The Bachelorette Type 1 Diabetic

I don’t watch the Bachelorette, but when I heard that one of the contestants on the show had diabetes, I felt it was my diabetic duty to check this guy out. Michael G, has Type 1 diabetes and wants to make sure that Des knows all about it. My boss is the person who mentioned it to me yesterday (of course for my blog) and then continued to say he didn’t like how Michael was making such a big deal about his diabetes. I simply explained that each diabetic has their own views on how important it is to them that the person they are dating about the disease.

I get all sides completely, I don’t even think there is a debate about it, I think it is more personal opinion over anything else. On one side you have the person who doesn’t like to tell people they have diabetes until it becomes necessary. I know this may sound weird, but I have heard some people worry that if they come out and tell the person right away they have diabetes it may feel like too much of a burden on the other person and could possibly end the relationship. So, instead of telling the person up front they wait it out.

Then you the people like me who tell their partner about it right away, but don’t make it a big deal. For my hubs and I he knew about my diabetes right away, but as our relationship progressed asked me how involved I wanted him to be with my disease. We had the conversation and now he knows when my numbers are low or high, but unless I ask for help, he knows I can handle it. It worked for us and now after being together for almost four years and married for three (I know we are still in the beginning) we go by the same rules.

And then there are the people who want the other person to be involved with their diabetes and to know everything about it. They want to tell them upfront because for them it’s a deal breaker in the relationship if the other person doesn’t want to be involved.

I actually read a great book (A Woman’s SmartGuide to Diabetes) with an entire chapter on this subject. So for those of you who may have thought Michael G was being a little dramatic I get it. But please consider this, all diabetics have to deal with this issue and all of us deal with it in our own ways. There isn’t a right one or a wrong one, we all just handle it a little bit different