Diabetic Recipes
Okay, I will warn you up front that this post is a total rant and has no other substance besides the fact that I need to let off some steam. I am also looking for some of you who have dealt with this annoying stereotype.
As I was minding my own business here at my desk the janitor comes up to me and asks me if I have to take shots everyday. I realize that he was listening to a conversation I was having with a co-worker about insulin and so on. A total eavesdropping moment right? So I answer, "nope." And totally leave it at that.
He says, "Oh you got off of insulin. That's good. Just a diet now or pills?"
"No I have an insulin pump."
"There is a gal in another office I clean that has to shoot up every day." Then he does it. He does this sort of motion with his right hand towards his left upturned arm. As if he is shooting up heroin or something right into his vein!
I told him, "Dude, its insulin not heroin. We don't main line Humalog!" After I said it I started laughing out loud. I could not help it. I wanted to "high five" myself. I know it was kind of jerky but seriously! I just got fed up and this guy was the victim of my attitude.
Stereotypes are so annoying. I know its something we can help by educating a little. Sometimes I cannot help it. I get annoyed and my sarcasm shows.
Have you seen this "shot to the vein" move from people? How did you deal with it?
Grrr... No, I've NEVER seen this motion used for insulin. How ignorant and infuriating!!
I hate stereotyping of any kind, but there is so much damage done when others put diabetics into the same category as illegal drug users.
First, as WE know, we have prescriptions for our insulin, based upon medical input and the results of blood testing. Second, I would not voluntarily put a needle (with insulin or anything else) into my abdomen if I didn't have to. Third, I also hate having to take my blood glucose readings before I take insulin. Do you ever see heroin addicts read their blood sugar levels before ingesting heroin?
The worst part is that I have been trying to train my husband to inject the insulin into me just in case I need it sometime but I am not able to safely inject myself. I have him inject the insulin into the back of my upper arm. The other day when he knew it was time for him to inject me, he loudly said, "Oh, it's time for your heroin shot, is it?" We were in a public restaurant, and I almost drop kicked him right then and there. How could he say something so stupid? After all, this is someone who has been living with me since I was diagnosed with Type II diabetes, and he knows the troubles I'm having in keeping my blood sugars level as it is, even with using insulin.
So, it's not just the janitors in our lives who display great ignorance at times. I told my husband later that evening that he'd really hurt my feelings and embarrassed me. Even after I tried explaining what his words did, he still didn't think it was that big a deal -- he thought he'd been funny. So infuriating and frustrating!
GRRRR
Ugh, ignorance. Haven't had the heroin jab before, but a couple of distant relatives came back into my dad's life recently. In the course of asking about me, he told them how I'm doing D-wise. Her response?
"Oh, I thought she grew out of that a long time ago."
Simmer...stew...grrr...
Oh that is rediculous!
"Grew out of it"???? Where do I sign up for that??
I just mentally high-fived you, SuperG. (The High Fives! Isn't that a rock band in my mind? :P )
I've seen people do the "mainlining" motion when talking about insulin. Sometimes I tell them "No, it goes ... here," and show them on their arm. Sometimes I roll my eyes and hope they stop talking soon. And sometimes I tell them that they need to tap the vein with their fingers first - isn't that what all the insulin junkies do? ;)
My sarcasm shows at times, too. But educating them as best we can is usually the most effective option. At least we can help stop them from offending someone else.
I will never forget the first time my in-laws saw me getting ready to take my shot. My wife's aunt asked me where I take my shot. I took off my glasses and pulled down my bottom eye lid and said, "I like it right under here" and made a stabbing move with my syringe in my hand!
We all had a laugh after she stopped screaming. LOL
when my husband was first told he was diabetic told some freinds and they said wow and we were just getting to know you good it was like hey dude its not like he is dying man the nerve of some people.
That is awful! We must educate in the end I guess. It is just hard to want to do that all the time.
Here's a small suggestion: Not everyone understands diabetes. Be pleasant. Stop with the Me-Me-Me and allow people to ask questions if they want. Less is more.
Typically I can sit for hours on end and answer questions for people. I love to educate. I guess sometimes I am not in the right mood or just lose it. Me-Me-Me is not Me at all.
