What do people think when you say “I have Diabetes”?

I was told recently that “diabetes was a death sentence” by someone who had lost a loved

 one due to complications from this mysterious disease. It stopped me in my tracks. I thought “I hope not”.

This got me thinking about what people who don’t know much about diabetes are really thinking when you tell them you have diabetes.

Over the years some of the comments I’ve received out loud have been that I’m too thin to have diabetes (by the way I’m not thin), I get the pity look, and “God love you”.

So, are people having flashing images of one-legged ailing & blind relatives? Are they thinking that I must be fat and lazy because of all the media attention focused on the link between diabetes and obesity? Are they thinking that I deserve to have diabetes because I’m fat and lazy?

All of these people can be forgiven for what they think – they are lucky enough not to have someone close to them who has it. Unfortunately, according to the figures from the World Health Organisation this will probably change.

Thankfully, I don’t dwell on what other people are thinking and I choose between explaining what having diabetes really means or just practise nodding my head.