The Wednesday topic for D-Blog Week 2017 is “The Blame Game.” As I think back over 52 years of D living, I’m recalling the times when someone (on my healthcare team or family or friends) said or did something that felt blaming or hurtful. Not too many times, actually … and I mostly look back and laugh.
I
‘m going all the way back to when I was newly diagnosed and seeing one of the top endos in New York City at that time. Dr. D. had written lots of book and seemed larger than life. But he had this awful, shrill nurse who spoke loudly and with a sharp German accent. Just hearing her voice across the office felt like fingernails on a chalk board.
On every visit, she would call my name and say (shriek), “Joanne, COME, let me STICK YOU!” I was 11 and I got upset every time.
In retrospect, I do not think she meant harm. But it always strike me very harshly. And I never 
said anything. Sometimes I cried.
If it were today, I probably would:
- Ask her politely to use gentler words that didn’t get my heart started. I’d try to explain how it sounds to a child with diabetes.
- If she didn’t show concern or make changes, I would probably discuss her behavior and my reaction with the endo. Most likely, he would have laughed it off.
- THEN, if nothing changed, I would probably change endos! No one deserves agitation and disregard at a healthcare visit.
Here is my story. I had a nice endo who I did not like. We parted company because I knew it was time to let it go. I still know that if I had been more mature I might have found a better way to deal with things. So what was the worst thing that happened? The lady who asked if I knew insulin was addictive? I hope so I said.
Addictive … that’s funny!!! I was asked recently by the PA if I had the “good” or “bad” type! I asked, “What do you mean?” She said, “You know, the bad one is the one that needs insulin and you lose limbs. The good one is the one you can ‘cure’ by eating better.” I was stunned, in this day and age, in a metropolitan area. WOW!