Sort by: Relevance | Most Recent | Most Active | Highest Rated

We found 10 result(s) that match your search "Explaining Diabetes":

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.
(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

---

Are you familiar with the controversial 'Silent Assassin' advertising campaign distributed by Diabetes UK last fall?

 

Some complained that the disturbing imagery went too far in the organization's efforts to bring awareness to the seriousness of diabetes and its complications.

 

One poster showed a man collapsed on the ground appearing to be dead, while a creepy phantom-like figure prepared to kick him. The large text stated, "Diabetes. Beware the silent assassin."

 

In a second poster, a woman in a supermarket is reaching for food while a shadowy figure is lunging at her throat. "Diabetes. Beware the silent assassin."

 

(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (1)

---

Perhaps one of the absolute worst parts of having diabetes is putting up with the expectations of others. When someone hears "diabetes" they expect to see you eating "right" all the time, avoiding sweets all the time, and worshipping your body all the time.

 

We all know that just doesn't happen. We are human. Everyone needs a break from the chains that bind us.

 

Over the last week or so, I have found myself defending a person I never in my adult life thought I would defend. My incredible half-sister told me recently that her mother has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. With a sister and a mother with diabetes, she is, naturally, completely freaked out that she's next. Not to mention scared for our health and our future.

 

(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

---

This is a bit of a rant. I get on this horse periodically, ride it around, waving my flags and guns, foaming at the mouth a bit, going slightly nutty. You'll get used to it. Or ignore it.

What is the deal with lumping both types of diabetes together? Seriously. If I have to read one more freakin' article about how high fructose corn syrup causes diabetes or get one more stupid email from some clueless acquaintance, telling me that if I just put my kid on the Atkins diet, she'll be cured, I'm going to go to the top of the water tower and start picking people off. OK, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but holy cow, does it make my blood boil.
(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

---

I’m not afraid of needles, but I must admit that I’m a little fearful of the bloodwork I’m scheduled to have in a few weeks.
 

Since I finally found an endo practice that I enjoy (yes, I know I still haven’t blogged about it yet!), they naturally want their own bloodwork. Which is great. And fine with me. It’s just the type of bloodwork that’s being done that’s leaving me a little uneasy.
 

I know it shouldn’t. And, really, I’m not uneasy I’m just kind of … I don’t know… just nervous? anxious? curious?
 

(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

---

In the last several weeks at work I've gotten two "Is that your phone?" comments about Dex, one "Is that your pager?" comment about Toohey and one "I think we just violated HIPPA" comment. Oh, and two very long, in-depth conversations about diabetes, pumps and continuous glucose monitors. It's interesting how much of this information had become visceral to me... I found myself explaining things I hadn't thought I would need to but realized that basic diabetes knowledge is not so common.

 

Actually, I take that back. Some people know enough about diabetes to be dangerous, but what they have no clue about is pumps and CGM. Which is fine. In fact, today I told a co-worker after a lengthy conversation about how the pump and the CGM work that I don’t mind talking about it. I clarified by saying as long as I wasn’t being judged and people who were asking questions were willing to accept that I am the expert.

(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

---

While driving to a funeral in the Catskill Mountains yesterday, I called home and Susanne said "don't ask."

 

Charlie has been terribly high lately. I stared ahead at the cars on Route 17 and a valley of farmlands in the distance and responded sarcastically after getting the wretched numbers out of her.

 

"Fantastic."

 

The highs at school have been affecting Charlie emotionally in the last few days. With a blood sugar of 370, he had to skip the munchkins from the first of two in-class birthday parties. He had sugar-free Jell-O instead and was on the edge of losing it.

 

The kids were being rowdy and loud after the teacher had asked for quiet time.

 

"The ones who are still talking should stand up and go get a slip," Mrs. R said firmly.

 

Only one kid stood up.

(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

---

"So you missed my big health news last week," I said to my boss this evening as we were working late.
"Oh, no, I know. K. told me," she said, "that you're going on the pump. That's great news. Are you hooked up?"
"Yes, I got all set today," I said lifting my shirt slightly to show off my pump. "But the bigger news is that we discovered that I'm actually type 1 and not type 2."
Enter blank stare.
With a type 1 brother in law, I really thought I was talking to an understanding audience, but I was (partly) wrong.
Over the last few days, I've encountered a lot of these misunderstandings that I didn't really expect. One day last week, I called my sister to let her in on the news of my new diagnosis and about the pump. It was really a process to explain to her that this was all no big deal. (READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

---

Yesterday was one of those days that I wondered if I should pack socks in my purse.

 

You ladies know what I'm talking about. It's that place where doctors put pictures on the ceiling to take your mind off what's going on. Yeah, you guessed it: yesterday I had my annual well woman exam.

 

In all my years of visiting doctors and having diabetes and explaining my diagnosis and saying why I take what meds I take and how my pregnancies went and that no it wasn't gestational diabetes this was not the appointment I had imagined.

 

(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (0)

---

For Christmas, Marvin gave me a tablet pc that does everything a regular computer does and more. I quickly downloaded the Kindle app and turned my tablet pc into a handheld library. I've finished several books on it already and love the thing. It's easy to read on and great to carry multiple books without the weight.

 

I searched through the free e-books on Amazon and downloaded some classics. Then I hit upon one that looked kind of cute. "Always the Baker, Never the Bride" by Sandra D. Bricker. The description gave the general premise of the book. A baker who goes to work at a new hotel that focuses on one-stop wedding shops. She meets a man and drama ensues. The kicker was that she was diabetic.

 

(READ MORE)

Rating (0) 0

Email this Comments (1)

---