It’s perhaps a little unfair to say that the general public are, for the most part, ignorant when it comes to diabetes. I would say rather that they are ill-informed or poorly educated on the matter, often gleaning what wisdom they possess from the myths and misconceptions of yesteryear. I can’t blame them for that – I was pretty much the same when I was diagnosed. As I lay in the hospital bed in A&E and was told ‘We think you have diabetes’, my reaction was one of numbness, although possibly that was partly due to the fact that I was suffering the effects of DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) and possibly only hours away from coma!
During the days that followed, however, my knowledge didn’t really expand that much. I could see that I was being given insulin, intraveneously at first and then by injection, and also that my blood sugar levels were being checked at regular intervals (my poor fingers!). I learned that double figure readings were not good, and a pre-meal below 7 was good. But I didn’t really understand or know anything about diabetes, it was only when I was able to leave hospital and satisfy my voracious appetite for information (and food, as I was severely underweight!) that I began to understand what it all entailed.
As such, we can’t really blame people for some of the things they say! This post brought many such sayings to the forum, most of which we were able to nod and agree ‘Yes, I’ve had that said to me!’ ‘Does it hurt?’ ‘Did you eat too many sweets?’ ‘I could never do that!’ ‘I’d die if I had to inject myself!’ ‘You’ve got the mild kind then?’ ‘Will he grow out of it?’ – all classics!
We’ll return to this topic in some of our future selections as it is a rich source of misinformation, occasional anger, wonder and humour on the forum!
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