I know that everyone here has at some point had someone say something ridiculous, silly, offensive, or downright ignorant about their diabetes.
I go to classes at a dance studio and was at a social function there this weekend. I am currently doing MDI (I’m on a “pump vacation”) and wear a Dexcom. I needed to give myself a shot so I went to the back of studio where there weren’t many people and did it there. When I turned around, my dance teacher was in front of me, kind of standing in a way as if to shield me from others seeing, and commented that the bathroom was available. I shrugged and said that I don’t really care who sees me giving myself a shot - this is something I grew up with and I got over the embarrassment a long time ago. His reaction gave me the impression that me giving myself a shot in public made him uncomfortable. He then compared it to him being embarrassed when he went bald, but now he is okay with it.
I mean… okay. But, being bald is socially acceptable for men, and I can’t imagine anyone has ever commented on it. I’m not discounting his experience here, and I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by it, but the whole experience left me feeling like he thought that I should be embarrassed by my diabetes, or what I have to do to take care of myself.
I normally let these kinds of comments go in one ear and out the other, but they’re usually of the “you can’t eat that” variety. It’s been a while since someone implied that I should be embarrassed or hide myself.
Anyway, I just wanted to share with some people who can relate.
I’m sorry that happened. Some people act like you’re gonna poke them when they see a needle.
In middle school our lunch aide insisted a few times that I needed to go to the nurse’s office to give my shots. I don’t know if it was for privacy or what. I had never, ever been to the nurse’s office though. So my friends just started making a human wall around me at the beginning of lunch, and then we’d all sit down after I gave my shot. The aide never bothered me about it again.
Right? I hate going into the bathroom to change my pump site at work!
No sanitary surfaces to set things down on, so my pockets and hands always end up full of wipes, and sprays, and hope, and the Autosoft inserter, and the inserter cap, and trying not to bend the cannula needle while closing the door, and do the rest one-handed, and make sure to pack out all the little parts and pieces again without dropping anything…
I remember when I was young, under 20, I’d always go to the bathroom to shoot up. It was a vial of insulin and thank some possible god a disposable syringe (which I never disposed of, being a heathen.) I sat on the toilet in the ironically unsanitary surroundings, drew insulin into my somewhat blunt syringe and then did the dance…
Think about it; I’m holding a syringe, a bottle of insulin and my pants are down round my ankles (because if you don’t start out that way there is no way the dance will ever work). I need to grab some part of my skin, squeeze it, and with the hand holding the syringe and just that hand depress the plunger. Count my hands.
Oops, I should have put the insulin back in my pocket, but my pockets are on the scummy floor somewhere in the vicinity of my ankles. Oh, and there’s the cap for the insulin syringe which I have to reapply so I can reuse it safely.
Nevertheless I’m not dead so as a person with infinite arrogance I can assert that everyone can do this without dying as a result. [That is sarcasm.]
All the same it hardly ever happens that someone is more arrogant than I am. Hum, it’s never happened; in my youth I just felt in my shrunken persona that it might so I must hide under this toilet seat to do my insulin. These days I just take my medicine in public and wait for someone to complain; I think that’s kinda like the place we all need to be. Diabetes, stomas, breast feeding.
I had a horrified waitress dash over to our table, where I was injecting insulin into my belly, below the level of the tabletop, saying “Sir I’m sorry but you will have to leave this establishment immediately! We can’t have any drug users in here!!”
The supervisor was able to handle it with no further fuss.
I can appreciate both perspectives. From the perspective of the unknowledgeable business owner or employee in a public setting, and having served in law enforcement, I can appreciate they need to act on what may be an illegal drug use scenario. From the perspective of a knowledgeable T1, I can appreciate my/our use of syringes, needles, pumps, etc., in a public bathroom is far less than ideal (cleanliness, surfaces for setting things down, etc.). From the general publics perspective I can appreciate it isn’t the “norm” to observe people “shooting up!” I don’t know “the” answer. I try to be sensitive to others needs for “normalcy” while also meeting my own needs. It’s also a very personal decision: what’s the environment (office party/outing, is it formal or casual; is an area available that’s clean, provides the surfaces for my stuff where I can do my thing comfortably and without impacting peoples sensitivities), who’s around (people I know or don’t, people I want to know or not know about my condition, are there kids that won’t understand around), and what mood I’m in, etc. I’ve “shot up” when on MDI right in front of people, at a table; I’ve used comments as time for education of others; I’ve excused myself to another area with less people; I’ve used a bathroom, both with and without the needed surfaces (without has been described above expertly). As with most things, it varies and will likely continue to vary for all the reasons commented above and by others. The ideal would be that people will “know” the need, the reasons, and the differences; the likelihood of that ever being the case is remote. Until that time, we get to make the decision for ourselves. For me, while I care what others think, my needs come first, and if that means “shooting up” or replacing a pump in public, then so be it. I’d rather explain myself and educate others in the process than feel banned to unclean or uncooperative environs’ but that said, sometimes the best course is a little forethought or compromise to meet everyone’s wants and needs.
