My neighbour asked me ” how’s that complaint of yours”? , at first I thought how the heck does he know about the problem with my boiler, then it dawned on me, he meant THE complaint aka diabetes. Once home I looked up complaint in the dictionary:
1. a grievance or cause for dissatifaction
2. an ailment or illness.
There was me thinking I had a chronic disease and how dare anyone belittle it by calling it a complaint but on reading the description maybe I had got it wrong as diabetes seems to fit both categories pretty well. It is a cause for dissatisfaction and it is an illness.
I’m glad I haven’t received my killer robot kit yet else a genuine enquiry could have ended badly. For now I will stick with disease and condition but maybe in time I can grow to accept complaint.
It’s a good point – what to call diabetes? I prefer “condition” myself (I think) as “disease” seems a bit off and “illness” is weird as I don’t generally feel ill. As I say on the “About us” page, I actually generally use the term “pain in the arse”!
I generally just have diabetes. Unless, like @furrypaul , extra drama or attention from some form of authority is required. In which case I have a serious medical condition
I yell at the TV when it’s referred to as a disease. Complaint I can cope with. And, like @furrypaul and @alison I have a serious medical condition when extra attention is needed.
As a slight aside to this… Is it just me or does anyone else stumble slightly over the difference between *having* diabetes and *being* diabetic. I much prefer the former, but (if I ever get round to sorting out some new Medical ID) T1 Diabetic is much shorter!
I think it’s just wanting to distance myself from the whole stupidly annoying business, wanting it to bbe something ‘outside’ of me rather than something that I *am*
@furrypaul – that’s a very good question and something I’ve often thought about. Does one just get used to feeling “diabetic”? I was only diagnosed 5-and-a-bit years ago, so I had quite a lot of adult life without diabetes (though actually, looking back – I think I had it ‘mildly’ for years) so I think I can compare and contrast pre and post diagnosis moderately well.
Certainly I’ve got used to feeling high or recovering from lows in that it doesn’t really phase me any more; but I still feel “ill” if my BG is high for a long period of time (say I’m ill) or I have a horrible hypo. So – no – I don’t think I’ve become accustomed – I wonder what everyone else thinks?
@mike – another good point! I feel the same, oddly enough I don’t think of myself as being diabetic but I do have a chronic condition called diabetes!
It’s a subtle difference and something that’s quite hard to put my finger on. On one hand I’m very engaged with my diabetes and I – on the whole – look after myself pretty well as a result; but I don’t really think of myself as afflicted or struck down with it – I’m “outside” of it as you say. But it’s not denial about my diabetes, maybe just a distancing thing.
@mike Ah, the age old question. I tend to see myself as a diabetic because it isn’t an optional extra, it’s an integral part of me (and maybe because I don’t remember ever being anything but diabetic). But if talking to medics I tend to say I have diabetes – they have a nasty habit of seeing all diabetics as being the same, therefore I like to make the point that I’m a person with diabetes rather than just a walking disease.
So, are you _a_ diabetic, or are you _diabetic_ ? And is there a difference? I see _a_ diabetic as a definition, and _diabetic_ as a description – and I feel that I’d rather have a description than a definition. (I’m a proof reader. The semantics of the English language are infinitely fascinating…)
I’m always diabetic, that’s an indisputable fact. I’m happily “a diabetic” if talking about myself, but not when referred to as such by medics or idiots lacking general knowledge of the condition eg all diabetics should do x.
Everything has become clear, I’m definately diabetic/a diabetic with diabetes which is a chronic and serious medical condition/disease/disorder/complaint/ailment/illness/malady/affliction……..
That is a good point, is feeling well with diabetes the same as feeling well without it. Being diagnosed in 1978 I just can’t quite recall my care free childhood days pre insulin.
I dont see that feeling well with diabetes should be any different to feeling well without diabetes. If you feel well, you feel well (in your own mind/body). I dont remember not having diabetes, but I see no reason that when I feel well, I shouldnt think that I feel as good as the next person. After all, ‘well’ is a relative term, and everyone’s version of it is different.