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Things must be so much easier nowadays...

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trophywench said:
Yeah I know they are - tell me Nikki - could you personally have answered any of the questions they ask, before you were diagnosed? LOL
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Its quite tragic TW! I work as a teaching assistant in a primary school, so I would have thought there was some level of common sense present. But no.
"You have actual diabetes...you're only 35."
"But you can have a fair bit of sugar before you need to worry about giving yourself insulin, can't you?"
"How do you manage to inject yourself? I wouldn't be able to do it."
And the best one of all...
"How long have you got it for?"
See. Clueless :confused:
 
When I was diagnosed they used to whip you into hospital till you were sorted out. I was in the last bed down the far end of the ward and next to me was a lady called Brenda who'd had a heart attack. Despite an over 30 year age gap, we had a similar SOH - and neither of us was 'ill' at this stage, so we had as much fun as you can have in hospital really. On Day three ish the nurse brought my jab to do so I swung my legs over Bren's side of my bed and did it without any fuss.

From the other side of the nurse still in front of me a familiar Northern voice said 'Oooh, Jenny - I'd die if I had to that!' and I laughed and said, 'Well I'd die if I didn't Bren!' absolutely without any deep thinking, just immediate repartee. Then realised what I'd said and how absolutely true it was, and felt immediately very 'odd' indeed. It was only then it really 'hit' me - and I was very pleased I had someone nice to talk to about it, handy.

It was a feeling that I think everyone gets that I always still refer to as 'feeling lost, alone and unloved' - cos it's the nearest description I can apply to feeling absolutely bereft. I didn't know then but do now that although it isn't constantly with you, you do get it from time to time when it's totally unexpected for ages. Years in my case but the gaps between just got longer, before it eventually ceased.

Now - how can I or anyone else get THAT across to someone who hasn't been there, done that?

And back on topic LOL - the number of folk who would ask me 'How long have you got to have the injections for?' in the 1970s obviously doesn't change much, does it !!
 
Ahhh i love that! Although I can't imagine now being put in a hospital ward til it was sorted. I guess that totally depends on the individual view of 'being sorted'.

Sometimes I want to reply with something similar when I hear "oooh i couldn't do that to myself." - I'm thinking it's not what we all planned to do to ourselves but we are without the choice! I do find myself wondering what these few folk think would happen to us without the insulin o_O

And that feeling - that is exactly it. Its very much an 'alone' thing. Incredibly isolating in the beginning. Hoping not to have too many days of feeling like it, but how do we get that message across to those that have never experienced it?

And i'm not holding out much hope for the questions to cease - wonder if it'll be along the same lines in another 40 years? 😱
 
That's just it though - nobody CAN understand it if they haven't experienced it. And quite honestly though I've known the odd person I may have sincerely wished would get their come-uppance - I wouldn't actually wish the feeling on anyone.

I think we all have to grow a thicker skin, if we didn't already have one installed, to be honest. Maybe I was lucky cos I had one - if you'd had my mother, at times, you'd have had to get one early on too.
 
Northerner said:
Muggles generally focus on the injections, but what they don't realise is that's the easy part - the difficult part is calculating how much to inject, taking into account all the myriad factors involved :(
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Muggles lol :D
That I like
 
I think it's the daft comments from those that think they know that annoy me. I don't mind people asking me a question, if they don't understand how will anyone learn? After all, we're all muggles when it comes to most other medical conditions aren't we?

As others have said, unless it's you wearing the shoes of whatever condition, day in day out, no matter how understanding and great friends and family are nobody else knows how we as individuals feel (whatever our condition) ....so yes at times it can feel lonely and incredibly frustrating. My meter has often been on the receiving end of some very choice language and I've definitely felt like @Matt Cycle has, but I guess that's why we all found our way to the forum.

I'm finding this step / sofa a nice comforting place to be. So thank you @Flower for starting this thread! x🙂
 
Nurses can be dangerous muggles too. I remember when I was on the neurology ward in the Deathstar in Glasgow, I was dutifully munching wine gums for a 2.8 when this nurse walked in and said “You don’t want them, that’s just empty calories”. I bloody do, I said.

