With all the staggering statistics about the diabetes epidemic, I am surprised to say that I know absolutely no one with diabetes (unless they are really good at hiding it!). Isn’t that unusual?
I seem to have trouble relating to family and friends about diabetes related things, and then I come here, and there are so many voices who understand. So I guess I’m curious if you have people around you who share some of the same struggles. Do you have support in your community, and where do you find it?
I know quite a few T2’s and some pre-diabetics but, besides from you guys online I know no one with T1… anymore. Other T1’s are out there. One morning when I had a blood lab another T1 there had noticed my pump and let my husband know when I had gone in (it was a looooooong morning and she was a big help). My husband was wandering around with our son and he was set to go in a few people after me. I wish I knew who she was so I could thank her. All I know is what my husband said ‘she had a cool looking camo skin on her pump’. So Thank You Camo Girl!
T1’s are out there. There just aren’t as many of us as T2s. We don’t get as much publicity in the papers/reports and we aren’t easy to pick out in a crowd. The T2’s I know are always happy to exchange notes and discuss doctors. What T1s and T2s go through is similar enough to lend each other support. It surely helps :). There is still, medically, lots for us to talk about. I do wish I knew some T1’s though.
Hi Mandy!
I have friends who are Diabetics , mostly Type 2, or who have family members that are… I don’t go the support groups in my town or the surrounding community because categorize more to Type 2 Diabetes than Type 1 Diabetes… Where to find it… Hospitals and Health Department… I hope this helps you? Have a GREAT Day! :} :}
Apart from people I meet online, I know a number of T2s, none of whom are as obsessed with diabetes management as I am. I’d say 5 or 6. But we aren’t close, even though one is my grandmother. She’s illiterate though and nobody can persuade her to stop carb-loading so I don’t know what to say or do. I tend to rely on online communities like this for support. And there is the friendly diabetes nurse I’m known to call if I have a major question to ask.
I’m planning to call up a support group which has a group of younger people. They are mostly T1s but like Alice said, much of what we go through might be similar so I don’t mind giving it a shot. I hesitate to go for a hospital support group because according to the nurse, they are mostly older people whom I might not click with very well, although they’re T2s like me.
According to my TuDiabetes home page I know exactly 26. Add to that 2 in real life - a local barman and a colleague (T1 and T2 respectively). Grand total of 28. Nobbad.
Prior to Tudiabetes i knew - 8 T1’s personally—but I dont conceal my pump—which is how i have met many other pumpers—they spy my fancy equipment and stike up conversation–thru various circumstances, i have stayed in touch with all of them.
There are 36 type 1’s in my extended family (some are deceased). Other than these people or my online friends, I know 2 type 1’s and perhaps 6 type 2’s.
I did not consider myself to have any support until I started blogging. It was too painful a subject for familymembers to discuss and the one support group that met a my clinic was held from 4-5 pm. which interferred with work hours.
But, as Mollie said, I suspect there are a great many more who we cross paths with but just don’t know it.
Well, my brother is type 1. He’s been diabetic for 6 years. I also have two friends who are type 1 too. they are brothers and one has had it fro about two years and the other got it the same month as me. And there is a girl in my class who is type one.
We are going to bunk together on our class trip so if something ‘happens’ we can stab eachother or run to the jelly beans. fun fun.
All these people i was friends with before i was diagnosed (almost 4 months ago.) we never really even talk about our diabetes that much appart to ask ‘hows it going’. If i have any questions i ask my endo or go online.
I know one type 2 personally but he lives about 50 miles away but I don’t know anyone else at all with type 1 other than my online friends. I did once go to a local Diabetic support group but it was just awful. I was the only type 1 there and probably the only person under about 70 years of age. All they did was moan about their lot in life which I found very disheartening and I ended up feeling like a freak, needless to say I never went back…
Plenty of you online but offline? Not a lot! Thankfully my good friend understands me as he’s an insulin dependent diabetic too. We have a few differences of course, but it’s still great to compare notes and understand each other, and it’s nice to be out with another diabetic for a meal! I feel like the odd one out when I’m eating with non-diabetics. I blush when I inject, I feel watched and wonder what people are thinking. When I’m out with my D friend (Trunkles on here) it’s not a worry, we’re both doing it and it doesn’t matter!
My Father is also a type 1 diabetic but he’s never been very open about it. He’s had it for… I don’t even know how long! and I’ve never once seen him inject. Don’t think I’ve seen him test either!
I know OF a few T2s, but none I know as friends, just acquaintances. Probably a few hiding in the woodwork though - either not diagnosed yet, or secretive about it.
I know only 2 people personally who have Type 2, one of whom does whatever her doctor tells her, which is eat no sugar and lots of “low fat” bread and pasta and the other of whom is an extremely dedicated Low Carber.
Both my neighbors, next door and across the road have family members with Type 1.
However, I suspect I know more people with Type 2, but they just don’t mention it. And many more who have mild type 2 it but haven’t been diagnosed since in this area doctors ONLY screen with the fasting test.
I know tons of people with diabetes… sometimes I think I know more diabetics than non-diabetics (that’s not true, but it feels that way sometimes!). When I was younger, real-life people I knew from camp and from going to JDRF and ADA events. When I was in high school, mostly JDRF events, plus a lot of people online. I knew a few people in college, but then I just started meeting my online friends in real-life, plus meeting more people at CWD conferences. I continue to do the same, mix of meeting online friends in real life, going to JDRF events and going to conferences, and also being introduced to new diabetics via the friends I’ve already made.
I know of quite a few Type 2’s like over 30 but as for Type 1’s like me only about 5 it really helps us that have Type 1 to know of others who we run with to know about other Type 1’s out there! It also helps us accept that other’s get it too! I can only speak for myself and my daughter who is also a Type 1 but way back when I took it in 73 I went to a school that only had like 350 students k-12 and I was the only D there as for my daughter it was alot better. She went to a much larger school and she and atleast 1 other girl in her classroom had Type 1, after talking to her principal there were 15 other’s in that school with Type 1. And that was only in Jouner High! Things have really changed for us now more will tell you about it and also tell you where to go to get help, back when I first took it you didn’t dare say that you were a diabetic. They looked at it as being “sick” and you were not “healthy”
I can’t wait until the JDRF walk. I’m hoping to meet a lot of people there, although I wonder if there will be any who are my age. I expect most to be kids.
Mandy, I recommend going to some smaller JDRF events, like the Walk Kickoff or even volunteering in the office if possible. There are a lot of people at Walks so it can be hard to just “meet” people there. But at smaller events it’s easier to go up to someone and introduce yourself and start chatting about fundraising tactics. Not that you can’t or shouldn’t try to meet people at the Walk, I’m just trying to give you more suggestions.
Thanks! That’s a great idea. Since this will be my first event, I haven’t even thought about how big it will be. I still feel a little funny about being newly diagnosed and being an adult, so I’m not sure what I should be doing.
One of my closest friends from high school has type 1. We actually met at diabetes camp when we were little, but we didn’t find this out until we became friends in English class. And of course I have relatives with diabetes of both kinds.
but offline? Not a lot! Thankfully my good friend understands me as he’s an insulin dependent diabetic too. We have a few differences of course, but it’s still great to compare notes and understand each other, and it’s nice to be out with another diabetic for a meal! I feel like the odd one out when I’m eating with non-diabetics. I blush when I inject, I feel watched and wonder what people are thinking. When I’m out with my D friend (Trunkles on here) it’s not a worry, we’re both doing it and it doesn’t matter!