Taking Insulin When You Eat

Courtesy of JDRF-YLC

When Meghan and I were on our way to the gala, we had an incredibly nice cab driver who put up the windows so we wouldn’t ruin our hair.  He was asking where we were off to, so we explained that it was the JDRF Gala and we were volunteering and THEN partying.  🙂 He talked to us about his niece who has some type of diabetes.  “I don’t know what kind you two have, but this is the kind she has.”  He went on to tell us that she has the kind where she only has to take insulin if she eats carbs.  If she has chicken or beans, she doesn’t take it, but the good stuff, like bread and pasta she has to take insulin.  We sat there listening and nodding and saying okay and looking at each other smirking.  I thought about it later and I’m sure in the context of which he knows his niece, that IS true.  That is what he sees.  I know (and I’m sure that most of you reading this) that there is no diabetes exactly like the way our cab driver described, but it’s what he sees and what he knows.  I can’t blame him, but I do wish that he would talk to his niece about the exact type of diabetes she has.  If only people would ask more questions, with the intent of becoming more knowledgeable, then the misconceptions of diabetes would go away.