Then he got me a glass of full fat milk and a corned beef butty. Not exactly first line hypo treatment.🙄
 
A thick skin is definitely needed TW. And no, to be fair, i wouldn't wish this feeling on anyone else.

I like the term muggles :D
And i'm happy to answer genuine questions from those that want to know the basics. What winds me up is the questions or comments from those that have already have a preconcieved idea. Then you answer as clearly as you can (with the best will in the world, i'm new to this and do not know all the answers myself!) and they look at you suspiciously or convinced that i dont have a clue.

I love wine gums! I have a stash of jelly babies in my cupboard though. But wine gums are definitely going on my shopping list!

And i have a love/hate relationship with my meter Lisa! Love it most mornings, the rest of the day not so much :confused:
 
Sounds odd really, considering it's out lifelong constant companion, to have a variable relationship with it - but there again since exactly the same thing applies to husbands, wives etc and best friends - all of whom we should be able to insult with absolute impunity, knowing they'll happily return the compliment when the opportunity arises - I suppose it isn't strange really LOL
 
Yes but Jenny at least we can divorce husbands :D can't do that with diabetes.
 
Like any other tool or utensil we own, we can still threaten a meter with trading it in for a newer model - although you and me both can't really afford to do that with Roche pumps and matching meters! LOL
 
Micromodem_II_in_Apple_II.jpg

In 1978, You have had to use one of these to reach an online community of people with diabetes. To track the carb intake one had to use pencil and paper or Visicalc and using even an Apple PC was a difficult thing. Nowadays I could scan barcodes in a whim and get the nutrition facts of every food in a whim...

I also suppose that microprocessor-controlled glucose meters weren't available.
 
trophywench said:
Like any other tool or utensil we own, we can still threaten a meter with trading it in for a newer model - although you and me both can't really afford to do that with Roche pumps and matching meters! LOL
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I totally agree with you about the Roche pumps and matching meters 🙂
 
Mine still needs to mind its Ps and Qs to a certain extent, whatever the Abbott one is that they gave me to measure ketones, also can test BG and looks like it has some pretty useful features - like arrows - al la Libre - and should one have the same up or down feature regularly at around the same time of day more than once - a flashing up or down arrow. I also have a Nano anyway just in case cos they are simple and cheap and take the same strips as either 'pump' meter. Oh - and I also have my old Combo meter (as indeed I have my Combo pump) so if push came to shove .... LOL - if I could find enough AA/AAA batteries to crank em up!
 
mikeyB said:
Nurses can be dangerous muggles too. I remember when I was on the neurology ward in the Deathstar in Glasgow, I was dutifully munching wine gums for a 2.8 when this nurse walked in and said “You don’t want them, that’s just empty calories”. I bloody do, I said.

Then he got me a glass of full fat milk and a corned beef butty. Not exactly first line hypo treatment.🙄
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... umm. The Deathstar? Which was what?
 
I should think it's a joke knowing Mike but wouldn't worry too much - one of our local hospitals was always in the National news for having a far greater death rate than others in the vicinity. The fact that they had the ONLY geriatric ward anywhere for 30-odd miles in any direction most likely had some effect, don't you think? - and my late MiL died under their care, which was actually TLC - after she'd had terminal bowel cancer for years and years longer than her prognosis, owing to their TLC too.
 
It isn't easier - it's less difficult.

I was diagnosed in 1964 and that was before all the modern disposable kit. Syringes were Pyrex and had to be sterilised every time before use by boiling them in a small pan of water. Needles were metallic and you used a new one each time.

Testing your own blood was just not done.

Carbs were available in "red lines" and "black lines"; then grammes of carbohydrate; then exchanges.

The staff at the hospital were fewer - and not as helpful as they are these days.

Sugar-free foods and drinks were few and far between until the diet fads of the 1970s all kicked in. Now, they're everywhere. And there is no stigma or embarrassment when asking for them.
 
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