Deciphering Diabetes Slang


I was at my friend's house yesterday, and I was wearing this shirt:



My friend's older sister (who didn't know that I have Type 1) read my shirt and was really confused. This made me realize that a lot of the things some of my diabetic friends and myself say about our supplies and condition is probably confusing to people who don't know that we have Type 1. So, to help the general public understand what we are talking about, this week's post is a key to help decipher our diabetes slang.

1. D-bag = diabetes bag

When I say diabetes bag, I'm referring to the bag I take everywhere with me that carries all of my diabetes supplies like my sugar tablets and insulin and test strips and stuff.



2.  Diaversary = diabetes anniversary

 Your diaversary is the anniversary of the day you were diagnosed with Type 1.



3. Diabesties = diabetic friends

 Friends you make who have Type 1 as well as you!



4. Poker = not a card game

 When a T1Diabetic refers to their 'poker', they are talking about the lancet needle that they use to prick their finger to test their blood sugar.



5. I'm low! = my blood sugar is low

 When we say that we're low, we don't mean that we're sad or feeling down, but that our blood sugar number is below 4 mmol/L.



6. Pod = not a pod of dolphins

 A pod is the name for the Omnipod insulin pump sensors, not a group of dolphins.



7. Shots = needles

When T1Diabetics talk about taking shots, they don't mean the kind that leave you feeling fuzzy and unable to drive. We are referring to NEEDLES! The kind that give us the insulin we need to survive.



8. Meter = not metric metres

Not a metric metre, but our BG meters! The ones that test our blood sugar numbers!



9. Gusher = not a candy

In Diabetes Land, gushers are not sweet chewy candies but old infusion sites that bleed slightly uncontrollably.



Thanks for reading this post of That Stupid Pancreas!
If there are any questions/comments/concerns please don't hesitate to email about them here


Don't forget to check us out on Instagram here!

Or on Google+ here!


Do you want to get email notifications each time I post something new? Then become part of the family by clicking the subscribe button at the top of the page.


Till next time, Type 1 Warriors!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Interrelationships

Image
I'm taking Canadian Geography as a course this semester, and as well as the names and locations of thirty major rivers, water bodies, and islands, and the names of all the provinces and territories, another thing we're learning about is the concepts of geographic thinking. This week we are focusing on interrelationships (how one thing can have an effect on another thing basically). Things like how the movements of tectonic plates cause earthquakes and tsunamis and other natural disasters that cause destruction. How things are connected and how everything has an affect. "Now, Anne, you brilliantly beautiful Potterhead, why are you talking about geography class in your diabetes blog?" Well, my brilliantly beautiful readers, I am talking about geography and interrelationships because my A1C is tomorrow. I had actually completely forgotten about it, but my mom reminded me and I naturally began to wonder what my result is going to be. I don't remember what my last...
Read more

A Little Bit Longer

Image
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WpPjdWTmS0 Did you know that Nick Jonas was diagnosed with type one diabetes at age 13? And that he wrote a song about it? The song is called A Little Bit Longer, and it's about life with type one. I've been listening to it for months (I know it's not a NEW song, but it's a GOOD song, and that's my kind of music so 😛) and I was thinking today about how it kind of applies to the situation of COVID-19 and how hard it's been on everyone in so many different ways.  The line that is repeated throughout the song is " A little bit longer, and I'll be fine. " In the context of life with type one diabetes, I've always taken it to mean just a little bit longer and we'll have a cure , just a little bit longer and I'll be back in range , just a little bit longer and people will understand , just a little bit longer and I'll be fine .  When you're diagnosed with type one, you're told tha...
Read more

JDRF's Kids For a Cure Lobby Day 2018

Image
** October 28th-30th, 2018, 28 delegates from across Canada went to Parliament Hill in Ottawa to meet with over one hundred MP's and Senators collectively for JDRF's Kids For a Cure Lobby Day. I had the wonderful opportunity of being one of the delegates from Toronto! It was a really great experience for me for a multitude of reasons, all of which I will be going over in this post! So sit back, grab some popcorn, and tell your family not to bother you for a while, as it's quite a long list. First off, let me explain a bit more about what Lobby Day is. One of the things we went to meet with Members of Parliament about was giving a huge thank-you for the government's multi-year commitment to fund Type 1 Diabetes research through the $30 million Partnership to Defeat Diabetes that was instituted in 2017. That's a lot of money, and every penny of it will be going towards research for an end to our condition, so thanking the government was a huge part of Lobby...
Read more