26 Comments
Has a stranger ever approached you to talk about your visible diabetes device(s)?
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Ā© 2022 T1D Exchange. All Rights Reserved.
I was shopping at Costco and a woman approached me. She asked if she could ask me something personal. I said okay. She then pointed at the tubing at my waistband and asked if it was to an insulin pump. I told her it was. She went on to explain that her son was diagnosed at a young age and had just started pumping. He noticed my tube and told her I had a pump like his. She told him she didn’t think so, but he insisted that she ask me. Well, he was right!
I told her that I was diagnosed when I was 2 1/2 years old (her son was 3) and had been living with diabetes for several decades. She told me I had given her great hope for his future. š
I’m glad you asked this because this is a very fond memory for me!
I wear a CGM but it is normally covered by my clothing, only occasionally visible on my upper arm.
I was in a restaurant and got up to leave and this teenager ran up to me and said: is that an insulin pump very excitedly. I said yes and he said he just got his and did I like mine. I told him it was a game changer and I loved it. He was too cute. Like the person below, it is a fond memory. Iāve approached a couple of people. One young man I did not because he was with a group of friends at a bar and I didnāt want to interrupt. I like talking to others about it.
I answered āotherā as strangers havenāt asked, but people that are part of a large group of acquaintances often do. They arenāt āt strangers, but less than friends. I have encouraged many grandparents to get their grandchildren pumping.
Often when I have the G6 on my arm people say, oh my son has one, or how do you like it.
When walking in my neighborhood, a gentleman called out, as I passed by, āIs that a thing for your blood sugar?ā My Dexcom was on the back of my arm at the time. He had seen a commercial on TV about CGMS and was excited to see one in person!
My pump is visible only briefly if I’m entering a bolus and the same goes for my G6 receiver whenever I check my levels. I do attract attention if starts beeping, in which case I tell curious strangers that I’m backing up.
I have always worn my pump out in the open where it is easily visible. I want people to know that I am diabetic in case I need help. Anyway, yes, I’ve been approached a few times. Occasionally, a person might ask, and I am eager to have a discussion about my pump. One occasion, I was asked at a pool by two persons. They said that their granddaughter was recently diagnosed and just started on a pump. Those folks became two of my now closest friends. Another time, I was at another pool, and a woman called over to her son who was in the pool, “Hey, you have a friend with a device like yours.” At the time, he was wearing an Omnipod, I was wearing a Medtronic pump. We had a nice discussion about the similarities and differences between our pumps.
I love to talk to people about my pump.
Iāve never been approached because I hide everything but I have approached other people wearing diabetes devices to chat with them.
I live in Florida and wear my DexG6 on my upper arm. Because of the heat, I don’t scruple about wearing sleeveless blouses. As I was leaving the Publix Supermarket checkout clerk, yesterday, the clerk commented, “Hey, I have a Dexcom too!”.
One time it even led to a new friendship!
I answered no but should have answered that my device isn’t (usually) visible. Libre2 on the tricep so it normally can’t be seen.
We were dining in a Bob Evans restaurant and I was bolusing for dinner. A nearby customer came over and asked about the pump
YES, not only asked but touched. An older gentleman in an elevator started rubbing his finger on my dex located on my arm. I was very uncomfortable at the time, he asked me what it was. Thank Goodness I was getting off on the 2nd floor!!
All the time! Most of the time I wear my pump hidden inside or under clothing, but I wear my Dexcom G6 on my arm right out in the open. It always leads me to taking about my pump and telling them how the two connect up with each other and how itās changed my life. Iāve even had physicians ask me about it when they see one because most of the donāt deal with diabetes. It never hurts to eaducate someone.
Iām usually wearing several layers of clothes in this part of the US, so devices are rarely visible. When the are, I have had a few people approach me, but the majority are other T1Ds, rather than curious strangers.
I donāt try to hide them, if they show, they show. I donāt get questioned often, but try to take advantage of any question to educate. On a recent cruise, a lady next to me asked; she turned out to be T2, gut wasnāt aware (despite Dexcomās ads) about CGMs. I explained the various types/makers as well as how I was using Loop to integrate my CGM and Omni Dash to work together better and more automated.
All the time.
Back in the paleolithic period when CGMās werenāt invented, pump usage was rare, and Southwest Airlines was a little puddle jumper of an airline, I stayed seated between flights while whipping out my glucometer to test BG. The young stewardess busy cleaning up between flights stopped to ask what the number was? Then she pulled out her glucometer just to show me she had one.
I thought, āWhat a great company. They hired her for one of the most difficult jobs in the world and she was showing a kindred spirit with one of them.ā ( Ķ”āāÆĶŹ Ķ”ā)ā
Yes/no. I was at a breakfast buffet at a hotel when I was approached by a lady who asked if she could pray for me. I said yes and I stopped and she began her prayer. I later figured out that I was wearing my Omnipod on my arm and it looks just like the cancer āafter chemo next day shotā that she must have assumed I had cancer.
I am someone who asks others about their tattoos and their devices. I want to know if they like what they have and what they suggest.
Most people canāt believe Iām still using a pagerā¦
So far only other PWDs who are also wearing a device in a nod of solidarity, or a person w/o diabetes and other PWDs who ask if I like wearing wearing it and to describe the pros and cons between the device (pump &/or cgm) as opposed to injections and finger prick testing.
I have been asked if Pagers were still being used. Had a good laugh.
“Oh! You have one too.” Then usually waits for a response.
Many times but like others it is usually someone who has T1D or has a friend-relative-child w diabetes. Often in airports- I see lots of DM devices there. I find it contributes to a sense of community. Once someone in church thought I had cancer – and said she would pray for me…