Good suggestion though. We should always be pleasant.
Most people are not familiar with intramuscular self-injection. Most of the people we see injecting themselves in public -- or with evidence of having had to insert a hypodermic needle into themselves -- are either "shooting up to get high" or they are on intravenous drips. Until John Q. Public is familiar with the image of self-delivered intramuscular injection, he will continue to picture all self-delivered injections as forearm-intravenous.
For good or ill, that image will change to a more realistic one as increasingly more people require self-injectable pharmaceuticals to maintain life or quality-of-life.
G-Money! That is so dang funny! And the eyeball thing? That rocks too!
Augh, just the IDEA of doing an injection into my arm... makes me ill.
I've just barely gotten use to the sub-q injections I do for my insulin.
Irony is my biggest phobia was needles.
Hi, I am also needlephobic (have been all my life) but I use the insulin pen and the pen needles aren't too bad. I use my abdomen, I can't use my legs because I seem to have too much muscle (I walked a lot until my knee started giving me trouble). So far, no one has ever had any comments except once someone commented on being a nedlephobic. If I am in a restaurant, I sometimes go to the ladies room if I can't inject without being obvious or if I am with people I don't know well.
Many people learn from TV, you seen the shows E.R. and scrubs, etc,etc, and why is the person acting weird or pass out? Uhmmmm they did'nt take their insuline shot, hmmmm it is the other way around.Yes if your going into ketoacidosis after a day or 2 you'll be weird. They never show the person checking their blood sugar and then using their pump or taking a shot. Why because it is boring. Not dramatic enough.
Many people need to be educated on how insuline works. People that are on pills for diabetes will ask me questions and I wonder and know that soem of these so called family doctors have no clue what a pump can do. So keep educating everyone!
The one that bothers me is, "Oh, I could never do that! I hate needles!" I usually just laugh and say, "If you wanted to live you would." But, I'd really like to say (with sarcasm) "I love needles. I was so excited when I found out I had to do this all the time!"
Oh, I love that! Shots used to scare me to death. But it's one of those things you just learn to get over. People don't realize that having your sugars run 400 is way worse than poking yourself with a needle.
Let's all hear it for insulin pumps and infusion set serters!!! Sure made my life a lot more bearable.
I get over the shooting up thing with humor. It's now become a running joke with me and one of my best friends... he calls me the "little druggie." We've come up with a plan to become rich by using insulin pumps to deliver caffeine somehow. :o)
I used to be the BIGGEST freak about needles! I would avoid flu shots and needed someone to hold my hand for our annual TB test (that does really hurt)where I work. I still remember sitting in the office of my diabetes educator. She asked me to inject saline into my abdomen and I thought she had lost her mind. I couldn't physically force my hand to do it. For the first few weeks, I made my husband give me the shots, but then soon realized that by controlling the injection myself, I minimized the stress and pain. I barely feel it now. As far as what others think...when I was 9 months pregnant, I'd whip out my big ole belly and inject no matter where I was. An invitation for questions and to educate others.
I totally understand you on this point...people will almost make you want to walk up to them and snap them upside the head so they can realize that there are also different types of diabetics also! oh and we all don't just eat crazy...hello?
I happen to be a type 1 and since I don't make insulin...I utilize a pump....but some people will make comments such as "oh well you need to control your eating and maybe you can then get off that pump".
I wanted the pump, because for one thing I hate shots...and they (the doctors) have found out that we diabetics need insulin at different times of a day even when we are not going to eat something...so what do we say to others that will open their mouths without thinking?
We take a deep breath, and laugh and smile alot! then try to enlighten our fellow men.
I haven't encountered the gesture you describe, but I have had difficulties in restaurants. I go into the ladies' room to take my pre-meal shot, and have women get upset that I'm "taking drugs", especially if they have children with them. Explaining that I'm diabetic helps, but I don't think I should have to explain myself. One woman immediately recognized that I was diabetic and we had a nice chat. Of course, if you walk into a ladies' room and there's no clean place to put your supplies down or no counter at all it's quite difficult. That's one reason I love my pump! I can test and bolus right at the table.
Yes, people can be ignorant or mean. Sometimes I have to bite my tongue. But that's THEIR problem. Don't let them make it yours!
