Diabetes and Our Relationships With Others

This is something I have thought about a great deal since being diagnosed.   I think because this disease seems to run rampant on both sides of my family, and everyone is pretty much aware of the causes and treatments, I have no problem talking to them about having diabetes.  What about friends, though, or other relationships?  I believe we should be completely honest with everyone we have regular contact with.  What if something happens when we are with them and we need emergency care?  They need to know that we have this disease.  I mentioned in my last post that I had recently started dating again.   I'm not right now;  but until recently,  I was dating someone.  I told him on our first date that I am diabetic.  I felt that if he was someone I was going to spend any amount of time with, I needed to be honest from the start.  I've heard other diabetics who are overweight say they feel ashamed because they did this to themselves.  But, that's not necessarily true.  I've known thin people who have developed the disease as well.  There seems to be this stereotype associated with Type 2 Diabetes patients that they are just lazy and eat too much.  But I'm sure all of you know, that this isn't true.  Yes, I can be lazy if I want to be at times, but I can work really hard too.  I wasn't just sitting around eating all these years;  I was a single mom and I had a son to raise.  This is how my doctor explained it to me:  Yes, being overweight does not help.  But, they are finding that there are genetic links to obesity and there are definitely genetic links to Type 2 Diabetes.  So, I don't think we should feel ashamed or guilty at all and we should never be embarrassed to tell our family, friends or love interests that we have this disease.  We need all the support we can get.  Even if our bad habits contributed, we can't change that now.   We can only do our best to take care of ourselves and love ourselves now and in the future.