Friday, 09 January 2009
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What Doesn't Define You
The main function of my job is to promote the hospital I work for in a favorable light. This means I write a lot of success stories about patients, interview doctors and spend all my remaining free time on Xanga and watching muted YouTube videos. But don’t tell anyone about that last part.
Since we have a Diabetes Center in town, several of my stories have focused on diabetes patients. I’ve learned a lot about that disease – mainly how it’s got to be one of the most annoying diseases to have. I normally don’t associate something as serious as a disease with being a mere nuisance, but imagine having a little elf handcuffed to you always saying stuff like, “Better check your blood sugar levels,” or “Better eat a cookie or you’ll have a seizure.”
To me, having diabetes is like having a bomb inside of you that will go off if you’re not constantly aware of your body’s status.
When I was doing a story on Meals on Wheels earlier this week, we delivered to an elderly woman with diabetes. On this particular day, she had low blood sugar and was hyperventilating and going into a panic. She asked that we get the jar of peanut butter out of her fridge; she ate a spoonful and was literally back to normal in five minutes. Then she jokingly asked me if I wanted any peanut butter. She was a sweet lady, completely disregarding her little episode and ready to be interviewed and photographed.
I was stunned at how quickly the signs of diabetes can come and go. It seems like you constantly have to be on your toes with this disease, but I suppose like anything else, once you get into a routine, maintaining it is probably not that big of a deal.
Anyway, whenever I write a story, I have to send it off to the medical expert I interviewed so that they can approve it and make any changes they see fit. (Which, by the way, goes against every journalistic instinct I learned in college. But this is marketing, a business where quotes can be changed and photos can be staged.)
On my first couple of diabetes stories, I’d get a response like, “Story looks good. Except when you’re referring to the patient, refer to them as a person with diabetes, not a diabetic.”
Um, OK.
This seemed a bit trivial to me, as I had always heard the term “diabetic” when referring to a person with diabetes, but I made the changes and took note of it for future stories.
When I was relaying my Meals on Wheels story to my co-workers in the break room, I must have been spurting out “diabetic” left and right, because when I was finished, one of them said, “You know, it’s better to call them a person with diabetes instead of a diabetic.”
This co-worker, who also has diabetes, explained to us that when you say “diabetic”, you’re defining them by their disease. Obviously, no one wants to be defined by a disease, so it made total sense to me. I mean, I poop on a daily basis, but I don’t want to be known as a fecalist.
There are just some aspects of our lives we don't care to be known for. And understandably so.
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Comments (179)
good job of informing people. I take my meds daily to prevent any problems but there are my days when I know that I should of taken better control of what I ate, how much sleep I got, or when I have a cold.
In my psychology classes, we were always reminded to refer to people in that way. "He's not a schizophrenic but a person with schizophrenia." It took me a while to understand the significance of that teaching. Great post.
You know- I never thought of it that way, but once explained in that way, it makes a lot of sense....
I can understand where they are coming from with the term diabetic. No one wants to be defined by their disease. That's just something they have.. it's not who they are.
I do agree though that it must be very hard to stay on top of things like that. No matter how routine it is, everyone forgets from time to time. Forgetting in their circumstances could be life or death. I am thankful I don't have to deal with such a disease.
good point
insightful, as always, sir.
You are so right.
Good post Sam, I didn't realize that calling someone a diabetic would be in a way hurtful. I'm a hypoglycemic (which has the same "time bomb" affect of diabetes for me.) I guess I'm so used to people telling me what I have that I shrug it off and it doesn't bother me.
Ah, people-first language. It's my downfall. I'm studying to be an art teacher with special education training, and I slip up all the time. Only I would get points taken off of my grade every time I were to say "diabetic" instead of "person with diabetes". Which is probably a good thing because, as you said, it shouldn't be what defines them.
I prefer to be called a Person with Xanga.
Great post!
Never thought of it like that before, very insightful. Thanks!
@john - Haha, touche!
Great post. And so true.
You know ,that is a good point. We do that a lot with color or weight or status.
I love the way you wrote about the woman with diabetes.
Very good!
@john - A person with Xanga.... I love it! lol
I learned to be more sensitive to what I say, thanks, otherwise I would not know. My dad was a person with diabetes, hehe.
That was such an insightful story, right up until the "fecalist" part where I spit my coffee across my screen laughing my ASS off.
Awesome!
yes, i wouldn't like to be referred to as a homosexual.
@joeysmore - Thanks! It seems like we have so much going on in our lives, that we sometimes forget to maintain our own selves. I'm doing my best to get the amount of sleep I need. I used to be terrible about it, going to bed at 2 a.m. and waking up at 8. I can't function on just six hours of sleep, unfortunately.
@The44thHour - Thanks - I'm glad you could take something away from this post.
@Power_Ranger_Freak - It's interesting how the way you word something can make such a difference.
@mrsprosa - Cool, glad I could be informative for once! haha.
@mynewlife1126 - You know, it really is hard to stay on top of it. Hopefully, after a while it will just become second-nature to me.
@ldjucb3 - Thanks!
@JadedJanissary - And I thank you, sir, for the rec!
@jediwa72 - Aren't I always?
@iStephanieMarie - Did it ever bother you to begin with when people called you that?
@beachblondie711 - Oh, I bet that is a difficult field of work to constantly be PC in. Best of luck to you. It sounds like a really rewarding job, but unfortunately I just don't have the patience for multiple children at once.
@john - lol, no longer a Xangan, eh? Thanks, glad you liked it!
diabetes is the worst in my opinion.
My grandmother was diagnosed at 48 years old and was in generally good health other than being a little bit overweight. Over the next years she had a heart attack, had to have one of her legs amputated below the knee, almost went blind, and the final straw...renal failure. She passed away at 63 years old. On her death certificate it says cause of death, Renal Failure secondary to diabetes mellitus. This was a silent killer for her. By the time she was diagnosed it had already been destroying her organs. Thank you for writing this. Thank you for the job you do at your hospital. I am sure it means a lot to those people. Diabetes is a very scary disease. I don't think many people realize unless you have been close to someone with it or had it yourself. My Granny died in 1995 and I hope and pray that there are more treatments and help for folks that have it now. It is very sad to me.
Seems kinds of ridiculous to me, thought I get it. If I had diabetes, I think I'd have better things to worry about. I'm Italian, and I don't need to be called a person of Italian descent. In fact you can call me a dago wop, I don't care. I guess that's just me though. Oh well.
good point.
wonderful post of bobies