The other day I was at the playground with the two toddlers. One of the other mothers was asking me how Olivia was doing and asked about her diabetes.

"She's going to outgrow it, right?"

Me: (silence) Blink. Blink.

Me: Um, no. Her pancreas doesn't work. It doesn't make insulin. It's not going to start making it once she's an adult."

I was trying not to rip my hair out of my head, but inside I was thinking "Good grief, do people still actually think you can outgrow diabetes??! Still?? In this day and age?" The answer is, apparently, yes.

So I did my quick, 30-second spiel on type 1 diabetes, but started getting the glazed-eye look pretty quickly. Then she proceeded to tell me that she knew all about diabetes because everyone in her family has type 2. Ugh.

Why won't people listen when you tell them there is a difference? Why? Is it that hard to comprehend? I mean, come on, I know there are two types of MS, there are many, many types of cancer - why is it so hard to comprehend that there are two different, distinct types of diabetes? Why can't people wrap their heads around that concept? It drives me nuts.

How do we get thru to people? How do we let them know that 1.) This ain't Grandma's diabetes and 2.) There is no cure. Because if I have to keep explaining this to people, I'm going to lose what's left of my mind.