Playing the Diabetes card

I disagree with you, Chadd. I don’t believe that I ever use the “diabetes card” to get out of doing anything. Very rarely does it even come to play in anything that I do, or at least as others perceive what I am doing. There is no doubt that I’ve had good golf rounds ruined in the final holes when I get a low BG. But I’ve never mentioned. It to my playing companions. I’ve never used diabetes to get out of jury duty or working odd shifts at work.

Frankly I think my problem is that maybe I should consider diabetes more often in how I lead my life. I don’t think of myself as sick and I don’t believe that I ever give that impression to others around me.

A few years ago I was diagnosed with a type of inflammatory arthritis that is really starting to impact my ability to do certain things. I haven’t had to use the “arthritis card” yet, but know that soon I may have to start buying adaptive devices to do things like open jars. I may even have to quit my job because my joints don’t allow me to do everything I need to do.

But never I have I used diabetes as an excuse to get preferential treatment.

Chadd …are you questioning people’s integrity , mine in particular ? …and then …life goes on because it does not matter in the great scheme of things .

Nope not me! I did avoid jury duty due to passing out and having a seizure during the start of it though. Does that count? LOL!

I was going to say no, never do, but then I read bsc’s statement. So yes, in restaurants, I get substitutions of veggies/cottage cheese for potatoes/fries.
I never thought of using it elsewhere.
I never thought I was sneaking in my cereal bars in a theater, but ho, ho, I guess I always do. I’m sneaking in glucose tabs, too! A glucerna bar or a cereal bar is just always in my purse.
I’ve never thought of feeling guilty.

yes, in restaurants, I get substitutions of items and smaller portions. Sometimes but not always , teh management has reduced the price because I eleminated so much.

I wouldn’t say that asking for smaller food or splitting restaurant food is a “diabetes card” as much as a “smart person card”. I’ve seen some places cutting back a bit although I’m not sure if it’s the economy or the war on obesity but in the like mid 1990s until about 2008 or so, restaurant food was shockingly huge although I didn’t personally start getting shocked by it until maybe 2006 or so?

“playing the card” means, IMHO, using diabetes to get out of doing something you’re perfectly capable of doing or getting and advantage you don’t really need, like cutting in front of the line or getting preferential treatment.

Telling someone you have diabetes as means of getting something you need for your health is not playing the card.

I would say I’ve never played the diabetes card. I have only asked for accommodations that were absolutely necessary, such as asking for 3rd period prep while I was teaching high school because it was the old N+R days, and I absolutely WOULD go low if I didn’t snack. And I couldn’t snack while teaching.

I don’t think taking water, glucose tablets or protein bars into a movie theater or on an airplane are cheating. They’re just being prepared. The only time I would declare I was diabetic is if someone challenged me about it.

As far as jury duty, I have only been called once, and if I had actually come up for interviewing, I would have been honest about the fact that viewing gory pictures (it was a murder trial) gives me nightmares, and I would have let it go at that. But if I HAD been selected, I would merely have gone about my diabetes tasks, and if someone was unhappy about it, THEY could deal with it. I guess, if I’m ever called again, I would be upfront with the judge about what MIGHT happen with diabetes, i.e. I could become pretty mentally fuzzy if I had a low, but I would let HIM make the decision as to whether I was fit to serve or not.

So, I’m with the people who think it’s better not to cry wolf!

We sort of have that question in WI for a license, but I think it’s worded differently…it asks if you’ve experienced unconsciousness or seizures due to diabetes in the past few months. I can honestly say no :slight_smile:

Yes. I’m not proud of it, but occasionally I use my diabetes as a way to get out of events early that I don’t want to be at ( man, my BS is high, I need to go take care of it…)

I’ve done it rarely, but yeah.

