To Ignorant People Who Think Diabetics Die Young

You see, I was once friends with somebody who thought that diabetics didn’t make it past thirty. When I see posts about how diabetes shortens the lifespan, I think, that’s a ridiculous pity party. Insulin prolongs your lifespan. Yes, it does. It means that you are going to be around until old age. I once knew a type 1 diabetic who was elderly but diagnosed at a time when people boiled pee on the stove to check their blood sugar. I was diagnosed during the invention of the diabetic glucometer. My elderly friend died after I graduated college.

I have infused since 2000. My control has always been pretty good though, as my medical records say. I had to deal with a stuck up girl at San Francisco State in one of my holistic health classes. She thought that infusion sets could give me cancer. 18 years from the year 2000, I’m left standing. Since 2006, it has been 12 years. I’m still alive. Does that bother this person, I wonder? She was ignorant. I had to correct her many times. She threw civil-sounding barbs out. At the time, I was surviving without medication.

The section where I sat in my holistic health class passed around a pen with medication advertising on it. I got fed up and told them to quit passing it to me, I get the point, in an aggressive way since passive aggressive people do not expect direct aggression or confrontation for that matter. I decided to get back on the meds after that, but seriously, people were quite rude to me about my disability in those days. In the now, I find that people are less rude to me since I’m treated. My schizoaffective finally got treated properly in 2012. Then I got myself into Toastmasters in 2013 to improve my social skills.

I’m in a better place now because I don’t deal with bullies so often since I’ve been living on my own. I now know how not to tolerate gaslighting. I had to make quirky jokes once in the presence of my ignorant former friend because she thought I’d die young. Excuse me, I’m going to be an old woman. I will not tolerate people assuming I’m going to die. I have had this happen with frenemies. I had to rub it in that I’m going to make to 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90. I’m little, independent, and got my eternal youth from my Chilean side as I’m one percent Native. Don’t throw a pity party on my account. I plan on living to old age, as I have stuff to do that I want to get done like become a judge. As in, take over for Santa Clara County someday. I’m going to be around for this. I have great control over my type-1 diabetes so eventually, I’m going to beat this thing. I have already won. I have great control.

I have historically, maintained myself very well. I needed high blood pressure from age 19. I finally have this treated. I mean I deliberately neglected my own treatment because some people are content with not helping me out financially. I thought somebody was going to pay for my thyroid meds but not for my high blood pressure meds when they discovered I had high blood pressure. I gave this person plenty of deliberate mistreatment after she went south, sent mean emails to people, and in general made a total fool of herself by telling people private things that a group member had said about specific people in confidence. She will never be trusted in the pagan community as a leader ever again. I don’t trust her because it seemed like every time we hung out, I was dealing with a bully or an ingrate who shared their opinion when it was none of her business. “You need knee braces,” the ignorant Bean Scene customer said. Oh, if I could afford those along with martial arts classes myself. I mean sheesh, yes, I’m going to become an old woman. Certain people used mocking laughter when I alluded that I want to become a judge. Like it was ridiculous of me to assume I’d be alive for this. Well, if I maintain contact with this person, this is a possible outcome because of certain mental health problems that make them want to make me ill so they can be the hero. The fact is, I’m not about to die anytime soon. That’s a dumb assumption.