"Balance" letter about injecting in public

Alzibiff, but the nurse was judging in the first place when she said that people should not inject in public, and she is certainly judging us now as in her second letter she compares diabetics to junkies and says we are selfish and inconsiderate if we inject in public. If that is not judging I don't know what is.

And whether you are shy or not is immaterial - we need to inject, it is a medical necessity and must be done hygenically and this overrides any superficial dislike of seeing injections that some stranger may have across the room. The more people see something, the more normal it becomes and the less irrational reactions there are to it. So to my mind the best way of eradicating this sort of prejudice is to inject publicly and not hide away.

What does the latest letter say? I must say that I used to hide away to inject but don't any more. I've only had one instance where anyone seems to have noticed and that was a child in a restaurant, but then children are much more observant than adults. Alzibiff, I'm pleased you've now got a more discreet means of taking insulin and as you say it's really a personal choice. i'm curious how Daphne works with a pump though?

interesting you should ask about DAFNE and pumps, I attended the DAFNE Collaborative today ( a meeting of HCP's from all DAFNE
Centres) and one of the research studies at the moment is a DAFNE Course tailored for those on insulin pumps. So yes it IS possible and an area being looked at for possible more widespread implementation in the future.
I will write up a report about the meeting and put it on the site as there were a number of interesting bits of DAFNE news from the day.

RichardG, here is the latest letter:

A Question Of Etiquette

Wow my objection to the lady who injected at a restaurant table really put the cat amongst the pigeons, I was disappointed but not really surprised by the in yer face, I’m doing what I like regardless of anyone else attitude of so many to whom ‘I’ and ‘Me’ appear to be the most important words. To those who say ‘look away’ do you object to being told to turn the tv off if something is on that you don’t like? I’m sure thousands of people inject discreetly in public every day and discretion is the point. If you can’t do it in such a way that no one else notices, then find somewhere else!

As a nurse retired I don’t find injecting disgusting nor do I have a needle phobia. What I do have is consideration for others and there are people who don’t like seeing someone self inject. To the parents the idea that there are people with different opinions might not come amiss. As for those who talk of dark ages, the narrow minded and diabetic junkies (would you object to a heroin addict injecting at your table) I’m sorry you feel so defensive about it. I too have diabetes, type 2 and if I ever have to inject I shall hone my technique to invisibility or I’ll head for the loo.

Re: A Question Of Etiquette

I personally don't think it's a lack of consideration for others at all - if someone is injecting in such a way that is attention seeking, then I'd understand - but most diabetics don't so this 'painted with the same brush' issue is just stupid. Pretty much says it all when it's just one person objecting as well.

I mean, what on earth do you do if there are no toilets avaliable? I've had to duck behind a public bin before because a friend and I were out and I needed to top up my dose after a meal. Life isn't fair or pleasant all the time and quite frankly I would love to not inject but that is not the case.

To put it simply: making a mountain out of a molehill.

I dont give 2 hoots about what other people think, I inject and do bg tests anywhere if and when is necessary.
It is a necessity to stay healthy and keep me alive. I will stop injecting in public(although this doesnt happen that often) when it becomes illegal to take a life saving drug in public. I feel sorry for anyone that is afraid of what other people may think and are embarrased about there illness.

I'd say it's a matter of personal choice and about judging the situation. Of course, as diabetics we are not ashamed by the neccessary paraphenalia that goes along with our condition, and we have the same rights as everyone else to exercise free will. I would definitely make a fuss if I was told to take my injections elsewhere, not because I think toilets are disgusting or unhygenic particularly, but because it's taken me several years to get to the point of self confidence about being diabetic, that I will now do everything in public if I feel like it.
I only take it somewhere private when I feel I can't be bothered with the staring and the curiosity. I'm a quiet, shy sort of person and I don't really want to have to explain to everyone who wants to know, what it is I'm doing.

I think it's about judging the situation in terms of eating at a resteraunt. Of course it's pretty easy to inject discreetly and then pop to the loo to make sure your bloods are ok and you don't need top-ups or something, I might be a little embarrassed about getting out my blood meter and slapping it on the table in front of everyone just because it would appear rather attention seeking. And in my experience it's the blood prick that seems to jar with people the most anyway. Perhaps whipping out a brightly coloured Novopen at a business lunch for new clients might be a little insensitive. But I can't imagine anyone seriously objecting. It's quite obvious that insuin pens and meters are medical and legal and all above board.

It's totally personal preference. I don't think anyone should be forced to inject in a corner, that seems humiliating and unfair. And the nurse who wrote the letter might be more understanding if she did have to inject, if the person who upset her had a habit of announcing her injection and turned it into a regular, gawp fest then I might understand her annoyance. But I'm sure most diabetics simply want it over with asap and discretion is something we're all practising anyway. People who don't like it can always look away or mind their own business.

To be honest I've sat on enough buses smeared with bogeys, fast food grease, cigarette butts and discarded gum and despaired at the way people treat public spaces. I will practise discretion but I will not hide.


PJ

I completely agree. I also used to go the the toilet in a restaurant to inject but after meeting other diabetics on my Dafne course, I realised that it's nothing to be ashamed of. The pens that you get these days allow you to be really discreet and I wouldn't exactly invite people to watch but I find most of my friends are interested in what I go through every day so it doesn't even bother them and most of the time they don't even notice that i've already injected!

I also have no qualms about testing my blood in public when i'm out, it's an important part of my routine and i'm not going to go and hide away to do it, although I do make sure I let whoever i'm with know i'm doing it so they can look away.

The person who wrote that article in Balance magazine obviously has no idea what we have to do every day just to look after ourselves and should be far more accommodating and sensitive, especially if she is a nurse.

I also saw this month's reply from the nurse who originally wrote the letter and spotted that she is from Birkenhead where I work. Had me wondering if it could be me she was complaining about, ha ha!

Anyway, I would never have dreamed of injecting in public until I attended DAFNE and I had an epiphany as we all sat in the canteen together eating lunch and doing blood tests and injections in full view of everyone there! We later had a bit of a discussion about it during the course and the lovely other diabetics who were on the course with me gave me more confidence to inject in public.

This has really helped me as previously one of the main issues keeping my BS levels high was not doing my insulin on time and part of this would be because I was waiting for a convenient time to do it! I would have something to eat at work at my desk, but be so busy working it would take me sometimes an hour to get around to nipping to the loo to do my injection. After DAFNE I started doing my injections at my desk very subtley and no one has ever noticed. These days it depends on the situation as to what I will do, if I need to do an injection in my stomach and am wearing a dress I won't do it in full sight of people as that would involve flashing my knickers!! But I just use my common sense and so far no one has ever commented or had an issue. I have injected in shops, on trains and even whilst walking down the street, there's no stopping me now!!

I think that the lady who wrote the letter must have been riled by someone making a big song and dance about their insulin injection, which is not what the majority of us would do, but at the same time I think it was wrong of her to write in to Balance about it as often it takes years for us Diabetics to gain enough confidence to do our injections in public, the last thing we need is an ex-nurse (who you would expect to be sympathetic) to knock us back down again!

Whenever I'm sitting at a table with people, whether I'm familiar with them or not, I always ask if anyone would object to me injecting there and have always had the same sort of response: Why on earth are you asking! Most people accept that, unfortunately, injecting is part of who I am and if I'm honest, I'm not sure I'd want to associate with people who want me to go back to my old ways of skulking of to the loos to inject. When I was younger (I was diagnosed before I was 2), having to always go to the loos always made me feel like my diabetes was a dirty secret, and I do hope that the article hasn't made newly diagnosed diabetics feel like they have to hide away like I did