There are certain words that I think can certainly hurt and those are related to race, direct insults like fat, ugly, etc.
When it comes to diabetes, I may be in the minority here, but in a lot of circumstances my thoughts are this….. It’s just a word, get over it.
Take a second to look at the name of my site, do you think I care about the word diabetic? You can call me a person with diabetes, diabetic, or whatever else you choose. Diabetes is not all that I am, but it is a way to describe part of me. Just like if I went into a sports bar on a Sunday afternoon, I would be identified as an Eagles fan, not Chris, but as an Eagles fan.
If you prefer to be called one or the other, that’s great, I also don’t have anything against that… why? Because I respect everyone’s decision to like or dislike certain words.
Checking vs testing blood sugar is another one that doesn’t bother me. I understand that testing makes it sound like a pass or fail, but honestly, that is way overthinking it. It’s just a phrase. Once again, my own personal opinion and I respect the opinion of others who may not like the word.
I’m not one to deep dive analyze every single word. I don’t think into this stuff like that. There is way too much other crap in my life to worry about and stress over, that the simple choice of a few words is not one of them.
Another one that I see a lot of chatter about is patient vs consumer vs customer. Another one that I don’t care too much about but I see it this way. I am a patient of my doctor and healthcare team. I am a customer to an insurance company. And I am also a consumer and customer to supply companies. I am NOT patient of Novo Nordisk, Medtronic, Bayer, Roche, Lilly, etc.
However, if you want to call me a patient of these supply companies, it’s not really going to bother me. Like I said, I have family health problems, business problems, a 14 month old, and plenty of other battles to fight, like access.
When I have to go from paying $25 for a one month supply of insulin to $985 for that same one month supply because my insurance changed…..I don’t give a F&^# what the insurance company calls me. Much bigger issue to deal with.
Once again, I want to re-iterate. I have no problem with people who do not like these words. I am not saying that my way of thinking is the right way, it’s just the way that I think and handle things, that’s all. Fighting to eliminate usage of some of these words is just not something that I am passionate about, therefore, I don’t spend my time worrying about it.
I am all for finding your passion in advocacy and advocating the hell out of it.
So, if this is one of your advocacy passions, then fight on and I will support you as an advocate.