People consider diabetes as just an illness, and (dare I say it) a disability. But the truth is, it's so much more than that. There is a social side to it, a social side that, if you allow it to be, can be fantastic!
I've been lucky with my friends:
I've been very very lucky with how my friends react to my diabetes. Most of my friends now know me well enough to know my hatred for sympathy, I don't mind answering questions- questions are human, but I don't like people being sympathetic towards it. But my friends and I don't really talk about it to be honest. They all know what to do if they're with me and I get into a situation where I can't deal with it myself. They all know what to give me. But, unless they want a specific question answering, they tend to leave me be with it :) And on the odd occasion that I have needed help in doing something, they rise to the challenge magnificently and don't panic or anything- they just help! And then when I'm sorted, apart from the "Are you okay's" from them, no more is said about it, and I respect them so much for that. I had one friend buy and bring me lucozade when I was going to his house and forgot to bring it myself!
But that was my existing friends. I haven't mentioned the friends I've met through having diabetes. One of the best images I've managed to keep in my head was one from quite a recent time with my diabetic friends who I meet up with monthly. We all took over the toilets in the cinema, and all of us were doing an injection, which must have looked quite bad if anyone had walked in and just seen us without knowing we were diabetics! But this is now, even when I was little I had diabetic friends. We used to go on outings and such, we went to theme parks and everything, it made being diabetic that bit more fun. And the girls group which I currently attend is a great idea for diabetics I think. You can discuss it if you want- and they all understand, otherwise it's just like going out with a group of friends, but without diabetes I never would have met them.
See, it's not all bad. Diabetes can be a good thing, it brings people closer together I think at the very least, and I've certainly made friends through having it!
Keep Smiling
Love, Tutti-Frutti
xxx
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