I like to think that I am fairly tolerant of people asking me questions about my diabetes. From \u201cWhat\u2019s that thing on your arm?\u201d to \u201cWhat do glucose tablets taste like?\u201d, I\u2019ve heard quite the gamut of queries from friends and strangers alike over the years. More often than not, I try to provide honest and thoughtful answers to these questions and field follow-ups with patience.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t respond well, though, when someone TELLS me something about my diabetes rather than ASKING me. It\u2019s one thing if you\u2019re telling me something that you know to be factually correct about diabetes as a whole, but it\u2019s completely different if you\u2019re telling me something about my diabetes as it pertains to me alone. And when I say \u201cI don\u2019t respond well\u201d to that, I mean to say I keep smiling on the surface, but on the inside, I\u2019m seething.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been awhile since I\u2019ve dealt with annoying assertions of this nature; unfortunately, this past week I had to grin and bear through two incidents in which I was being told what I should and should not do. (Note that I chose to not specify when and where each comment occurred, for my privacy and the privacy of others!)<\/p>\n
Scenario One:<\/strong> At an undisclosed location, I\u2019m helping myself to dinner. I add a cookie to my plate. A person in the vicinity says, \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t be having that!\u201d<\/p>\n This is a classic case of what you should never say to a person with diabetes. Most T1Ds will tell people that we can eat whatever we like, as long as we do so in moderation and remember to bolus for it accordingly. I was a little taken aback to hear this remark considering this person has known me since birth; therefore, they should realize I know how to take care of my diabetes by now. Initially, I was annoyed with this comment, but I decided to be graceful about it and say, \u201cYes, I can have that\u2014I can eat whatever I like, within reason,\u201d before exiting the room.<\/p>\n Scenario Two:<\/strong> At an undisclosed location, I\u2019m cold, so I wrap myself in a blanket. A person in the vicinity says to someone else close by, \u201cMolly has poor circulation because of her diabetes. That\u2019s why she\u2019s always cold.\u201d<\/p>\n In the 18.5 years that I\u2019ve had diabetes, I\u2019ve never had someone tell me that it\u2019s the reason why I get cold from time to time\u2026just like anybody else might, whether or not they have a chronic illness. This comment really bothered me because I\u2019ve had plenty of conversations with the individual about my diabetes, and I\u2019ve never once linked it to my body temperature. Last time I checked, my circulation is perfectly normal. No doctor has ever told me that it\u2019s poor. Plus, with air conditioners being put on full blast all summer long, I think it would be natural to get a little cold after sitting inside all day long without exposure to the sun\u2019s warmth. I wish I had said something to put this person in their place, but wanting to avoid confrontation, I forced a smile and changed the subject.<\/p>\n In both of these situations, I probably wouldn\u2019t have felt irritated if these comments were phrased at questions. Believe it or not, there\u2019s a huge difference between telling me that my diabetes affects my circulation and asking me whether it does. Regardless of how diabetes-related remarks, queries, jokes, and references are phrased, though, I\u2019ll still try hard to handle them with poise and a smile. I may internalize my frustration at the time of a bothersome statement, but it\u2019s there and it does get to me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":53098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1501],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n