Since I missed this week's Diabetes Social Media Advocacy #dsma chat, I'm addressing this week's questions here. The topic was disclosure — who (and what institutions) do you let know you have diabetes, and who (or where) do you choose to keep in the dark.

1. To disclose or not disclose: do(es) your employer/school/friends know you have diabetes? Why or why not?

The company which employs me does not know that I have diabetes; several people at work (including my supervisors) do. There is neither place nor reason to mention diabetes (or any disability) on the job application — I believe it's actually illegal in the US to inquire before hiring — and since hiring/firing decisions are made at the store level, accommodations must be discussed and/or made at that level, rather than the corporate level.

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In most people with diabetes, lows occur either because we've overcalculated the amount of insulin we need, or because of an impaired, inhibited, or insufficient glycogen response. While this is obviously an oversimplification, I remember reading that either autoimmunity or modern insulins did weird things to the glycogen response in people with type 1 diabetes, and I know that at least one class of oral diabetes drugs works by inhibiting, if not completely blocking, that response. Then there's the issue of undereating, or not eating sufficiently, for there to be glycogen stores that can be easily converted to fuel our bodies — and, of course, drugs such as glipizide which work by stimulating additional insulin release.

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It's no secret that several of us who blog here at dLife are active in a number of diabetes-oriented online forums and social networks -- what we refer to as "the Diabetes Online Community" or "the DOC" -- and that in the process, we've learned which people, which groups, and which venues are doing what in terms of offering emotional support, medical and lifestyle advice, places to gripe and complain, and ways to use our various talents to make living with diabetes easier (or less difficult, depending on your point of view) for ourselves and others to manage.

I must also mention here that I have been, for the most part, a satisfied user of Freestyle glucose meters since I adopted the Therasense Freestyle several months after my initial diagnosis, upgrading to the Freestyle Flash almost as soon as it came out, and eventually to the Freestyle Lite (which I currently use).

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I’ve written about the “diabetes secret handshake” on previous occasions – the externally-visible insulin pump, the furtive-but-public jab of an insulin pen, the naturally-obsessive counting of M&Ms, Smarties, or raisins – or the presence of glucose tablets.

Not that I really need them, but over time I’ve acquired a small stash of glucose tabs at health fairs and diabetes expos.Since another colleague – who works at an adjacent station where he cannot keep “food” – has a history of metformin-mediated lows, I’ve taken to keeping one of those tubes stashed in the unlocked space of my workspace, to be used if/as needed, no questions asked.

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There's something like 100 people or more who work for my company, at the same location I am. We take up two entire floors of a huge office building in downtown Phoenix. This is a much different atmosphere than the intimate, six-people office I came from where diabetes seemed to be a much more familiar topic.

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Recently, a woman at work discovered I have diabetes. I don't hide the fact that I have it at work, but it's not readily apparent. In the interest of safety, I've told several key people outright - and the folks in the near vicinity of my work space know because I don't hide my testing, pumping, or other efforts toward good control. If someone asks, I am usually happy to answer questions, clear up misconceptions, or alleviate concerns.

L, who works on the other side of our fairly large office, and who I don't see that often, came to my desk the other day and rather unceremoniously started into a monologue about my diabetes, It went something like, "Oh, Nicole" Look of concern, "A just told me about your diabetes. You have the bad kind, don't you? You have to take shots and things. Oh it must be so hard with having it the way you do. You have to stay away from sweets and I bet the shots hurt a lot."

Oh Dear. What to do? (READ MORE)