her I had problems so she would quit following me around the store making hateful comments.
Im 27 yrs old and diagnosed w/type 1 when i was 15. People were always shocked to find out about my condition saying "but you're not overweight." Classmates wld always say "Oh yeah, my grandma/grandpa has diabetes. But it's wierd that you have it." Comments like this used to really make me crazy, but I have come to realize that thr are so many people out there that just don't know about the disease. And sometimes people comment on subjects they are ignorant about. I knew nothing about Diabetes before I was diagnosed. So I have learned to be more patient w/people and look @ it as an opportunity to educate them on the disease.
I'm 56 and have had type 2 for the last 15 years, diabetes runs in my family and lucky me I got it! I've been on insulin 2X a day for almost 2 years and my numbers are all over the place. I'm tired of people not taking my diabetes serious because its "type 2"! They act like I have it because I'm lazy and not doing something right to get rid of it. According to my PA my body is not producing insulin anymore, that is why I am on insulin and they are talking about adding a short acting during the day to level my sugars out some. But I guess what I am saying is that I have a disease that I didn't ask for and wish people would take the fact that I have it serious. I hate this disease, wish it would go away and feel like it controls me and I have no control over it.