Comments on: Wayback Wednesday: Keeping Illness Secret

By: Matthew

Matthew — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:28:44 +0000

Shouldn’t the american civil disabilities act should protect children from such unfair treatment in school? Thats what i threw on the table of my principle when i was in grade school and there was an issue. It was 8th grade and i just learned about it in history class. You should have sen the expression on his face when i threatened to sue him and i was only 14. You must stand up for fairness. It is not our job to protect the ignorant with hiding things.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:53:47 +0000

Like DC Scribe, only a few close friends in my field of work know that I’m a PWD and most of my new friends over the last 10 years don’t know either. As I’ve heard of other people coming out about their illness to others is probably a good thing, I’ve also seen what happens when they do. When using a name like Amy, it turns into “Amy the Diabetic” in conversations when the person isn’t around. Even if Amy is fine with it, it seems that you should value her for who she is and not for what ails her.

I also worry about companies, including the one I recently worked for, who hire health care consultation firms that work in addition to your health care plan. As my wife pointed out, if you tell that outside firm about your disease and they report it back to your company, can you really sue your company based on HIPAA rules if you offered it up already? Maybe I’m just paranoid.

By: DC Scribe

DC Scribe — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 17:51:17 +0000

i have been T1 for 50 years and to this day only my mother, my wife, my two kids and my endo know i’m diabetic. i’ve never told anybody at work, when i was in college or even grade school.
it’s worked fine. i’ve never had a seizure, never been incapacitated by high or a low and i have zero complications.
i’m not embarrassed or ashamed it’s just that my diabetes is irrelevant in my day-to-day life.
life is so much easier this way and i am eternally glad i chose this path.

By: the poor diabetic

the poor diabetic — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:32:22 +0000

I think this perpetuates the stigma about diabetes being your own fault, I mean don’t get me wrong when someone has cancer its like OMG it is such a deadly blow and we all rally to the cause and are so applauded for beating the disease. Now how many times do you hear that someone is diabetic outside of the diabetes circles and the call for action. Diabetes has been linked to Obesity in this country and that naturally leads to the self blame game. No wonder no one could associate shooting up with diabetes instead of columbine. Am sure had he said chemo everyone wouldn’t have assumed it was some kind of chemical explosive or something.
Don’t get me wrong, am not bashing cancer or anything, it surely is a deadly disease for those suffering from it but I am just saying.

By: k2

k2 — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 02:19:05 +0000

I’ve never hid my diabetes- I was always out!
As a kid, I never walked up to new kids at school and said: “Hi, I’m Kelly K and I have diabetes,” but I never denied it when they asked questions.
I wanted to make my classmates comfortable with my diabetes.

Being “Kelly K, PWD” was never an issue. But being “Kelly K, Super Dork” was.

With dating, I bring it up when I feel the timing is right.
As of late, when I tell people I’m a Diabetes Blogger & Advocate- they pretty much figure out that I’m a PWD right of the bat. Sometimes they ask questions and sometimes they don’t.

By: Rosalind Joffe

Rosalind Joffe — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:57:17 +0000

To tell or not to tell, isn’t that the question? Or better put, when, where and how to bring up the elephant that’s always with us in that room? Great points here. I can completely understand why the child in elementary school might not share with his friends he has diabetes – or at least not say it to the entire cafeteria. But I love that you’d ask your husband what he’s thinking about your sexiness, politics, religion and your health.

By: mollyjade

mollyjade — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:10:43 +0000

A lot of schools have some really stupid drug policies when it comes to diabetes. It’s my biggest regret that I never pushed against those policies when I was in high school. I wish I had been suspended for giving myself insulin in the cafeteria (and that would have been my school’s response if I had.) No school nurse has as good a grasp of how to treat a diabetic’s diabetes than that diabetic, and it’s ridiculous to expect a student to take time out of class to test bg when it needs to be done so often.

By: tmana

tmana — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:56:22 +0000

Two issues re: the kid at school. (1) Sometimes kids make fun of other kids who are somehow different, or steal their medical devices as a “prank” (I can’t tell you how many times kids threw my expensive orthopaedic shoes into the garbage can during gym class); (2) The kids might have known, if he normally administered his shot in the cafeteria, but the adults might have had a hissy-fit; (3) Some schools require students go to the nurse’s office to self-administer; (4) “Zero Tolerance Drug Policy” — anything requiring needles is strictly verboten in school, regardless of the medical need or reason. (Please, please, please — this “War on Drugs” thing is killing innocent children with chronic illnesses. Do away with it wholesale.)