If you are a workplace researcher or a consultant with a focus on disability inclusion, please consider submitting a paper for the special issue on Disability Inclusion in the Workplace I am guest editing for the Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research. Papers are due July 1; all papers will go through the regular peer-review process.
You know it’s funny timing that you posted this.
Apparently someone had seen someone injecting in one of the bathrooms where I work. It was insulin and I know it wasn’t me because I use a pump and virtually everyone knows because I wear it on the outside of my clothes and I have a big tattoo on my wrist.
Anyway it was enough for a department wide meeting explaining diabetes and insulin and they covers pumps also.
Low and behold out of 30 people in my department 3 are type 1 and using insulin. They didn’t cover non insulin users so maybe there were some type 2 as well.
Anyway it was a good little education, even though I work in a pharmaceutical manufacturing lab. Everyone is a clinical scientist or biologist or chemist.
So I am a little gobsmacked someone reported it since everyone has had biology chemistry and physiology.
I was reported once by a bunch of nurses. I think they didn’t want me injecting where patients might see and wanted me to go into the bathroom. I never do that. Bathrooms are gross. They weren’t really harshing me too bad, like happened to you guys.
Ooooh, thank you. I remembered that you got it, but I couldn’t recall what it looked like. I was imagining it on the back of your hand, which would be a painful tattoo. I bet this one hurt, too, thought.
Do people ask you what it means? Or, do they know?
I put a lot of time into researching that exact issue. I only wanted type one on the tattoo. I walked some doctors and nurses and one paramedic. They all said there really is just one thing referred to as type 1 so they all figured I am type 1 diabetic.
However I was told by the paramedic that he wouldn’t necessarily treat me differently because they have protocols.
I really just don’t want a dextrose IV
That’s why I have it upside down so it can be seen and read more easily.
So who the hell knows if it will make any difference. I gave up on bracelets because they annoy me and I won’t wear it.
It didn’t hurt that bad except the bottom part close to my hand hurt more.
I’ve been sticking myself w needles most of my life I’m just used to the pinch
I used to be afraid to inject in public. But thanks to TV ads, many more people are knowledgeable about it. Nice to do the pump. Although, I had folks questioning what my alerts are and I just say it is my phone. Some of them believe me some don’t. Oh well
I used to be like that. I would also make sure my infusion sets were under my waist line so no one would see them at the gym.
However as I got older I really stopped caring.
No one is sizing me up anymore happily married 28 years.
And well I can’t even go to the gym lately.
I don’t know how old I was when I stopped caring what people think about it, but I think that’s the one good thing aging does for us.