been reading through the old discussion “
Whats the most annoying comment you’ve ever gotten about diabetes?” on here and since it’s thanksgiving, i’m going to spend a minute being thankful for the people who get it right, whether they do or don’t know what i’m talking about with my diabetes.
i’m thankful for
the pharmacist i’d never met before who saw me looking at all the pain medicine when i had a broken rib and asked me what i was looking for. when i said ‘i don’t know, i haven’t taken a pain killer since i developed gastroparesis’ and she said ‘well we can compound anything into a liquid if your doctor prescribes it but let me help you figure out the dosage on this liquid children’s ibuprofen’ i love that i didn’t even have to explain gastroparesis and i will always be going back there.
the diabetic nurse practitioner [who is leaving in february, waaaah!] who bugged the animas rep to get the office an IR cable and ez manager so she could get a better understanding of my numbers without us having to go through a stack of printouts all the time. and who keeps superb notes of all the ways my CGMS has kept me out of the hospital so i can keep appealing the insurance company’s decision not to pay for sensors.
the dentist who always checks with me partway through long dental procedures to see if i need to check my sugar or take insulin because he knows stress raises my glucose
my coworkers who see me looking a little weird and offer to bring me a soda before i even realize my sugar is low [i’m hypo insensitive]
the other coworkers who remember which vegetables i can’t eat [gastroparesis] and warn me that the cornbread has broccoli in it at the potluck.
my sister who doesn’t eat carbs always making sure there’s at least one type of food at her dinner parties that i can digest, especially if i go hypo. and for when i was first diagnosed with gastroparesis and diabetes and too sick to do anything for myself, figuring out that i could eat cream of potato soup and then making me a gallon of it to keep in my fridge. and not complaining when i go on about my numbers all the time.
my friends who try really hard to understand and who don’t get upset when i have an unexplained hypo and get angry or start crying.
the friend who came to the hospital when i was diagnosed and stayed overnight in the uncomfortable chair so that she could take her arthritis injection with me the next day at the same time i was learning to give my own insulin injection. i’m still freaked out by needles and so is she .
my parents, for at least trying to understand, even if they don’t always know the difference between type 1 and type 2. and for my mom looking all over to get me books on carb counting and insulin pump use right after i was diagnosed. and my dad for waiting with me in the parking lot of the restaurant as i sucked down juice box after juice box the night i found out eating crab and shrimp lowers my glucose. no, we still don’t know why but if i want to eat crab legs i’d better drink a tall glass of juice or soda first.
all those people who either get it or are trying hard to understand, i thank you.