I am a Type 1 Diabetic. Have been so since 1999. I turn 50 this year. I have been on the pump for two years. I've never seen the type of jesture you indicated for taking insulin. I really hated needles. If I had to get blood drawn I would have to lay down. Not any more. I have found that the majority of people do have some preconceived ideas about taking insulin, what we can and cannot eat, and even my boos has some strange ideas that I have not been able to change her mind about. (Which ending up cutting my hours (overtime hours). But yes all we can do is educate and laugh at some of the things people say. We need not take it to heart and we need to help those who are ignorant and really wanting to know to feel comfortalbe with their inquiries. That is why we need to laugh, chuckle, and not take things to heart.
I've just taken a "pre-pump" class and hope to have one soon. Until then, I'm still trying to manage my Type 1 (at age 40) with shots. The hardest person to explain things to, is my mother-in-law who makes me bite my tongue everytime she says, "Should you eat that? My friend Xxxxx is a diabetic, and she would NEVER eat that!" I just can't get her to understand that, not only are Type ones and twos different, but that it is possible for my numbers to jump from 117 to 170 without my eating anything at all! Finally, it gets me when she thoughfully asks me what I could eat for dinner... and then ignores everything I say!! Of course, she was the one who (when I lost 45 lbs. in 2 months and was frightened to death because I didn't know why), said things like "don't worry, you look WONDERFUL!!" Arrrgh!
Tell em it's insulin not insultin so please don't!
Hi,
I'm a Lizard Spit (Byetta) Type II and inject before breakfast and dinner. I've had a few of the kinds of comments cited above, so I usually test and "shoot up" (as my wife affectionately calls it) in the car just before we go into a restaurant.
I am pleased to report, however, that the Fashion Square Mall in Charlottesville, VA has "sharps" containers in the rest rooms!
PS - It's great fun to explain what "Lizard Spit" - synthetic Gilla Monster saliva - is to folks
I don't think I have gotten the injection motion. I get comments about it being "GROSS"
when I test. One of my three sisters is also diabetic and we both test in the same manner. Another sister can be rather caustic and doesn't believe testing or anything else with diabetes should be done in public. Testing can be done very discreetly. Since it grosses a lot of people out I do it privately. I also inject Byetta twice daily. I still after two years don't like doing the shots but I need them so I do it.
I have not encountered the addict issues but I do have a pet peeve of when people think of diabetes the first thing they say is "you can't have sugar". I especially find this hard being a nurse and trying to do the diabetic education. I have clients who staff work with in buying groceries and preparing meals and they will tell them that they can not buy that because it has sugar in it. It has taken me almost two years to get the staff to understand that they can have those things they just need to stay within the amount of carbs for the day and include them in their diet plan. amazingly this client was on oral medications and taking 8 pills a day when we started and as of last we with the diet and exercise he takes 2 pills a day. Just be patient the education will work eventually.
I am not only a nurse but am also a type one diabetic who converted at 30 and at 38 became a pump user. I love my pump. I think we should be started on pumps as soon as possible. i think a lot of medical issues could be avoided if done sooner. I was the one who had to push for the pump. pumps rock.
I have never had anyone make a gesture similar to shooting drugs. I guess I have been lucky.
I am also the kind of person who tries to (almost) make a statement with managing diabetes. May be because it's not me who has diabetes, but my daughter, and I want to educate as many people as I can about Diabetes, and perhaps, along the way, make her life easier.
I have come across many ignorant questions along the way, but tried keeping my cool and put them in their place.
I see testing and giving shots in public similar to the "breastfeeding in public" issue, it grosses you out? to bad! deal with it :-)
I have never had any problems with giving myself shots in public. My friends sometimes joke about me "shooting up" and my boyfriend says he will start calling me cyborg once i get a pump (he watches too much star trek), but i have never taken offense to it because the people in my life are well educated about my diabetes. And although i have never been afraid of needles, i can't wait to get a pump.
I do not have diabetes, but I am a nurse and take care of many diabetics. I had no idea that people actually stereotyped diabetics like you guys are describing. Ignorance can be so hurtful. God bless you all and take care of yourselves.