[blue_eyed_devil]

i recently did a very intence speech at work to a group of about 40 nurses who were on a study day. this was on my experience as a type one diabetic, and the reality of diabetes...

i was VERY up front, i pretty much told them:

- they do not know better than us
- that they need to respect our experience
- they need to pull their heads in
- they need to not judge us
- they need to understand the impact on our lives
- they need to know the difference of the two types

many other things were mentioned but it was basically me telling these people that we are people and we have MANY more years experience of this disease than they will ever have.

it was great.

until.

some stupid woman asked another speaker (a diabetes 'specialist') the process of how type twos become type ones.

i piped up and said you are one or the other, you don't swap between the two. to which the woman then asked the presenter...

"is it really that important to distinguish the difference between type one and two?"

AND THE PRESENTER SAID...

"no, not really"

that brick wall sure starts to hurt after beating my head against it for so long...

[mortis505]

Thats when this so called "Expert" needs to be taken outside, tared and feathered, then asked what the difference between just pulling the dried tar off is as opposed to a less painful way, and if there will be a difference.

[viranth]

I can't tell you how angry I get, (HULK SMASH!) when I talk to people that tell me that I had type two before I got type one.

"Because you can't just get type one from out of nowhere".

I'm sorry, I've lived a healthy lifestyle all my life, and then you tell me I haven't? Every "expert" agrees that you cannot get type one from living unhealthy, it's an autoimmune disease.

And the nerve these people have, to try to educate us, who live with this every day...

[ant hill]

Hey Blue Eyed Devil, You have found the box seat and good on ya for speaking your mind!!!

Originally Posted by blue_eyed_devil

it was great.

until.

some stupid woman asked another speaker (a diabetes 'specialist') the process of how type twos become type ones.

i piped up and said you are one or the other, you don't swap between the two. to which the woman then asked the presenter...

"is it really that important to distinguish the difference between type one and two?"

AND THE PRESENTER SAID...

"no, not really"

that brick wall sure starts to hurt after beating my head against it for so long...

Yes I would be bashing my head on a brick wall too.
This would send a lot of speculation on what to do from health professionals to facilitate treatment and I would like to do the same to doctors as well as I have had a few who say that diabetics are not allowed sugar!!! There is quite a few so called health professionals who don't know very much of what diabetics can eat as the situation like potatoes we can eat but the mars bar were denied.

[alicat61]

Hi,
Good on you for trying, I feel your frustration, for me it is just a simple thing as not keeping insulin in the fridge when it is being used. I've given talks on it often.
A patient is on insulin has been for days where is it in the ####ing fridge.!!
Then Drs that Have no idea Newly diagnosed type 1 kidsOn insulin infusions "let them sleep from 10pm to 6am without a BSL done. Hello I don't think so
And yes the attitudes that non diabetics have on food choices etc.
Our Dietician has no idea and is judgmental
It's a constant battle but my way of thinking is if ypou get through to one person that is one less ignorant person in the health profession and maybe just maybe it will spread to others

[SuzySushi]

I empathize with your frustration. All you can do is keep fighting that uphill battle... I'm sure your presentation got though to many members of the audience.

[Subby]

Originally Posted by SuzySushi

I empathize with your frustration. All you can do is keep fighting that uphill battle... I'm sure your presentation got though to many members of the audience.

I echo this sentiment. Well done. About the stupid chair person, chances are a whole lot of people were thinking "what an useless idiot" at such a statement, they just had to keep their mouths shut (mmm I looove situations where you have to defer to idiots for appearance's sake).

[davef]

Well you have to respect their ability to organise a meeting so that they can share their ignorance in such an organised way!

Fair play to you for trying and for fighting the good fight.

[Hopenopus]

I did'nt know what a pancreas was till mine was destroyed by an infection that almost cost me my right arm. A few weeks after returning to work my supervisor found out that I was now diabetic and also using insulin. He was mad that I had not told him. He said he must know of such things so he would know what to do if I were to pass out at work. Two days later I did and he did'nt. He left me on the floor of our repair shop for four hours while he tried to locate the company nurse. My wife, who is a RN, came out to where I work just to see how I was doing. My boss showed me to her and she saw right away that I was almost dead. She asked how long since he called 911 and he told her that he had'nt called yet. My days on that job were numbered after that. It was an embarasment for them and they wanted me gone. They took the stand so many of you like to help them with. The diabetes can be controled and you can live a normal life ****. So if your having problems with your BS then you're not doing something right. Some of the ones who have it need to speak for themselves and quit giving ammo to the ignorant. Sorry,I'm so tired. I hate this. Jim

[davef]

