[hockey_gal]

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/tackling-diabetes-124582354.html

I don't agree with it bring called a debilitating disease but maybe that's just me.

 

[diabetes86]

Hopefully you never end up with neropathy in your feet so bad you cant walk. or end up with amputations or go blind. Or loose your drivers license because you cant tell when your going hypo. Other than that no its not a debilitating disease.

 

[hockey_gal]

My apologies if I offended you... sarcasm isn't necessary though. I thought this was a "friendly" forum.

I also apologize for not wanting to carry the attitude of "victim" with my diabetes... we are fighters, we all battle this daily. To place a label of "debilitating" implies, to me, that you can't function day to day as a diabetic.

I understand that if you do experience the complications of diabetes (neuropathy, blindness, kidney failure, amputation) then yes , it is debilitating and I am sorry to offend you. However, the article is highlighting that living with diabetes isn't the end of the world - throwing debilitating into it just labels diabetics as victims.

I don't think an active 6 year old with Type 1 diabetes who is running around with his friends would like to be referred to as disabled... just sayin'

Mindset is half the battle - optimism prevails... always. I work in healthcare - the people who excel at battling their illnesses and recover faster are the ones who, although hit medical barrier after medical barrier, keep a positive attitude.

You may have a different opinion... this is just mine. And the way I choose to fight diabetes.

 

[Patdart]

I completely agree with you, Gal. Altho' if not handled well it can be debilitating, it isn't normally so for most of us. The trick is we need to learn control for ourselves, not let someone else take charge of our care since they can't deal with our individual differences for us.

 

[Adjitater]

Just having it does not make it dibilitating at all. A lot of things need to go wrong before that happens. It does limit your opprotunities though. I couldn'y join the military, hold a public job like police or fire fighter. Couldn't be a pilot or an astronaut. Perhaps a better word for it would be limiting.

 

[Guest]

I agree with you Adjitator... I see it as more 'limiting' and one big pain in the butt. lol. Technically I'm 'disabled' based on disabilities legislation here (refer excerpt below).... we'd be covered under sub sections (a) & (e) easy... type 1 would include (c).

Copy of section I'm referring to in our Disabilities Discrimination Act 1992:

"disability" , in relation to a person, means:

(a) total or partial loss of the person's bodily or mental functions; or
(b) total or partial loss of a part of the body; or
(c) the presence in the body of organisms causing disease or illness; or
(d) the presence in the body of organisms capable of causing disease or illness; or
(e) the malfunction, malformation or disfigurement of a part of the person's body; or
(f) a disorder or malfunction that results in the person learning differently from a person without the disorder or malfunction; or
(g) a disorder, illness or disease that affects a person's thought processes, perception of reality, emotions or judgment or that results in disturbed behaviour;

and includes a disability that:

(h) presently exists; or
(i) previously existed but no longer exists; or
(j) may exist in the future (including because of a genetic predisposition to that disability); or
(k) is imputed to a person.

To avoid doubt, a disability that is otherwise covered by this definition includes behaviour that is a symptom or manifestation of the disability.

 

[jwags]

I do think the important thing is to manage you D the best you can so it doesn't become a debilitating disease. I think in the past many doctors have not encouraged diabetics to achieve near normal bgs. Even the ADA recomends an HbA1c of 7 which is an average bg of 154. Keeping bg that high will eventually bring on complications. I'm not crazy that I have D, but I deal with it. There are many other people who do have debilitating diseases who have it a lot worse than I do.