+1
Perfect advice.
I cannot watch my grandchildren because my daughter-in-law is afraid I will hurt them because I have 'diabetes.' Want to talk about pain!? Nuf said.
Ignorance is understandable and forgivable, as well as educable. It just takes someone willing to listen as you lay out the facts. If the person is determined to make herself feel better by making you feel worse, well, there's not a lot you can do about that aside from just ditching them.
The only real ignorance I got was, soon after being diagnosed at 11, while at the pool, hearing from a friend, "I thought you were a diabetic, how can you swim?" I responded by pantomiming a forward crawl stroke.
Yeah, maybe she's having a hard time with your diagnosis, but do you know who should be having a tougher time with it than she is? You. I'm not feeling particularly generous this evening, so I wouldn't concern myself with educating her if I were you. Just say, "Look, you don't seem to get that I'm a person with diabetes, rather than a disease that, for some reason, inconveniences you. I thought you were my friend, but a friend would treat someone better than you're treating me."
I have dropped people like your friend from my life. Don’t need the negative vibe. But I am thinking your friend was already self centered even before your diagnosis. If you look back at the behavior, I bet you it was always there. Your new way of life seems like an excuse to make nasty comments. I thought about the people I stopped hanging out with, and the nastiness was always there I just over looked it before diagnosis. Well my thought. Time for new friends.