Diabetes Isn’t Even That Bad


 2016-11-14

Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared on thediabeticblondie tumblr


Let me tell you why the statement above is a load of crap.

1. Our bodies are waging war against themselves.

2. It takes us longer to heal when we get hurt and it takes us longer to recover from illnesses because our immune system is jacked.

3. We could die at any moment without warning.

4. Low blood sugars feel like you’re going through drug withdrawals.

5. High blood sugars feel like your body is drying out like a raisin.

6. Afraid of needles? Well tough! We need to prick our fingers more than three times a day, and either pierce yourself every three days for a pump site change or take more than four injections everyday.

7. Our organs are slowly failing.

8. We have a high chance of going blind.

9. We could lose our feet and legs

10. Insulin is crazy expensive.

11. Testing strips are crazy expensive.

12. The constant highs and lows drain us.

13. We can’t just eat food right away. We need need to calculate how many grams of carbohydrates are in our food, test our blood sugar, configure in a correction if need be, dose and by the time we take our first bite; everyone else have already finished.

14. Doctors are super expensive.

15. Pumps, meters and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) are really really expensive.

16. No one ever takes our illness seriously.

17. Having children is VERY risky for ladies with diabetes.

18. The constant fear we have when we go to sleep knowing that we might not ever wake up due to low blood sugars at night.

19. The bruises and scars all over our body from YEARS of injections, site changes and finger pricks.

20. How our feet and hands are always freezing due to our poor circulation.

So tell me again how my suffering “isn’t that bad”. Make another joke about the worst thing that has probably ever happened to us. Laugh again when you say, “All of this food is going to give me di-ah-beet-us.” So just think about that next time you want to say something about diabetes.


WRITTEN BY Erica Rogness, POSTED 11/14/16, UPDATED 07/31/23

Erica Rogness is 23 and had been living with diabetes since she was 9 years old. She runs a tumblr called “thediabeticblondie” dedicated to bringing people with diabetes together, helping each other out, giving advice or support and getting thoughts out that other people with diabetes can relate to!