Author: Sonya Nikadie
When I was 16, after months of increasing lethargy, unexplained weight loss, vision problems and intense hunger and thirst, I took myself off to the doctor and told him I thought I had Type 1 diabetes. A quick finger-prick later and my self-diagnosis was confirmed. Within ten minutes I was on my way to the hospital with my panic-stricken mother to treat my impending hyperglycemic coma.
Some would think that the idea of a diabetic life would make the average teenager want to do themselves in. After all, diabetics have to cope with daily insulin injections, constant monitoring of blood sugar levels and food intake, the dreaded fear of gangrene, blindness, kidney failure. It’s not the best news for a person going through the already arduous times of adolescence. Frankly though, I can tell you these are not the hardest things to deal with.
I found, both then and now, 18 years later, that the worst thing about diabetes is not the day-to-day management, not the pain of blood sugar testing or insulin injections, and not the endless management of food times, carbohydrate amounts and activity levels. The worst thing – and take heed you people out there who have diabetics in your lives – is the “Food Police” around me who love to tell me what I can and cannot do.
“You can’t eat that!” scolds a co-worker as I go in for a generous helping of banana cake at the office birthday party. Or: “I’ve made some yummy chocolate ice-cream for dessert but I used sugar so you better not have any”, informs a friend as she hands out bowls of ice-cream to everyone else at the dinner table, offering me an apologetic smile instead. (Note to hosts: apologetic smiles are not very filling.)
What is wrong with these people? I have lived with this condition longer than I’ve lived without it – so what makes my friends and colleagues think they know more than me? What makes them think it’s their duty to tell me what I can or cannot eat? It’s patronizing and demoralizing. Quite frankly, I really don’t feel that it’s any of their business. You might think you’re doing your diabetic friend a favour by not passing the box of chocolates her way. You might even think that you are being cognizant of a diabetic friend’s needs by going out of your way to hand them a dinner plate that contains different food to everyone else at the table. However good the intentions may be, you are sorely mistaken.
This condition would be a lot easier to handle if other people didn’t take it upon themselves to monitor what I eat. If I am having lunch with an overweight friend, believe me, I don’t take it upon myself to slap her hand when she reaches for the double fudge caramel chocolate sundae. Nor do I order her a diet Coke instead of the thick strawberry milkshake she is obviously eyeing.
I recognize that people are responsible for their own lives and for their own choices. So this is a heads-up to those “Food Police” out there who think your interference is welcome. It’s not. The way to really help is to simply back-off. I’m a big girl, and I can look after myself perfectly well. We diabetics have had plenty of good training in matters gastronomic; we certainly don’t need further assistance from those around us.
© Copyright, PeopleMenders.com Inc., 2009. All Rights Reserved.
About the Author
Sonya Nikadie is the author of several books and works as a freelance writer and editor on topics including medicine, psychology, cookery, travel, the environment and nature.
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