[lovebug0021]

I am 17 years old... and I dropped out of school because people picked on me for having diabetes... I was diagnosed on April 9th 2004 and after kids were picking on me for a while... I stopped taking care of myself. I got to the point where I ended up in the I.C.U. for 4 days and was on the regular floor for 2 days... I had DKA diabetic keto asidosis... which is extremely bad it was the first time I have ever had that and it was scary... and now I just want to take better care of myself... and I'm having a hard time with it... it seems everywhere I go people pick on me which makes me give up... I am supposed to check my blood sugar 4 to 8 times a day... and for some reason I just can't get into a routine of this... can anyone give me advice?

[ISneezeFunny]

I'm wondering... what do people pick on you about? I mean... diabetes isn't really that funny of a condition. What do they make fun of you for?

[Fr_Chuck]

Yes, stop making excuses and blaming others.

So a few kids may have said something, so what, first you take care of your conidion, and then go back to school.

[lovebug0021]

Well... there are a handful of things but here are just a few of them... one girl had told me that she was going to shove pixie sticks down my throat to kill me... and another girl told my boyfriend to put peer sugar in my drink so I would die... I don't understand why kids are so cruel... but some other kids don't like me because of my diabetes like they make jokes that if they go around me they'll catch it like it is some kind of std... my boyfriend is having a really hard time dealing with the fact that kids are this cruel and I start to blame the reason I have this on me because I feel like I could have prevented it...

[ISneezeFunny]

... these things are jokes right? I mean... they're obviously being quite blunt about it, and therefore, meant for you to take them as a joke. And at the age of 17, you should be able to take these as jokes... if not, then tell them that it's not funny anymore.

Funny thing is, at the age of 17... playing the "cootie game" with diabetes is a bit immature. Make some new friends who actually have lives.

What fr_chuck is trying to say is... don't be stupid. Your health comes first... before anything. Before what your friends say, even what your boyfriend says. It's irresponsible and immature to not take care of your own body just because some kids make fun of you. Start acting your age... shrug off the stupid comments made by your peers and take care of yourself.

Here's a story for you. Let's say there's a high school student... she didn't want to get pregnant, so she got on the birth control pill. With the birth control pill, you have to take it every day at a certain window of time. She picked a bad time... during lunch time. Her friends started to make fun of her, so she stopped taking it. She got pregnant. What would you say to that girl? Don't you think that's a pretty stupid reason to get pregnant?

[Fr_Chuck]

And as I said, so some people are talking about you, just get other friends and don't talk to those types of people. Part of growing up and at 17 you should be getting close to understand what others says don't mean a thing,