I thought I'd be safe in church...

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Munjeeta

Munjeeta

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
So. I went to the church that is affiliated to my school with my class of 29 in tow for my biannual trip inside a place of worship, thinking I'd be safe. Little did I know...

All was going well. We got through readings, songs, solos. The head had a word then it was the rector's turn. He started telling us all about his friend. A man named Johnny. Who was full of joy. So full of joy he decided to sing about it, oh so joyfully. I'll admit, Johnny did indeed sound joyful. Now. Johnny came to church every week...

But... Johnny has a condition called diabetes. Diabetes caused Johnny to develop a condition called gout which led to him having his leg "chopped off". Thanks rector... My kids looked at me in horror. I raised my eyes to the ceiling. Honestly!! The moral of the story was, apparently, that you can still be full of joy with only one leg... 🙄
 
OMG....thats as bad as addriennes doc telling her little one to be a good D or shed have to chop her legs off !!!
how on earth do you explain that to children...sorry kids the rectors wrong!
 
Not sure if I should laugh or cry! Did you speak to Johnny's friend the rector?

At least maybe it was mentioned! And although your kids see you are managing it well, it can have serious complications (Oh joy! I think I need Johnny to perk me up!)
 
Next time you see him, tell him to hop it!

There are some people who might be at a point of getting to terms with their diabetes who really could do without such a joyful :confused: message.

In a speech that is prepared don't people think before putting their mouth in gear??

Hope you're not too knocked by it.
 
That's pretty awful, I have to say. He probably didn't consider that a member of the congregation might have diabetes, or how they might feel about it. And the fact that it was you and that your kids knew you had it was particularly unthoughtful. I'd say he wasn't a rector - more of a rect*m!😱
 
thats just not on,bad enough saying it in front of a group of kids band outta line he should know better, he has a classic of only opening his mouth to change feet x
 
Hmmm... Haha... I didn't really know how to react. More so due to the fact it completely threw me off guard! It was the last place I was expecting it... There are 3 staff members with diabetes, all present and correct, one of whom currently HAS gout and has her feet bandaged up. It wasn't particularly helpful. But luckily all the staff members are aware and most mentioned it afterwards, in a shocked, 'what on earth was he thinking?!' kind of way, so I guess that's a good thing... To be fair his track record is particularly bad. Before I joined the school he apparently did a completely politically incorrect impression of a chinese person eating chow mein with chopsticks. I have no idea what the moral of that story was though!

We're actually having a couple of 'diabetes awareness' sessions with the staff as there are 3 injecting staff members, to promote awareness of hypo symptoms etc.
 
What the heck has diabetes got to do with gout?!? And how does gout lead to amputation?!? That vicar definitely needs a bit of education from you, Munjeeta. Hope the rest of the service was OK, though - even as a non church goer, I must admit, singing a few carols does me good.
 
Copepod said:
What the heck has diabetes got to do with gout?!? And how does gout lead to amputation?!? That vicar definitely needs a bit of education from you, Munjeeta. Hope the rest of the service was OK, though - even as a non church goer, I must admit, singing a few carols does me good.
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I was going to say that, as I think he probably meant gangrene. Apparently you are more likely to get gout if you are diabetic though, but I didn't think they cut your leg off because of it as I have a marathon-running friend who has it. It's OK for him most of the time, but can flare up occasionally.
 
Clearly the man is a plank and shouldn't be in his job. He's a liability to the faith he's supposed to represent.

How do you go about complaining about such an individual?

Not taking account of a diabetic in the audience isn't an excuse, the percentage of the population with the condition is rising, not shrinking.
 
Wow! worrying :D What a lovely message for Christmas!

It's good you are having 'diabetes awareness' sessions, sounds like a good place to work.
 
Gout is the formation of urea crystals around (usually) the big toe joint. I have never heard of it mentioned in conjunction with diabetes. It is very painful as a friend of mine will tell you. His was put down to drinking the older heavier red wines on a daily basis for many years. It reminds me of when I was discussing a similar incident with a consultant:-

Consultant "And is he a qualified doctor of medicine"

Me "No! I think he has an O level"

Consultant "A certifiable idiot then!"
 
I think I would have flung my arms up to god (tho if there is such a thing he/she/it has a weird sense of humour giving people diabetes !!!!) and said 'give me bloody strength you wombat'.

Honestly I think I would have had to laugh. Of all places where you consider you are safe, ha ha ha what a joke eh !
 
Adrienne said:
I think I would have flung my arms up to god (tho if there is such a thing he/she/it has a weird sense of humour giving people diabetes !!!!) and said 'give me bloody strength you wombat'.

Honestly I think I would have had to laugh. Of all places where you consider you are safe, ha ha ha what a joke eh !
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I guess in some religions God accepts all comers, clearly idiots and the inconsiderate are welcome in this instance 🙄 :D
 
Einstein said:
I guess in some religions God accepts all comers, clearly idiots and the inconsiderate are welcome in this instance 🙄 :D
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Hee hee hee yes too true !
 
katie said:
Adrienne, I think you would have stood up and corrected the guy :D
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Yes you are totally right. I may have put my hand up to speak and say 'well actually thats not quite true............'
 
Copepod said:
And how does gout lead to amputation?!?
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Gout can lead, in extreme cases to amputation due to the build up of uric acid that forms crystals under the skin. I belive that can cause gangrene thus necesitating amputation. That or the surgery is elective as the gout is simply unbearable due to the crystallisation of the uric acid making joints arthritic and unbearable to move. That or other treatments have failed to alleviate the problem.
 
Copepod said:
What the heck has diabetes got to do with gout?!? And how does gout lead to amputation?!? That vicar definitely needs a bit of education from you, Munjeeta. Hope the rest of the service was OK, though - even as a non church goer, I must admit, singing a few carols does me good.
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Hello there,
Gout and Diabetes are generally said to be "inexorably linked". Secondary Gout is a well established as a possible complication of diabetes and many Gouty men go on to develop Type 2 diabetes. Perhaps at root they are both expressions of the Metabolic Syndrome.
Diabetes of course is the leading single cause of amputation( in West Africa it is said you can recognise a diabetic by a missing foot). The St.Vincent Declaration of 1995 on reducing diabetic amputations seems to be making slow progress around the world.
Gout complications also lead to amputation. The Rectors story has every likelihood of being true. Perhaps he might have just said Johnny had an amputation without mentioning how he came by it.
The real moral of the story is not reasons to be cheerful but how important good diabetic cointrol is.
_____________________________________________________
"God moves in mysterious ways
His Wonders to perform".
 
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