Great way to handle it. The less said, the better.
I wish I agreed. But āthe less saidā means that those who donāt have to deal with it day to day get left in ignorance. If I never disclosed my sonās T1, how would his daycare provider care for him when heās in daycare? How would the teachers at the school heāll attend know that he needs a snack at 10:00, never mind that itās in the middle of class? Iāve already seen how ignorance of a childās T1 can cause problems in school, courtesy of one of my daughterās friends and her encounter with a substitute teacher who clearly hadnāt read the preparatory material for that class assignment (the child nearly passed out from a low because the teacher not only didnāt know she had diabetes, but didnāt believe her when she explained why she needed to go to the nurse).
When it comes to Eric, I want EVERYONE to know he has diabetes, and more than that, to know what diabetes means for him. Because god forbid he should have a low and no one know what to do about it. Heās only 3 and canāt take care of himselfā¦ and as a working mother I canāt be glued to his side at all times. So I depend upon building a community of knowledgeable people around him until such time as heās able to administer insulin (and know when to take food) by himself.
yeah, Alicia, thatās exactly what I do too. As soon as I hear anything that makes me think they donāt know the difference, I say very clearly, āYou know, there are two types of diabetes. One is an autoimmune disease, and the other is a metabolic disease, so you treat them differently. The autoimmune diabetes is what my son has, and since his immune system has destroyed his pancreas, heās on insulin for the rest of his life (stop to show insulin pump here, if possible). The other diabetes is the kind you read about all the time, where diet and exercise are often key factors in preventing it or controlling it. Theyāre similar, but theyāre not the same.ā
This is usually short enough that I donāt make their eyes glaze over if theyāre not really interested in learning something new, but itās enough info that if they really want to know, they have a basis for learning.
Great response gonna have to try and remember that one!
Tom, she wasnāt talking smack about T2s. Try to imagine going through adolescence with diabetes of any sort (lots of kids are getting T2 these days, yāknow). Youāre 16 and your first boyfriend is leaning over to kiss you in the driveway after taking you to dinner on your FIRST REAL DATE, and youāre not sure whether that funny feeling in your head is romance or low blood sugar, and you decide itās romance, but itās actually low blood sugar, so you get that veryā¦ firstā¦ kissā¦ and you start to pass out. And then he frantically pours his soda into your mouth to revive you, and it gets all over your new dress and makes you choke, and then worse, you THROW UP ON HIMā¦ But then you have to grab the soda and drink it because you figure your BG must be, like, 35 or so if youāre that close to unconsciousness, and in the meantime, heās yacking all over his car because you yacked all over himā¦ And within 8 hours itās all over Twitterā¦ Youāre humiliated and swear youāre NEVER, EVER going to show your face at the high school AGAIN, and you ask your Mom what you need to do to join a convent.
See? BIG difference, being a kid with diabetes versus being an adult 
and that little scene could happen to a T2 just as easily as a T1. Well, maybe not JUST as easily, but still. Dealing with diabetes on top of the difficulties of just being a KID and learning who you are, thatās what Anna was talking about.
(this is, of course, a work of fiction, and any resemblance to persons living or deceasedā¦ or in betweenā¦ is purely coincidental.)
If youāve never seen this wonderful video by Manny, please take 8 minutes to see it. Itās a little old, but such a goodie, Iāve probably seen it a dozen times, whenever I feel like a Type1 vs Type2 discussion is getting a little hot.
I had never seen this. Thank you for posting the link.
Reread it and all I got to say is being a Type 1 and also the mother of a Type 1, daughter and granddaughter of 2 Type 2ās I see no illrespect to a Type 2 just wanting for the 2 not to be compared to each other.
Iām the same way, as an adult T1 I want the people I work with & hang with to know that I have D, That just gives me much better chances when something goes haywire. Not like that ever happens, thoā¦
/whistles nonchalantly
I donāt want my secret, if I have an issue and no one with me knows Iām diabetic, Iām not going to get the proper help I need.
Get off the insulin, amusing. Iāve a sister in law who always tries to educate me on what I should be doing because a friend of hers has a son who is diabetic. But she is a know it allā¦
You know what?? I say take all those āknow it allāsā and dump them all in a boat. Send them to some uncharted island and LEAVE THEM THERE!! Let them drive themselves crazy about diabetes and see what will happenā¦ Damn it, Iām tired of all of themā¦ LOL
I felt like crying when I saw his video. He took all the emotions I was feeling and put it into one videoā¦ He really spoke so eloquently. All though Iāve never met himā¦ I love him and I appreciate him, because I know that, that video came from his heart. God bless himā¦
Diabetes is such a complex diseaseā¦ that people who have seen their OWN part of the elephant sometimes think they have seen the WHOLE elephantā¦ and end up ignoring other peopleās experiences, whether they have Type 1, or Type 2, or just met someone who had Diabetes and they are an expert now. I have read the comments on here, and I will just say thatā¦ the fact is that:
- Diet and exercise are therapies for both types of Diabetes; if either Type ignored diet, theyād be screwed.
