Type 1 Diabetes is NOT the same of Type 2!! It is a SERIOUS medical condition and is NOT caused by lifestyle!

[TIDMum]

Just had the Sky guy here to upgrade internet speed and he asked about DS's glucose monitor alarm going off so I said he's a Type 1 diabetic. He was asking if it was a care alarm then said 'oh so not that serious, just for the blood sugar reading'.

He then said that his wife was Type 1 and we had a little discussion about her GM and what type of insulin pump she's on (which she doesn't actually have!) and he then said 'I blame diet and alcopops really'.

It then became clear his wife was Type 2.

I said 'oh right, I blame COVID actually because you know it's an autoimmune disorder?' He said 'oh right' then was quiet while he finished his work.

DS (age 16) heard this as he was walking past.

DS said he's an idiot but this really annoys me.

I can't count how many times over the last 4 years since his diagnosis, people have started talking to me about their sister, aunt or neighbour having 'Type 1' when it's actually Type 2 they're talking about. He had the teasing at school about too much sugar as well.

I really think if you don't know what Type 1 diabetes, shut up and don't talk about it tbh.

AIBU to get pissed off about this? I can't think of any other serious medical conditions that are mistaken like this.

if you feel so strongly why not educate the poor sky engineer rather than complain about him? You are one angry woman

OP you are making huge generalisations about links and not causation regarding Type 2 so why is this different?

I wish the Sky guy knew how much support he has on here from unkind complaints

Complaining to his employers is just spiteful, OP.

I agree. And dramatic.

What action have you taken with the school about kids teasing DS? I hope you’ve come down as strongly with them as you have with a man who was clumsy in what he said and now likely to get in trouble.

I am blind and people will. Chuckle and say ooh when I take my glasses off I am the same! It irritates me so much it’s so patronising. Or they will tell me some one they know is blind so I know them! Or have it thought about surgery. People are just idiots!

An ex colleague’s elderly mother was found unconscious in bed a few years ago, & blue lighted to A&E, sadly she passed away within hours.
Basically she’d fallen unconscious due to HONK, which is the acronym for a type 2 diabetic coma.. the poor lady had developed type 2 diabetes but had ignored the symptoms, so without treatment her blood glucose levels had continued to rise until she went into a type 2 coma (which unlike in type 1 diabetes is not caused by ketoacidosis).
Unfortunately type 2 coma is far more rare and statistically much harder to treat & therefore less survivable.

Same with long covid/Me - lots of people think you're 'very tired' or have made it up!

OMG OP the poor bloke was just trying to make conversation. Like a lot of workmen do. What a massive overreaction - realise it’s coming from years of frustration but still complaining to his work place is insane behaviour. Most people have very little understanding of your child’s health condition; likewise you may not understand others. It doesn’t sound like he was trying to offend, he was just ignorant. What on earth do you think Sky are going to do??

OP has completely lost the plot.

The significant difference is, if a T1 wasn’t diagnosed for a lengthy period, they wouldn’t have severe irreversible damage as they would already be dead. T2 ar

I have found her posts very ignorant and offensive at times but this seems a little harsh. She has an ill ds, who requires constant monitoring. Shes not being very nice to other people, but she does also have a lot going on.

Wow, you're not a very nice person are you?

At least you will have given the complaint handlers a good laugh and some eye rolling 😊

People here do overuse the word vile.

A complaint is rather over the top but vile is a bit strong and shows the same overreaction of which the OP stands accused.

I highly doubt the Sky chap is going to get into trouble from this. It is clear that here is a stressed and perhaps oversensitive parent and a workman who is out of his depth on the topic he maybe should not stray into.

That's all.

Have you had therapy to come to terms with your sons manageable illness, you seem to be struggling

That doesn’t give her carte Blanche to try and get someone sacked because he made a mistake in his understanding of a topic

Yes, I don’t think she is helping her son to deal with it either. Plenty of children manage very well with T1 without it dominating their whole existence.

The comment I replied to.

I honestly didn’t know there was a type 1vs type 2 thing!
My 3 year old was diagnosed at just turned 2 years old and it’s been the most challenging and at times scary thing. I also had an awareness of it before as one of my parents has it.
I can honestly say I had no idea what my parent went through with it until managing my child and I now feel really bad for not asking enough.
Its constant changes of insulin, random spikes, hypos when my son is running around more. Trying to get them to eat when they’re very clearly finished but they not eaten enough to cover the carbs I’ve given insulin for and counting every single little carb they eat. Pump changes (extra when they fall off from inevitable toddler play). Blood glucose for my child is horrendous when they’re ill and managing ketones (since diagnosis my child seems to get ill more often and more seriously and has been in hospital, I’ve no idea if it’s related) can be challenging. It’s hypos in the night sometimes and force feeding glucose to my poor child who’s wondering wtf I’m doing (I have explained but understanding is still limited). It’s the fear of complications in their future if I don’t get it right now and when we have days where his numbers seem to rise but I’ve no idea why.
I’ve already been told childcare options as she grows older will be limited and I know play dates might be hard which I worry about as he’s so social.
It’s also much more and trying to keep his life as normal as possible
It’s the fear of missing a hypo through the night.
Right now I’m scared because they’ve got a temperature but I’m feeding his younger sibling and his sensor seems to have stopped working but I don’t want to move and wake the younger child just as they’re falling asleep to piss about with his sensor and wake both up but I’m now imagining he’s having a bad hypo so I’m going to.

Type one is very misunderstood and I know before this I did not understand how relentless and worrying it would be but I know that I had no idea before so I don’t expect people to understand. I know my friends have no idea and simply say ‘aww that’s a shame at least he can live a normal life’. I don’t judge them for it but it can be a very very lonely place to be as I expect many families of children with long term medical conditions find. Which is maybe why I wrote this so people might understand.

Similarly I don’t judge people with type 2, I don’t know enough about it but I do know people dont understand how serious type 1 is.

I wouldn’t have complained to Sky but I’d have been silently stewing a bit. I know myself as a T1 that burnout is real. It’s many decisions taken every day, monitoring, calculating and taking the right amount of insulin, even then - it’s too hot? BG may drop, or increase. Tired? Again, drop or increase. Stressed at work? Might increase, then might drop if you’ve not calculated correctly (to account for cortisol in your system). It is constant. And tiring. And that’s me looking after myself. I can only imagine as a parent having to do this for your child must be exhausting and a worry. I was diagnosed as an adult. My family have a collection of autoimmune diseases, I’m the first T1D, but I was bound to develop something as we have rubbish genes. In fact I collect autoimmune disorders - lucky me (four and counting and it seems to run in a pattern of every seven yrs or so I get diagnosed with another).

OP - it can be difficult to deal with all of this and all I can say is that therapy helps. You need an outlet for all the stress you’re carrying,

I can't believe you put someone's livelihood at risk over this.

@Twinbabymum sounds like you’re doing a great job. We’ve had 3 dexcom fails in the last week, I was up changing it at 10pm (again) last night and his pump is being very hit and miss with connecting. It’s relentless.

Yes, l realise that, thanks. I was challenging OP’s assertion that T2 deaths in the main were self inflicted.

She has been vile both to other people posting and the sky bloke.
The people she has complained to will laugh. Not because her son has diabetes, that is certainly not a laughing matter and I know that first hand. But because she has blown this completely out of proportion.