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At your most recent (or current) job, did you tell your coworkers that you live with T1D?
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I said “Other”, as I was diagnosed after I retired (age 72).
Diagnosed 26 years ago, recruited to 4 different jobs afterwards with health insurance as a carrot (less payments for insurance). I’m not bashful, made a point to not be handicapped in anyway, and “forgiving” if someone was foolish enough to try. Carried sweetened drinks into crawlspaces and attics (I imagined going low in confined spaces made me nervous), and joked with a co-worker to drag me out by my feet as I was in a hole if I yelled weirdly.
With a pump/CGM people know something’s up.
NEVER!!! Under no circumstance would I EVER reveal my health status to them. I would never reveal something so intimate, so personal to them. Their psychiatric/sexual health is none of my business, why would trust or share something this personal with total strangers, people never worthy of my trust.
Wow sorry you seem to work in a hostile workplace. I always felt someone should know in case of a serious low.
Nearly everyone I work with knows I’m diabetic. Half of them have seen either my pump or my meter at one point or another. If they walk in on me checking my sugar, they let me have a minute or so to finish, and then we go about our business. No one looks twice at it. I don’t hide it anymore, and if something were to happen on the job, I don’t want to be surrounded by people panicking because they don’t know what to do.
Yes and at two of them I had coworkers who were Type 1 Diabetes and diagnosed as adults just like me!
I started my last job in 2000, back when I was still on R/NPH MDI. With that regimen you absolutely had to eat to the clock, and even at that it wasn’t super predictable. So having people I worked with know about it was a safety thing, as well as practical stuff like not scheduling meetings at noon if I could avoid it. By the time I went on to better regimens where it might have been less critical it was already embedded as part of my work identity.
Yes and when one of them became T1D, I became a resource for him.
I told them when they asked about seeing my pump. Back in the day the kids at the school I taught thought it was a pager! I would just say it’s not. I prefer to “reveal” my status only when necessary, or with close friends. I’ve never run into any issues once revealed. Everyone in my experience has been very respectful, and never made any big deal about it.
I work from home and work via email and Zoom; my T1D doesn’t come up during those conversations. None of my clients know, but my partner and my only co-worker who live/ work in the same house as me, they do know. Only one board member knows because we are close friends.
I do not hide my T1D and try to educate people on the disease. Most have no concept of the different types of diabetes. Then they tell me not to eat certain things lol
I’m retired now but I let the fitness instructors at the YMCA, the bike club leaders, race directors, and friends know that I am type 1 diabetic.
Yes, all my coworkers know. I don’t hide my T1D life. I was told by management that I could not test my BG at work unless I was in the restroom stall. Testing isn’t an issue now with my pump.
Oh yeah, the fingerstick prohibit! I had one department head who thought I would be spreading blood-borne diseases. Fortunately, one of his favorite employees (a young man who was “gonna go far, fast) overheard the dept head scolding me. The young man piped in askig if employees should limit their papercuts to the restroom. Loved that young man.
At my last job, I didn’t know I had T1 LADA.
All of my coworkers know, and they also know where my supplies are to treat lows. I have never needed any outside interventions in the 30 years of having T1D
As a bedside RN, I let those on my shift and that I worked most with, know. Not only for myself but my patients. I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if I unintentionally harmed someone because of a low sugar.
Not me, but a coworker let me know she was hypoglycemic. I asked her what her preferred treatment was and always kept a stock in my desk. My wife is Type 1 and I am comfortable in treating her lows.
I tell everyone, but only after I’m on the insurance.
I have always been very open about being a T1D. I’m not ashamed, embarrassed or feel less than because of this dumb disease. I have educated 100’s of people over the years. Many are very appreciative to learn about the difference between T1D and T2D.
I am retired. I have not kept my T1D secret from employers, family, friends. . . .it has led to interesting and educational interactions.
I notified my supervisor and the Department Manager.
I wore my pump and, if asked, I told them what it was.
Even as a pre-teen, I reasoned that it was better to broach the subject, rather than wait until I needed help, since trying to explain it when lo would probably be garbled and confusing. I never needed that kind of help, but I was much more comfortable knowing that my friends understood what I was up to with my snacks, etc.
I’m a fitness instructor who wears her Dexcom on her arm. They know and sometimes will ask about it.
I am unable to work currently but when I did I told all my co-workers
My last job was with a large city Fire-Rescue and EMS dept. With my colleagues being EMT’s and paramedics, I was open about it. I eventually was able to have impact on their training (such has how to turn pumps off, keep them clipped securely to the clothing so it doesn’t fall off the gurney during transport, not pulling the infusion set off – the patient can’t resume insulin delivery when they are able to – hospitals don’t have infusion sets to share). One of my fondest work-related/T1D memories was on a response where the patient was newly Dx’d with T1D and his wife was overwhelmed with worry and fear. My colleague pointed at me and said “she has T1D, and it hasn’t stopped her”.
I retired from my teaching job in 1997. My coworkers knew much less about diabetes then than they would now.
I left the pig in the poke. No reason to reveal my diabetes then, except for people I was with every day.
YES! Always. I told all of my immediate coworkers, including my supervisor. Because I worked in a large facility with over 500 employees, and I was one of the top administrators of the facility. I walked around the facility everyday, and shared my information about T1D with as many employees as possible. I’ve never been shy about sharing information about T1D with others. I go out of my way to talk with others.
I worked with hundreds of people so even if I told 20 people, I considered that a few. I wish I had mentioned my diabetes to one coworker as he died from which I believe was a diabetic coma due to low blood sugar. If I had known he was diabetic and living alone, I would have told him to call me every day just so I could keep an eye on him to make sure he was okay. Maybe I could have saved his life. 🙁
I talk about it all the time.
In fact, just last Thursday, I had to leave work early because my pump occluded and I didn’t have a spare infusion set on me.
When I talk about it, though, I mostly just get blank looks.
I wear a pump. It is not exactly a secret, and never has been since I started a pump in 1982…
I Worked Tech Support from home so I Notified HR of the possibilities and I’ve Shared with Coworkers during slow times
I claim a disability and have (at my current position) had to get a Reasonable Accommodation (due to not giving out FMLA or intermittent short leave) for my first year of employment. I had a question about a disability code and the trainer had let me know she had diabetes also. So, I guess it was just sharing information on a common health issue.
I did not have LADA when I was working.