I was innocently hiking in Arches National Park with my family last weekend, when I overheard an interesting conversation. A woman walking by in the opposite direction was saying (I honestly did not notice to whom she was talking, I just heard these words as they passed by): “and then they get diagnosed with diabetes and then they start getting amputations.”
My husband looked at me to see my reaction – I believe he honestly thought I would turn around, chase the woman down and explain a few things to her. But I did not. Instead I let it stew in my head for a few days. I was reminded of a patient who once told me upon being diagnosed with diabetes what he knew about diabetes up to that point: “you poke yourself thousands of times and then you die.” I did help this gentleman to gain a different (more positive) perspective.
The more we know about diabetes, the more we still have to learn and teach others, it seems. There are so many misconceptions out there. Complications are not inevitable. We can help ourselves and each other to successfully manage diabetes by sharing accurate information. Maybe I should have chased that woman down. Hopefully someone else will.
What misconceptions have you heard? Did you clear it/them up on the spot?