I completely understand that, unless you have personal experience with diabetes, you may not completely understand what is going on. I do try to be as inconspicuous as possible but I don’t want to feel that I need to go into an unsanitary environment just to avoid offending other people’s sensibilities.
I think the reason this experience is bothering me is that I was completely up front with the teacher about my T1D when I started taking classes, and he was fine with it. It turns out, I guess, that he’s okay with it if he doesn’t see it. Also, I knew most of the people at this event. While many, or even most of them don’t necessarily know about my medical condition, I don’t think that the first conclusion that they would jump to is that I am using drugs…
When I told him that I usually wear an insulin pump, which is why he hadn’t seen me give myself a shot before, he called me a cyborg. That, at least, is funny.
It doesn’t help that movies and reporters don’t have a clue about diabetic diseases. People with one of them don’t help by saying, “I’m diabetic.”
Picture me on a soapbox- The word diabetes describes symptoms common to 8 different diseases divided in 2 categories.
There are 4 diabetes Insipidus which causes an inability to conserve water, resulting in excessive thirst and urine. The urine is nearly pure water- no glucose.
There are 4 diseases or type of diabetes mellitus ( mel Latin- honey)
Type 1 autoimmune DM, Type 2 insulin resistant DM, Type 3c Pancreatogenic DM and Type 5 pancreatic disfunction caused be childhood severe malnutrition. There are those monogenic DMs such as Neonatal and MODY.
By using and allowing the use of a non specific word diabetes confusion is bound to occur.
For me, it’s what they didn’t say - it was all body language. I was changing a pump set in an airport waiting area, not directly at the gate but sort of out of the way. As people approached where I was doing my thing, the looks I got ranged from utter disgust to outright pity. Parents were actively steering their children away and attempting to shield the child’s eyes from the Diabetic changing their pump set. I made sure to walk right by that parent with my trash and sharps to dispose of them in the bathroom sharps container.
I had a recent experience in an airport that was completely different. I needed to change my cartridge and site - bad timing I know.
There was a couple sitting across from me, I asked them if they would mind me doing it. They acted interested, and I did a show and tell sessions with them, answering a few questions. I ended up with several others watching and listening.
@Brianna1 I feel for your situation and you can only do so much. I can’t imagine the pressures teachers and classmates apply, knowingly or unknowingly, these days. I concur completely on your reluctance to be “banned to a bathroom” or other unsuitable area for injections. Perhaps next time the opportunity arises you or others could “demonstrate” what’s required so there’s complete understanding. That might solve the issue with a manager or instructor, but it probably wont suffice for everyone in a class unless the school or you do a “show and tell,” which isn’t likely. Even then, the squeamish will still exist to some level.
I like the cyborg comment! Whether he was trying to be funny or deflect the issue. It made me recall a 50th HS reunion when I learned there was robotics and creation lab at my old HS. The advances we’ve made are incredible, as are the ignorances we’ve retained.
I was on a cruise (RC I think) and on a lounge in swim suit and t-shirt. Two ladies were across the way and I could see one motioning to the other about my pump (was on my arm). I spoke up and told them is was insulin pump. One of the ladies said she was considering getting a glucose monitor, so I showed her my G6 (on my abdomen I think); turned out her glucose #s weren’t what the doc liked. It provided an opportunity to educate the two (and others listening in) about the choices to be made, the costs involved, and the issues to watch for.
I’ve also older (71) and tend not to worry so much what others think. Were I younger, in school or in my career, I’d probably have been circumspect.
I’ve come a long way on this. I was diagnosed at 10 years old, and my teen and early 20s were rough in that regard. I was shy anyway, and mortified by anything related to my T1D. As I’ve gotten older I have come to terms with the fact that this is just part of who I am, and it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. (Obviously - I gave myself a shot in public at the dance studio.) That being said, I clearly do still care what some people think, or especially if they imply that I should be embarrassed, or I’m insufficient in some way.
I still have quite some time before retirement, so I do tend to be more circumspect at work.
Ironically… I had a gusher when I removed my old infusion set last night. While my husband was cleaning the blood off the living room rug, he asked, “Do you think you could start doing this in the bathroom instead?”
Supportive spouses are 100% allowed to make diabetes-related comments & share their thoughts! Mine is pretty good about leaving me to my own (literal) devices, but sometimes he calls me out on poor choices, and he always encourages me to do what I need to in order to take care of myself. He will help me with whatever I need, and has always been understanding
