From my own experience being around people that have relatives that are T2, I have drawn a few conclusions. My knowledge has come from just causally talking to people and the subject is brought up. I have the gift of gab that way. So I am not stopping folks in the mall or otherwise telling people what they should be doing. It is a very causal setting. But I have come up with several conclusions that I wonder if other people have experienced.
1) the relatives or friends of folks w/diabetes are not informed about the disease.
2) Most folks can't even tell which condition T1 or T2 the relative or friend has.
3) folks are surprised which I tell them how serious T2 diabetes and its not a food thing.
4) they do not participate in the person's healthcare.(just asking questions lending support)
5) the diabetic relative in question has not been very open about their disease with the immediate family
6) the diabetic relative normally make lite of the situation/(ex: "its nothing I just have to watch my food.thats all")
7) some folks are not aware that diabetes can cause amputations or blindness
One of the things I wanted to concentrate on in my neck of the woods is getting the word to non diabetics they may want to be more involved in the care of the diabetic in their lives. I am not suggesting be intrusive but being more of a support and learning about the disease in such a way that is helpful.
I am trying to work with this in my own family. My mother is diabetic. She lives near my sisters on the east coast. She tells them anything about her diabetes and they believe it. When I ask her about her diabetes she knows she can not shuck and jive me like my sisters. I have been encouraging my sisters to try to inspire mom to take better care of her self and start lightly by asking what her numbers are. And constantly being near 400 is not good.
I want to know if this is what you may noticed. Why do you think people conduct themselves in this manner?
This seems to be a recurring theme, a friend or relative who won't take the condition seriously. Arguing, shameing, warning don't ever seem to do any good.
I think the best you can do is to lead by example. My mom is pre diabetic. At almost 89 she doesn't want to change the way she eats. But on a recent visit I gave her a meter and showed her how to use it as well as telling her my blood sugar goals.
Then for the duration of my week visit she saw me testing frequently and saw as well that my way of eating, low carb, wasn't that bad.
She has made some adjustments to her diet, so it helped some. But in the end she just wants to keep eating the way she always has.
I think the medical profession is complicit in this problem. In my opinion she should have been told the consequences of inaction, showed how to use a meter, given targets, given diet suggestions, and been put on metformin. Instead she was told to watch her consumption of sugar, which will do no good if you don't also watch grain potatoes etc. She drinks orange juice daily and thinks it's good for her. I used to do the same thing but, after I started testing I realized that, for me, it was a very bad idea. Her testing showed she needs to give it up. The idea seems to be to do nothing until the damage has already been done. Granted most people will probably ignore all this but the ones who would comply are not even given a chance.
You are taking your condition seriously. Share your triumphs as well as failures. When food is offered that you can't eat politely decline and explain why. Test in front of other people, this has started conversations with people I know, and shows that I take it seriously. Perhaps something will rub off.
Thank you very much! I am so happy you understand that I am not trying to be the food police or embarrass anybody. We as diabetics always complain how the media gives inaccurate information or how the medical profession never emphasis what we should do. Now I am finding that diabetics don't even take their own conditions seriously and feel it may be a private shame. Plenty of people don't know how serious diabetes is even if they have a family member with the disease.
I would like to combat this in some way in the media.
My mother being diabetic may do what she wants to do but ultimately it will be us kids that will have to take care of her because of her bad choice. She is expecting us to take care of her. Her husband won't. He is a human dud. She has other health issues to compounded by the diabetes. I might be scorned for saying this but I don't think it is fair for her to continue down a pathway that will cause us kids to have to go to great lengths to care for her. If she can do the "right" things now it will be easier on everybody to take care for her. My mother is on her way to getting a leg amputated or worse. I would be very surprised if this doesn't happen in the next 5 years if not sooner.
