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Type 1 diabetes rant :). ( revised title ). DIABETES RANT.
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<blockquote data-quote="RuthW" data-source="post: 880615" data-attributes="member: 148713"><p>Number 5. Yesterday a friend of mine called me and after discussing some other stuff, she suddenly said, "Aunty Ruth, you know my old neighbour, well she has the diabetes, and last week they gave her an operation and they cut off her, what is it called, you know, her foot finger. But why? Why, Aunty Ruth?" And so on, for quite a while. </p><p></p><p>In-between much stifled laughter, I spent several futile minutes trying to explain to her that we were talking about a "toe" but the impromptu language lesson bore no fruit at all. So I addressed her concerns, explained how high blood sugar damages the heart and blood vessels causing poor circulation, culminating in unhealed injuries/infections, and possible amputations, etc. I went on to tell her all the other nasty things that could possibly happen to me. And then reminded her of how much I walk and exercise (which, though twenty plus years younger she has always found very eccentric of me) and that this is the reason why, and she proved very receptive to the explanation. </p><p></p><p>She was very distressed by her neighbour's losing her foot finger and very concerned it could happen to me. This girl is from Tchad and very open in expressing her feelings, so it was clear that it was concern (near panic, in fact) that led to the question. Maybe English people (famous for our reserve, wary of "interfering") are having the same feelings when they say the dreaded Number 5?</p><p></p><p>All the way through the conversation I was laughing because I was thinking of this discussion! Plus, the final irony, this girl has schizophrenia and she's worrying about me! When I first met her she was off her meds and wrecking her family life. I convinced her to take them ("Why are you moaning about a few pills? I take four or five injections a day?" " But, Aunty, I want to be normal." "When you take them, you ARE normal.") and she really has been very well ever since. So my punchline was, "You see, I told you this ages ago. What YOU have usually gets better as you get older. What I have usually gets worse. So that's why I try so hard." (Underlying lesson: Be grateful and keep taking the tablets, my dear!")</p><p></p><p>Some illnesses are more stigmatized than diabetes. Many worse and much more hurtful comments are made to people with mental illness, which is just as genetic and "undeserved" as diabetes, but harder to cope with sometimes because you primarily use your mind to develop coping skills and people with SMI are often more isolated than us. I think you can't expect understanding and destigmatization unless you offer it too.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RuthW, post: 880615, member: 148713"] Number 5. Yesterday a friend of mine called me and after discussing some other stuff, she suddenly said, "Aunty Ruth, you know my old neighbour, well she has the diabetes, and last week they gave her an operation and they cut off her, what is it called, you know, her foot finger. But why? Why, Aunty Ruth?" And so on, for quite a while. In-between much stifled laughter, I spent several futile minutes trying to explain to her that we were talking about a "toe" but the impromptu language lesson bore no fruit at all. So I addressed her concerns, explained how high blood sugar damages the heart and blood vessels causing poor circulation, culminating in unhealed injuries/infections, and possible amputations, etc. I went on to tell her all the other nasty things that could possibly happen to me. And then reminded her of how much I walk and exercise (which, though twenty plus years younger she has always found very eccentric of me) and that this is the reason why, and she proved very receptive to the explanation. She was very distressed by her neighbour's losing her foot finger and very concerned it could happen to me. This girl is from Tchad and very open in expressing her feelings, so it was clear that it was concern (near panic, in fact) that led to the question. Maybe English people (famous for our reserve, wary of "interfering") are having the same feelings when they say the dreaded Number 5? All the way through the conversation I was laughing because I was thinking of this discussion! Plus, the final irony, this girl has schizophrenia and she's worrying about me! When I first met her she was off her meds and wrecking her family life. I convinced her to take them ("Why are you moaning about a few pills? I take four or five injections a day?" " But, Aunty, I want to be normal." "When you take them, you ARE normal.") and she really has been very well ever since. So my punchline was, "You see, I told you this ages ago. What YOU have usually gets better as you get older. What I have usually gets worse. So that's why I try so hard." (Underlying lesson: Be grateful and keep taking the tablets, my dear!") Some illnesses are more stigmatized than diabetes. Many worse and much more hurtful comments are made to people with mental illness, which is just as genetic and "undeserved" as diabetes, but harder to cope with sometimes because you primarily use your mind to develop coping skills and people with SMI are often more isolated than us. I think you can't expect understanding and destigmatization unless you offer it too. [/QUOTE]
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