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Don't worry, it's not catching

Alan44

Alan44

Moderator
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Pronouns
He/Him
Out walking the horrible hounds the other day, I bumped into a friend of mine with his dog, he looked at me and said "are you one", "one what I said", a "diabetic" he replied (I wear a pin badge bought from the DUK shop) YES, I replied, "but don't worry, it's not catching" then under my breath "you muppet".

I have no problem with being classed as a diabetic and defiantly no problem in talking about it, but his comment "are you one" did p*ss me off a little.
 
I was talking to someone the other day who didnt know there was more than one kind of diabetes....had to educate him
 
I was trying to find the best place ho pist this as it relates to BIAS/ STIGMA
I Shall leave the link here (hopefully)

Video

www.facebook.com www.facebook.com
If that works
It's a video Abbott left on Facebook raising awareness
 
Lisa65 said:
I usually get "I wouldn't have thought you were type 2 because you're not overweight"
Click to expand...
I got the same comment from a friend the other day. The irony is that she is also T2.🙄
 
Perfectly appropriate question. In your case, the answer would be "No, I'm two"
 
A guy at our gym is diabetic, he is a personal trainer and ive had a few sessions with him so has hubby we've known him for 5 years he is TI but a lot of people there when they see his CGM on his arm assume he wouldn't be able to do what he does, even his doctor said as much, he has come second twice in Iron man competitions and is at the gym most days from 6am to 8pm sometimes longer.
 
Pam123 said:
A guy at our gym is diabetic, he is a personal trainer and ive had a few sessions with him so has hubby we've known him for 5 years he is TI but a lot of people there when they see his CGM on his arm assume he wouldn't be able to do what he does, even his doctor said as much, he has come second twice in Iron man competitions and is at the gym most days from 6am to 8pm sometimes longer.
Click to expand...
Sadly, I am not surprised "Jo Public" think of diabetes as an impediment to high level sport but I am surprised his doctor would think that.
I am not at a competitive level at any sports but whenever anyone suggests I should take it easy in my Spin class or climbing or hiking, I give them a list of professional sports men (sadly, I don't know any women) with Type 1 such as Henry Slade (England Rugby), Nacho (Spain football) and the NovoNordisk cycling team.
I understand why people don't want to be known as "the diabetic in the room" but I love it when they stand up, prove the naysayers wrong and become amazing role models for the next generation.

As for me, I too get the "you are too thin to have diabetes" which allows me to educate people.
And, not directly a diabetes thing but I was put out when a guy I barely know at work told me I was too thin one time. Firstly, I am not too thin - my BMI has never been outside of the "healthy band". Secondly, would he say the same thing directly to someone who he thinks is "too fat? Thirdly, there could be a medical reason why I had lost weight. And most importantly, it's none of his business.
 
helli said:
Sadly, I am not surprised "Jo Public" think of diabetes as an impediment to high level sport but I am surprised his doctor would think that.
I am not at a competitive level at any sports but whenever anyone suggests I should take it easy in my Spin class or climbing or hiking, I give them a list of professional sports men (sadly, I don't know any women) with Type 1 such as Henry Slade (England Rugby), Nacho (Spain football) and the NovoNordisk cycling team.
I understand why people don't want to be known as "the diabetic in the room" but I love it when they stand up, prove the naysayers wrong and become amazing role models for the next generation.

As for me, I too get the "you are too thin to have diabetes" which allows me to educate people.
And, not directly a diabetes thing but I was put out when a guy I barely know at work told me I was too thin one time. Firstly, I am not too thin - my BMI has never been outside of the "healthy band". Secondly, would he say the same thing directly to someone who he thinks is "too fat? Thirdly, there could be a medical reason why I had lost weight. And most importantly, it's none of his business.
Click to expand...
Yes I totally agree with you, the personal trainer said his doctor had advised him not to the Iron man events, he also enters many cycling events, swimming etc, to be honest he knocks most of the other trainers out of the water, but its the stigma he hates, He has helped me a lot with training and many others.
I have also had look since ive now lost weight, I was only slightly overweight when I was diagnosed.
 
Poor choice of words, but I'm sure they meant no harm?
Like many others I was very ignorant of anything to do with Diabetes until I was diagnosed myself and decided to educate myself, and of course I have learnt loads from this great website.... 😎
 
I do find the attitude that people in general are “ignorant” about diabetes and need to be “educated” rather arrogant.

If someone has no experience of, or contact with, the condition, why on earth should we expect them to know all about it?

I get very few questions about it at all, mainly I think because I don’t wear it like a badge, I don’t mention it unless I need to, I just get on with it. If people are interested enough to ask questions or pass opinions they get a polite and factual response, not a shaming on a public forum for their “ignorance”.
 
I certainly knew nothing about diabetes when I was diagnosed, and thought there were two kinds, one which made you go high and one made you go low. I had a steep learning curve!!!

It is no surprise that many don’t know a lot about diabetes, and much of what they know will be based on news etc of the problem with ‘eating sugar’ . This encourages the misconception that it is just sugar that raises our glucose levels, rather than all carbohydrates. I do get irritated when it is misrepresented in a series, especially where they have someone having a hypo and show them being injected with insulin to sort this out!!!!

I did a training session for our GPs as they had little understanding of managing T1. No surprise as they will see very few people with T1 since a large proportion of us are cared for by the specialist teams at the hospital. They were also keen to understand the pressures that self management places on us. I have also done sessions for a care home, WI, U3A, Rotary Club, …. Anything to raise awareness.
 
There was a section on South East Today news tonight on

Nikita Kuzmin​

who is a Strictly Come Dancing Professional Dancer - he is another great ambassador for us who "are one"
 
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