AIBU diabetes not a big deal

For me it’s the same as “everything happens for a reason” or “look at x as a silver lining”.

If you don’t know what someone is going through or haven’t walked in their shoes stop saying crap like above. The only response should be “that sounds hard, how can I support you”

I am a teacher and have a recently diagnosed 9 year old in my class. It is a massive deal! All staff in the school has had training on the pupils needs, but lots of them really dont get it fully.

That's not the same as berating them

Huge big deal! I’ve supported a little one for the last 12 months at nursery with it! Had great fun when we had a student in who thought she was an expert in his care because her grandad had it and her mum was a first aider! 🤦🏻‍♀️

I actually wish these illnesses had different names completely, it might go some way to stop people conflating the two

You get annoyed and enraged by people who do not understand……

I think it is fine to not understand the details of lots of things but it is kind of important to understand in a situation like this that you don’t know as much as the mother of a newly diagnosed T1 (or any chronic condition) and keep your mouth firmly shut other than comments along the lines of that you are really sorry they are going through this and it must be tough to deal with. Anything else makes you a complete, utter dick.

OP I am really sorry you are going through this. It might be worth seeing if there is a local support group so you can find some other local parents. I don’t have any experience of a child with T1 but my DH has had it since he was 9 and a really good friend is an amazing diabetes nurse. Her son developed it whilst away from home and a nurse where he was nearly gave him insulin during a hypo, rarely been speechless but that was one of the occasions I was.

Just to give you a more positive story DH has had it for 47 years now and during the early days there was 3 to 4 times a day testing urine sugars by something like 2 drops of urine, 10 drops of water and a reagent tablet, dip sticks came later . He has needed a bit of laser on the back of his eyes some years ago but that has held everything at bay.

He’s had a pump for just under a year and it has been amazing, makes a big difference to both our lives. Just a moment ago(not knowing what I was reading!) he showed me his pump saying he was 100% in range for yesterday. That was after day out where we ate out twice and did a look of walking.

Exactly. I know nothing about Crohn's disease so I would never go on a thread and offer advice or tell someone their symptoms are no big deal - and it should be the same with diabetes. If you have no idea about it then just keep your mouth shut, lol.

Yes defintley
As that thread the other week showed
If you have no experience with Diabetes or any other medical condition
You have no buisness coming onto a thread offering " advice"

I think the issue isn't necessarily the lack of understanding, it's people acting as though it's no big deal when they don't have a clue either way.

That made me smille
How clever of her 😂

I realise this must be really difficult for you and I hope your child is living a good life. But people don’t engage in all things in life. I am sure you don’t understand the detail of lots of things that are important to people you know.

You are not being unreasonable. My just turned two year old was diagnosed a year ago and it was incredibly hard. They don’t eat reliably, blood glucose is inconsistent and you worry so much overnight and the hypos can be sudden I think due to the bursts of energy little ones have at that age.
I just wanted to say it does become manageable and you find your groove with it all. Our little one is now on an omnipod & an Dexcom and it’s been so helpful for allowing her to eat when and what she likes more often. She’s also gaining a very small understanding of it (likes to claim she having hypo for a snack!)
It’s never not a worry or a consideration and there is a lot of people who don’t get it but you definitely find your way with it all. I tend to zone of daft comments now.

Slightly different take but my ex was diagnosed with type 1 at 57 years old (after incorrectly being diagnosed with a type 2). It is definitely a big deal. Having said that I don’t think he manages it particularly well. Have recently gone out with him and we’ve had to do emergency stops for sandwiches and orange juice due to his glucose levels being in the concerning range or he thinks he’s about to pass out. He’s constantly checking his levels and injecting. This is a grown man. I can’t begin to imagine how a child deals with it.

Don’t be too harsh on other people OP. Berating them for a lack of knowledge about something is not going to help promote understanding.

I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this and I agree that most people don’t know much about the condition other than what they read about or see on TV, including me.

Friend in her 50’s has Type 1 since being a child and she began having a hypo when she was at a crafting event with me a couple of years ago.

I knew nothing useful about diabetes but my friend was acting and talking slightly oddly (as if drunk) and I just felt something wasn’t right, but didn’t want to interfere as friend can be quite narky at times.

My DIL is an ER doctor and I texted her my worries and to ask if I should give her a boiled sweet or ring friend’s husband etc. but DIL said ‘no, ring for an ambulance now’. I did that then rang her husband who was a bit annoyed I’d rung for an ambulance and said she’d be fine with a glucose tablet that she keeps in her handbag. I tried the tablet and some lucozade but she wasn’t fine!

Luckily the paramedics arrived before him and managed to revive her. She was totally out of it and dangerously ill and it turns out her pump wasn’t working properly.

A few days later she told me that her insulin pump had received an update via Wi-Fi overnight that turned out to be faulty!!

I’ve just been in hospital with a 25 yo On my bay with DKA. My dog is insulin dependent diabetic so I do have knowledge about medication/ food etc but seeing how unwell she was and how rapidly it happened was something else.

Someone on MN once said they were a nurse, they also said the best way to treat a hypo was by giving insulin. Another poster wanted to leave her type one husband as she witnessed his first ever hypo and believed he was in complete control and diabetes information was a lie, he’d told someone to fuck off. Imagine being so ignorant of a supposed love ones condition you convince yourself a human brain is capable of functioning during a hypo.

We don’t have a child with type one but I have it, people just don’t take it seriously. I did a sleepover event at the natural history museum and they said due to the number of rats they have all food had to be surrended. It turns out there were four people at the event with type one diabetes, the staff weren’t going to budge and said if we needed any food we simply had to find a member of staff who would fetch it, as thats possible when your low in a strange place in the middle of the night, until one of the parents asked staff to sign a disclaimer if their child didn’t have access to life saving medication in a timely manner that they would personally take responsibility. What they wanted us to do was no different to removing an inhaler or an epipen.

I've been surprised by how serious and terrifying type 1 is and I only really found out about it in the last several years. I knew it was a different type of diabetes than type 2 before that but in a way it seemed less serious because I knew so little about it. It must be very frustrating dealing with people's ignorance, especially when they're loud about it, about something so scary.

Thats probably becuse he was little my son wears his Dexcom on the back of his arm
But hes 19 ìi
It probably wouldnt be practical for a toddler as their arms are so small.

I haven’t got experience of diabetes of anyone close, but I can understand that it is serious. OP, i’m sorry to hear that you feel gaslit and that people are dismissing the seriousness. I’m wondering, do you think perhaps those people are actually trying to be optimistic as they want to make you feel better? If so, it’s clumsy of them and inaccurate, but maybe their intention is to try and be positive (in that way that people often do when they’re not sure what to say in a serious situation).

I hope your child has a good experience of managing their diabetes within school. A child in my eldest's class was diagnosed with T1 in Y4 and school have really engaged with and supported them well. Their mum was telling me how reassured she feels, particularly now he has received his pump. I really do sympathise because she also told me about what it's like when the management is difficult.