Diabetes stigma and how hurtful it can be.

When I was on insulin shots I faced a lot of really horrible comments, horrible looks and I even once got turned into h.r. for taking a shot in the break room at a really crappy job I had.  They actually suggested I take my shot in the dirty germ infested bathroom!! Seriously.  Assholes. 

What have you had to deal with when taking your insulin shots?  

I have been on an insulin pump now for almost 13 years out of the 21 years I have had type 1 diabetes. I do not ever plan on going back to shots and all of the terrible comments, stares, looks of complete disgust and how much my staying alive was ruining their lives. Their lives.

I'm incredibly grateful for pump technology and now having my little girl on a pump because I really needed to spare her from some of the ugly sides of living with a life long incurable disease as much as I could. She still hates having the pump attached to her nonstop but she is enjoying not needing 10-15 shots a day, there is a lot of snacking when you never stop moving and burning your energy off, and now being able to go back to her normal ability to eat when she is hungry and not have to debate it for another damn shot.  I'm not sorry for saying insulin shots suck royally.  A pump is so much better, more accurate and easier to adjust and not live with the never ending lows from long acting insulin.  I seriously despise long acting insulin.

Don't stare at a person giving themselves an insulin shot, don't say shitty mean comments, put yourself in their shoes- look at the world thru their eyes.  It sucks, it's hard, we hate it...don't make this shit any harder than it needs to be.  Most of us know what we are up against, don't need the hey you can go blind or go into kidney failure or lose a leg or foot thing....yeah....do not need to hear that shit one more time. Seriously.  Especially not about how diabetes killed your family member...that is not helpful ever in any situation.  We know, we have also lost loved ones to this disease and it scares the crap out of us. 

Having my little girl get diagnosed with this damned disease had really ticked me off, made me angry again, lit a fire under me and makes me want to protect her from all the hurt that she has to deal with.  I can deal with this for myself but for her it kills me to my core, smashed my heart and reignited all the pain and suffering I went thru in the beginning. I don't know how to navigate this ship but I'm trying my best and I want to change the way people feel entitled to comment on other people's diseases or conditions in negative ways.