My favourite whinge is when people say has it not settled down yet? After 10months of having a diabetic child this is what makes me want to scream the most. Or if they say he must be a brittle diabetic? No I am just a stressed out mother trying to do my best to manage my childs diabetes as best I can. TGIF

I am happy you wrote this. I have a very hard time being as polite as you are with the “cure believers”. I have some words that aren’t printable for them.

yip I got offered an indian concoction from one of my husbands indian colleagues that apparently cured his father’s diabetes………
Trying to explain the type 1 & 2 thing didnt engage any lights above his head and he prob thinks Ive missed out on my big chance

Hmmmm …
Bit of humour is always good even if it means laughing* at the lack of wit the alleged comedian had.
* it is supposed to be the best medicine (next to love?)

Hard being optimistic sometimes I know

Maybe ‘CURE’ should substituted with ’sustained healing’ – better management, fewer long term complications, and more healthy lifestyle/outlook, increased longevity – none of which can be damaging or bad for a T1 or a T2 or a non-diabetic for that matter

Don’t think any T1s expect to be ‘cured’ per se
Maybe stem cells together with targeted peptide/lipid inflammation autoimmune inhibitors one day

Who knows … optimism and humour in the meantime smooth some of the potholes in the road – or not as the case maybe

Yep agree with the ’settled down’ and ‘brittle’ comments – swings and roundabouts aye

I hate it when people ask how bad my daughters diabetes is????

I know! I get told all the time (after explaining about T1) that my daughter must ‘have it really bad’ because someone they know doesn’t need a pump etc – so over it!

My worst in when people ask how bad it is.
I have a friend I don’t see that often, because they live far away, she always asks how my diabetes is, I know she’s trying to show an interest but I feel like I’m being checked up on.

Yep agree with all above! Also, I get “oh but you’re looking well”! (have only had for 10 months), what – were they expecting horns to grow!

Can’t say it worries me when people do the old “sweet, can I have some too” bit, at least you know with those guys that they are having a laugh rather than the people who somehow really thinking you’re shooting up some narcotic. In your abdomen. Because drug abusers always use their abdomen.

As for the cure believers, interestingly I haven’t come across any of these in real life, maybe I just don’t mix with those kinds of people.

I have wondered if Type 1 might be an instant cure for homeopathy though, I mean, a Homepathic type 1 diabetic wouldn’t be around long I suspect, either change or die.

I’ve only just caught up on the weeks blogs – Sorry to hear that your bust your arm, but at least the coffee and food at Vudu Cafe is great. I’ve been in Queenstown this last week for work and ate there a couple of times. If your husband was at QMB I may havve seen him.

I get sick of people treating me like I’m fragile, or repeatedly telling me what a great attitude I have… what else am I going to do, live in a padded cell????

I’ve also got to say thanks to Queenstown airport parking staff, and air new zealand – I had to pack up and move my companies conference trade display this morning, which was more physical than I anticipated, since I was doing it alone, then had to change a flat tyre on the rental car so was running very late – by the time I got out to the airport I was only a 2, and was having a meltdown moment. The parking guy let me leave my rental car in the drop off zone, carried my bags to the terminal and then went back for my laptop bag that I’d left in the car. AirNZ checked me in, and got me a glass of juice and also offered to escort me to the gate. I’ve always been reluctant to ask for help when things aren’t going well, but really, the airline people new exactly what was happening when I said I was having a low bg episode, and offered me juice or coke… so don’t be afraid to ask for help!

That’s fantastic service at the airport! I’ve never had to ask anyone in public for assistance before but it’s reassuring to know how helpful peole can be.

As for irritating comments… My pet hate is “Are you allowed to eat that?”. What response are people expecting? “Omg! After 19 years I never realised chocalate cake was bad for my diabetes. Excuse me while I spit it out and thank-you for pointing that out to me”. Especially when that person has already had three pieces of cake and is rapidly heading towards T2.

I know my experience similar to ‘Whinge 2′ a friend of a friend suggested a diet to cure my type one. It was a boil up of corn and pig spleen and then drink the ’soup like formula’ down the hatch! yuck! yes I tried it for a week or was it two.

Yes, still got type one and have had now for 3 years on 31Aug 2010.

My pet hates are the “are you sure you should eat that, or are you allowed that”. Or the “how bad is your diabetes” this is judged on the amount of injections you do in a day.

Ditto to all the above.
Tyler got asked by one of his teachers – an indian – if he had considered prayer cause they had used prayer to cure his wife of diabetes.
Tyler, having heard it all before, just rolled his eyes and said whatever!

Oh my god – this makes me feel rather lucky – I think most of my friends and family forget I have diabetes and never question what I eat – although I am naughty quite a lot! OOOpps
I figure if Im good 90% of the time I can have my indulgences every now and then.
Generally people in the public have no understanding of how its controlled and monitored and it would take a long time to explain all the ins and outs of it!

It’s hard to handle people judging what you eat, and telling you about diets such as the raw food diet!! that they have read will cure your diabetes!! And then going on about medications etc, do they not understand that if their really was another way of dealing with our type 1 besides injections we would be doing it!!! If all we had to do was eat a special diet i’m sure we would all be willing but it’s not that simple so lets find a way of letting all those well meaning friends know!!!! What’s even worse is when they tell you all this stuff but they don’t do it themselves!!!

Dee sorry I only just saw yr comment. Good spotting on the cafe! Sorry to hear about the hypo but always great to hear the good stories of people helping out x

np’s Nic, I hope you’re getting more use out of your arm. I was really impressed. I didn’t ask for help, but they offered it when they saw me looking stressed (and dripping with sweat on a cold queenstown day – I hate that hypo symptom)

Dee, how fantastic the staff at Q’town airport. With a blood sugar like that did you slump over a counter and sweatily beg for juice? Poor you.
The general population is ignorant, best just to go for the jugular and tell them to mind their own business, they’re only being nosy after all.
I find now that I’m older people are becoming more diplomatic but the best was at Nelson Hospital when I was talking to another diabetic, chocolate cake was being passed around (somebody’s birthday), a morbidly obese women (secretary maybe) looked over at us, laughed, and said “you can’t eat this”. I said nothing (very unlike me) as I might need her services at some stage. What a place to be in when I really wanted to say some very cutting things.

I have never really worried about what other people think when it comes to injecting etc.

When I was a bit younger and a bit more immature, I used to think it was a good party trick to get my belt off, tie it around my arm and act like I was a junkie with my syringe and monotard. Used to get some pretty funny reactions. (this was at parties where everyone was pretty drunk…)

Check your intake of sugar and honey and products made out of these. Avoid sweets and desserts. If you occasionally indulge in a dessert…make sure it is fruit based and compensate that with other food in the same meal. Use artificial sweeteners but in moderation.