Well, it took 11 years and five months, but it finally happened. Yesterday, I was getting a manicure and my insulin pump beeped. The technician heard it and politely asked if I needed to respond to it. I said "oh no, it's okay. That was my insulin pump, not my phone." The next words out of her mouth...
"You have diabetes? How? You're not fat."
This, friends, is why it is so important for those with a chronic illness to be their own advocates. There are so, so, SO many stigmas and so much false information (hashtag fake news) out there about what illnesses are, why they happen and what they mean for the person dealing with it. The only way to change that is for those living with it to speak up, and those around them to listen before making assumptions. Diabetes is probably one of the more commonly misunderstood diseases out there.