- Neither of them have a cure.
- Weight gain can be an aggravating factor in both, and there are thin people in both types of Diabetes as well as overweight people.
- Both types of Diabetes have been found to be more similar than they are different, and since a study by Harvard Researches back in November of 2009 they are now considered to be both autoimmune diseases of different origins and mechanisms not quite understoodā¦ But they are diseases at polar opposites on a spectrum, with different variations of each type, depending on the personās genes; not on different spectrums.
- Whether you get it at 9 months, at 15 yrs old, or at 60 yrs oldā¦ ITāS GOING TO SCREW UP YOUR LIFE, HOW YOU CAN LIVE LIFE, AND HOW YOU CAN VIEW THE WORLD. There is absolutely no point in arguing about who has it worse or better, or is it worse or better to get it as a kid or as an older personā¦ because we can all think of pros and cons for each and every one of those stages of life.
- If we donāt learn about the other Types of Diabetes, and educate others about other Types of Diabetes, and not just our ownā¦ we are no better than those who donāt have it, or never heard of it, or think they are experts on it. Diet and exercise DONāT CURE TYPE 2 DIABETES, EVER. So when people say to someone, as a Type 1 āget on a diet, and youāll be cured,ā the right answer is NOT āOh, that is Type 2āā¦ It is āTHERE IS NO CURE FOR DIABETES AT THIS TIME.ā Similarly, we need to stand up for Type 1āsā¦ And let people know it is NOT something you can just control with a diet alone. It is very challenging to be a Type 1. We need to do our own educating because frankly, the media and doctors are NOT doing it for usā¦ We need to take control.
- Everyone gets crap about Diabetes. EVERYONE. Doesnāt matter your type. It just sucks all around. I think we can find a common bond with others, of a common bad experienceā¦ even though we are all unique, and come from a different point of the Diabetes spectrum, then thatās what we all ought to focus onā¦ We are all the same in that we are all different. Every single one of usā¦ even within the same type of Diabetes.
I know people suck, and they are rudeā¦ Try not to let them get to youā¦ and try not to take it too personally, as hard and difficult as that isā¦ None of us know everything about every disease, as common as many of them are, and wellā¦ I know weāve all said one dumb, or ignorant thing, at some point or anotherā¦ Get angry on this forum, and ventā¦ and rageā¦ and just do what little you can.
We got your back, hereā¦ You can talk to us. HUGS
In short, yes, I do feel this way. I really donāt like talking about diabetes to people who arenāt. That is why I am here.
I am not sure why this got turned into a debate between again rehashing the whole Type 1 versus Type 2 thing. To me, each type has unique struggles associated, as well as some similarities. Isnāt it okay to acknowledge that? Kind of how men and women are all people and experience some of the same, but also some unique struggles. I think that many people donāt like to be lumped in together, no matter what Type they are, because lumping together blurs the individual experiences and cheapens the struggles they have faced.
And as someone who developed Type 1 in early adulthood,I am careful to not try and make others think that my experience is the same as those who were diagnosed as kids. Itās not. My childhood would have been dramatically different if I had been diagnosed 20 years earlier. I feel incredibly lukcy to have developed diabetes after many of my adolescent issues were resolved. I donāt approach kids with diabetes as if āI knowā because I donāt, and I think that any feeling of sympatico would be very one-sided and ring false. The same way it felt for me when my friend who had gestational diabetes approached me in that way. Oh, what I would have done to have my diabetes controlled by diet and go away after pregnancy like hers did. But I appreciated her wanting to reach out to me, even if I didnāt feel our experiences were as similar as she seemed to.
Today against my better judgement I joined my co workers in a celebration lunch my boss provided. When I started eating a small piece of cake I got the following comments.
Youāre not supposed to eat that.
Can you have cake?
Youāll be checking your blood sugar all day now.
I quietly finished eating, got up, and walked out. Thank you all you diabetic experts.
I hope you didnāt think I was taking offense. I was trying to empathize. {{{hugs}}}
That sucks, Kathyann 
I was 28 when I was diagnosed with type 1. I am thankful I did not have it as a child. But its been a huge struggle to change so many things in my life because of it. But I will admit, without diabetes, I would not have slowed down and enjoyed my life. So there is one good thing about this nasty disease.
That bugs me to no end. As if youāre some sort of child who doesnāt know what sheās doing with her own disease. If you wanted their help, Iām sure youād have asked.
No one would say that to an overweight person. Or someone who has celiac. Why is it ok with a diabetic? Did we get stupid because of our disease?