hey all, so ill start by giving anyone who hasnt followed my blogs and posts for a while a bit of info about me. My name is Sara-Louise. I am 15 years old and have haD diabete for 13 years 11 months and 7 days (to be exact!). i have experienced all the ups and downs throughout a diabetic life from hypo seizures to DKA comas. I'm currently on a pump but have done what feels like 100's of different insulins oVer the years. I've dealt with diabulimia and weight/appearance issues. I've dealt with bullying and name calling over the years. I've had to deal with the realisation that i will never be able to live my dream of being a paramedic as in Ireland diabetics are not allowed and i've had to consider my other options and have settled on endocrinology. i feel like i should have my degree already!... All this and im just 15! Life is complicated at the best of times then try adding a relationship into the mix and making it work. the is my advice to you.
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS MY PERSONAL PREFERENCES AND WAYS OF DEALING WITH THESE SITUATIONS AND THEY MAY NOT WORK FOR EVERYONE.
TO TELL OR NOT TO TELL:
From my experiences i've always been quite open about my diabetes. My first "boyfriend" was a guy from school. He asked about my pump and then it led to the "i have diabetes blah blah blah" conversation. He had no problem with it at first but it got too complicated for him and he felt that he had to know everything about it and he kept questioning me about every bite i ate and i couldnt handle it so we broke up after about 2 months.
My second real boyfriend actually was a diabetic himself. This made life a whole lot easier. That relationship broke off after 7 months because he cheated on me with 3 other girls that lived closer to him than me.
My most recent relationship was with a guy from scouts. He was definitely the best. He treated me like a princess! He found out about my diabetes because when we're at scouts we spend the entire weekend together which includes eating together so he seen when I bolused and was interested in how my pump worked etc. He never paid much attention to my diabetes and just accepted it as being part of me which i enjoyed alot. We are currently apart because we both wanted to take time to focus on our end of year studies etc. but hopefully we'll be back on track again soon.
So basically i say YES! tell them. if they really love you they'll accept it as a part of you.
HOW TO TELL:
This is personal preference really. If you feel like just being up straight and saying 'i have diabetes' or 'yea im diabetic but who cares' then thats great good for you. If you're not that up front then i would just drop a small hint here and there. like if you're texting say 'got to go do my sugars' or 'ugh i have a clinic next week' this will lead to a conversation about why? then just say 'oh i have diabetes but anyway...'
FRIENDS AND DIABETES:
My true friends are almost all in scouts. My "friends" in school are well... not exactly friends that i hope to spend life with. My friends in scouts are legends! I would recommend everyone join a scouting group near you so you can experience to unity and friendship in scouts because it is extraordinary! but anyway I think that everyone should definitely tell their friends about their diabetes. You never know when you might need them to know like if you pass out or something. My friends in scouts who are more like family really do use my diabetes to its full advantage. I figured that i live with it 24/7 we may as well use it to get out of the odd activity we don't want to do. Recently we went kayaking and they were doing this game that you had to swim out, touch the pier and swim back in. Me and my friend Joe (not real name) had been out the night before and were really tired so we said my blood sugars were low and i had to stay on shore and he was staying to keep me company so we lay on the beach and caught up on our sleep, had lunch and listened to the waves.
Later that evening the whole camp went for a walk/hike and stopped at a little park along the way. We asked another one of the scouts if we could have the swing because my sugars were low and i didnt feel well and he leaps off the swing and says 'sure! sure! sure!'
These kind of friends are the best. No only do they accept my diabetes they... embrace it.
NOTE: I HOPE TO DO A REGULAR BLOG FROM NOW ON. I CAN DO ANY TOPICS YOU WANT. IF YOU HAVE A PARTICULAR REQUEST MAIL ME AND ILL DO IT ASAP. THANKS GUYS AND GALS <3