I wouldn’t call it playing the D card. I do stand up for my rights under OHSA and the ADA. My work is terrible for giving break/lunches. The agreed upon procedure for me treating lows with my upper management is if I feel low get off the tarmac and treat. Now there have been a few nights where I have used this more to take a smoke then to treat a low, but I still follow the guidelines posted in the employee handbook and set by OHSA that my management seems to forget about.(8+ hour shift of physical work without a break before 5 hours no lunches etc). So no guilt. As for bring food into places It is not smuggling it is out of medical need.
Now if I would go to the lunchroom and scam food off them because I was low or otherwise that would be different.(I have stolrn sugar packets on day I didn’t have food on me but no free meals).

I usually don’t but growing up with diabetes you can imagine the misadventours I got into.
My best story is from high school. I had another girl in my home room who also had Type 1 diabetes. For one period every other week we had SEB (student enrichment block) which basically means you catch up on work and barring that I slept a whole lot. My usual teacher, who was very nice, was gone for a week. The substitute was not very nice. There was a candy store across the hallway and this sub said we cannot get candy from it like we (the whole class) was normally allowed to do. One day the girl with Type 1 came in to class with candy and was told she couldn’t have it. She challenged him, got sent to the nurses office, and came back with a “note” saying it was ok for her to have it. Just to be a little punk when she came back I asked her to give me a sucker. I thought who could possibly imagine 2 type 1’s in the same class in this small town I lived in? Well he bought it hook line and sinker…Except he did not just have me go down to the nurses office. He personally escorted me down to the principal’s office. The whole time I’m whining and moaning to him about how rough this disease is and how people like him only make it worse etc (and yes I was still loudly sucking on my sucker). In the end I, the prinicipal, and the sub teacher all knew that I didn’t need the sucker but the fact of the matter was I COULD have the sucker and at that age I wanted to show him so. I came back with my “note” and tried to suck that sucker as loud as possible.

If I want out of an event, I merely say I’m not feeling well. Which is actually true – not wanting to be there is not feeling well! And I only say even that because I don’t want people to think I’m rude by stomping out with no explanation. I have a friend that does that, and it invariably upsets people.

It may be because I’m a woman, but “not tonight, I have a headache!” works really well, LOL!!

Yeah but that line scares off potential dates!

My job is a bit different, so I’m not restricted by the 5-hour-without-lunch rule. There was a time, back in the NPH days, when I absolutely had to take a break for lunch. Now that I pump, assuming my basals (and temporary basals) are set appropriately, I don’t really need lunch… and I can treat a low on-the-spot without a full meal. But I really do prefer a meal, and I do request one at times. [Not for free, but a break to eat nonetheless]

For Jury Duty and restaurants I have had to say something. When I was called to serve on a jury I asked one question: May I have a small snack and test as needed? The answer was a firm NO! I have always been excused. (one would think that they would have a record by now!)

In restaurants the only subject that comes up is my Food Allergies; I asked for substitutes based on the allergies; before the allergies it was not necessary to say anything about food choices as I knew previously thru to the current time, what my system would handle. I have yet to experience a restaurant that would not help me with food choices with r no extra charge. .

Not really-- thought about it though if I ever got pulled over.

A few weeks ago I was feeling sick though and somebody decided to play that card for me. It made me so mad. After a sporting event this is how it went:
girl : is that an insulin pump? points
me : yes
girl : does that mean that you have diabetes?
me : yes
girl : does that insulin give you like less energy or something?
me : no, it actually keeps me alive.

Grrrrrrrr. This is why I avoid telling people most of the time. BG was really well, I was just not feeling well and hadn’t slept due to final exams. I am so ready to kick @$$ at our next game. BRING IT!

There was one day at work when my insulin pump was getting low and I didn’t have the supplies on-hand to refill it. I told me boss the situation and told him I needed to leave early. Since it was late in the day said I was just going to stay home. There was no quesitons asked and I was home before rush hour. So since then, there have been a couple times that I have used that excuse to get out of work early when I really didn’t need to.

i played it to get my kid on the school bus, so that he would not have to walk 1.3 mile in not so nice neighborhoods and wake up half an hour earlier. No guilt at all

Would that really work? I mean, I haven’t played the D card, but would theme parks/zoos/etc allow you to bring your own food if you tell them you have diabetes? Because that seems to be a big source of income for them, and they don’t seem to be willing to give any of it up, lol.