Originally Posted by Hopenopus

I did'nt know what a pancreas was till mine was destroyed by an infection that almost cost me my right arm. A few weeks after returning to work my supervisor found out that I was now diabetic and also using insulin. He was mad that I had not told him. He said he must know of such things so he would know what to do if I were to pass out at work. Two days later I did and he did'nt. He left me on the floor of our repair shop for four hours while he tried to locate the company nurse. My wife, who is a RN, came out to where I work just to see how I was doing. My boss showed me to her and she saw right away that I was almost dead. She asked how long since he called 911 and he told her that he had'nt called yet. My days on that job were numbered after that. It was an embarasment for them and they wanted me gone. They took the stand so many of you like to help them with. The diabetes can be controled and you can live a normal life ****. So if your having problems with your BS then you're not doing something right. Some of the ones who have it need to speak for themselves and quit giving ammo to the ignorant. Sorry,I'm so tired. I hate this. Jim

Jim,

I could be in a minority here, but so be it, I do happen to think that where ever possible (I understand it may not always be possible) that somebody where you work needs to know you are diabetic and knows how to help if you need it. I can kinda understand your former boss being annoyed about not knowing, but I can't understand that when he did find out that he didn't also learn what to do. And after all, he could easily have worked on the basis of, if in doubt call an ambulance. Did he really leave you for 4 hours, surely there were other people present?

I do believe the diabetes can be controlled, I believe that it is harder when insulin dependent, and more importantly, I know that things happen, even for people who have good control. That doesn't take away from them and their control, it's part and parcel of this disease.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by Hopenopus

My boss showed me to her and she saw right away that I was almost dead. She asked how long since he called 911 and he told her that he had'nt called yet.

If someone can win hundreds of thousands of dollars in a lawsuit because a pickle jar was "too hard to open"... how is it that such blatant, deliberate endangerment goes unpunished?

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by blue_eyed_devil

i recently did a very intence speech at work to a group of about 40 nurses who were on a study day. this was on my experience as a type one diabetic, and the reality of diabetes...

Thanks for trying!

Originally Posted by blue_eyed_devil

"is it really that important to distinguish the difference between type one and two?"

AND THE PRESENTER SAID...

"no, not really"

"Silence is foolish if we are wise, but wise if we are foolish." --Charles Caleb Colton

The problem is that we live in a "labelist" society, that is obsessed with labeling everything. Rather than understanding the underlying conditions, pigeonholing into broad, black-and-white categories provides a handy shortcut for the idiotic.

A "type 1" regimen might not help a "type 2" that much.

A "type 2" regimen will kill a "type 1" with quickness.

Preaching... choir...

Proposal: What say we "strike" against the popular terms? e.g., we type 1 folk refuse to use "the 'd' word", and instead refer to ourselves at "immune-triggered pancreatic beta cell deficient".

[shiftzor]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Thanks for trying!





"Silence is foolish if we are wise, but wise if we are foolish." --Charles Caleb Colton

The problem is that we live in a "labelist" society, that is obsessed with labeling everything. Rather than understanding the underlying conditions, pigeonholing into broad, black-and-white categories provides a handy shortcut for the idiotic.

A "type 1" regimen might not help a "type 2" that much.

A "type 2" regimen will kill a "type 1" with quickness.

Preaching... choir...

Proposal: What say we "strike" against the popular terms? e.g., we type 1 folk refuse to use "the 'd' word", and instead refer to ourselves at "immune-triggered pancreatic beta cell deficient".

lol, they wouldn't be able to spell it never mind remember it. In all fairness to these people many diabetics don't have a clue about this complicated disease so what chance do they stand? So the battle continues. The fact that in this thread we are assuming there are only two types of diabetes are already factually incorrect, what happened to MODY or LADA/T1.5? What about everyone else who falls somewhere in between these extremes?

The only reason to pigeon hole us is to make these educated nurses/doctors lives easier, when they look in the book it clearly labels us and our symptoms, an appropriate treatment is then specified. They have no reason to think outside the box, we are talking about a corporate world here who doesn’t wish to be sued every time a doctor gets it wrong. They want a repeatable set of actions for each time a new patient arrives and a standard set of treatments. Maybe the answer here is to update the definition in the book and make sure they all own a copy. It’s sad that they are supposedly clever people who receive vast amounts of education only to be confined to what the book said rather than their own knowledge and experiences, that being said this is not the case for every doctor/endo/nurse.

[Jan B]

My sister in law is a Nurse Practitioner and specializes in cardiology. She sees lots of diabetics. I know I've mentioned this before . . . it still makes me mad: she said there is no way Lantus can make you go low. Big scream!!

She obviously knows more than I do, so I let it ride. Now I'm mad that I didn't "fight back"! I only see her about once a year -- she lives in another state.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by Jan B

she said there is no way Lantus can make you go low. Big scream!!

"Here. Have a nice, big syringe full. Let me know how you do throughout the day."