Let me start with the winnings of the day:
Parent magazine
BRAVO to you! You wrote a very informative article about type 1 diabetes. It is a good day when you can read something about diabetes and don't want to rip up the pages. Very well done Parent magazine this mother of a child who has type 1 diabetes thanks you!! People need to know that truth about diabetes.
Loser of the day:
Chelsea Handler and writers at the new show Are you there Chelsea?
We DVR our shows because 1. we hate commercial and 2. well mostly because, we HATE commercials.
side note: I was going to leave this alone diabetes jokes and all but as I lied in bed I became more and more aggregated. I just don't get it?
Last night was the night we decided to have a look at the new show Are you there Chelsea on NBC. I already was not really enjoying myself, it had it's OK smile moments but honestly I was not laughing my ass off at the t.v liked I had hoped.
I like Chelsea Handler and her sense of humor and I was willing to give this show the chance I thought it deserved UNTIL Chelsea and her writer's thought diabetes was an appropriate punch line to their discussing jokes. They opened up the laugh fest with the very original joke about eating cupcakes and getting diabetes...so clever! Oh but wait folks they did not stop there, right after that hilarious thigh slapper they continued with... but she's OK because they caught it early and she only lost 1 foot. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!
Update: I flubbed the words after watching a clip from the episode they said that they caught it early and she still has both her feet.
First off dear Chelsea and writers unfortunately the diabetes jokes are getting old, they are way over done and quite frankly I think (hope) people are sick and tried of them. I thought you had more talent then that.
And secondly I really don't understand how diabetes is a funny topic and deemed OK to joke about. If ever someone said ya my best friend has breast cancer but it's OK they caught it early so she was able to keep both her breast...hahah her husband is happy...UMMM, ya not funny!! And EVERYONE would be offended not just people affected by breast cancer.
So what is it about diabetes that is just so DAMN FUNNY (a bit of a re-post)??
Is it watching people holding your child down as they scream out in pain, yelling at you to make them stop as nurses and doctors try to hook them up to life saving IV drips, taking constant blood sugar checks and blood draws because at any moment your child could seize or worse.
Would that be funny?
Is it the realization that life as you knew it is done and a new way of living will have to be mastered in ordered for your child to thrive and grow? Would that be funny to you?
Maybe it's the constant worrying, the constant stress knowing that this is all up to you to keep your child alive, the minute by minute second guessing, are you doing this right? did you count the carbohydrates right? have you administered the perfect amount of insulin dose?
Well does that seem funny to you?
Or maybe when you see your child lying lifeless on the floor and can't get up due to a low blood sugar, would that cause a smile to cross your face?
Would it make you happy to know the damage that is occurring due to high blood sugar in your child's body on a daily bases?
Would you find it funny if the medicine that kept your child alive could in an instant cause their death? No, I guess that is not too funny either.
Is it the fact that at night I can't even enjoy watching a movie without the ever growing thoughts to go check my child to ensure she is still breathing? The fact that all you want for your child is to be safe and healthy and no matter how hard you try you can't promise them that. The fact that in order for your child to live you have to cause them pain multiple times on a daily basis, tear are shed, sadness is shared. Is it funny that my child has been in the hospital more times then I can count. Please answer me...is that funny to you?
Would it be funny to you that a single cold or illness could send your child to the ER?
NO... then what is just so funny? Is it the thought of losing a limb due to your disease because that seems to be a really funny joke people like to share. What is it about diabetes that people just don't seem to understand the seriousness, the destruction that this disease can and does bring?
Is it funny that my child has to bleed 10-12 times a day, is it a joke that her fingers are rough and full of holes. Well maybe it was the 5 shots of life saving insulin that my child got or the now site changes every 3 days that she need to change her insulin in her insulin pump. Or maybe the thought of heart attacks, blindness, stoke, seizures, nerve and kidney damage, and even death...well those are not so funny, I guess?
Maybe it's just the pure fact that my daughter and so many other people and children get to walk this earth with their disease as a constant punch line breading more misconceptions and confusion causing people to believe that she or I cause this, or reinforcing the very wrong belief that she deserves this disease. Maybe you don't understand but because of your "JOKES" people believe its my daughters fault that she developed type 1 diabetes which by the way is completely false. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease but you don't care about that because that's not very funny is it? People don't see the need to help find a cure when they think all my daughter needs to do is get up off her ass and walk around the block to find the cure. People don't see the need in implementing supports in schools for kids with diabetes because it's not a "BIG DEAL" it's just a joke after all...RIGHT?!?!
Is it funny that she will be judged and may feel ashamed for the rest of her life because of your joking? I personally don't find that funny at all!
Can someone please tell me what the hell is just so funny about diabetes that this disease is not taken seriously at all. Misconceptions are shared within jokes, misinformed people are featured on popular t.v. talk shows spreading this crap to the masses. Magazines publish lies and people make money off of spreading false hope and lies.
Does the hurt and sadness and loneliness people feel when dealing with this disease make you smile?
I'm confused....I think I missed the punch line. Can someone please explain it to me.
Chelsea are you there?
8 comments:
i agree with you Nic but i think letting it get to you that much is affecting you more than it ever will someone who is trying to make money off of something that they think is funny. until they are in the shoes of someone like you or god forbid Cara then i dont think they will ever get it! we would all love to change the way people in this f'ed up world but unfortunatly people are ignorant!
That's very odd that Chelsea did that. Her humor is often very crude but she is friends with Mary McCormick whose husband has Type 1. She has even helped her raise money for research. So sad that there is a disconnect there for her. I wonder if she would make those jokes directly to Mary or her husband.
How awful... i would have been mad hearing that too.
BTW, Happy birthday, my dear fellow Canadian! I would have emailed you, but a few months ago I lost all my contacts. Hope you had a great one!
parent magazine did do an awesome job! The other show, blech, I am with you - but then again I think too many shows take low blows at a variety of arenas that I feel are completely inappropriate - but you're right, they'd never joke about breast cancer like that...which is interesting because most people don't die from breast cancer and few people get breast cancer that diabetes, so hmm....maybe they need a new writer or two on that show, one with brains!
It is a bad topic to joke on but she does support the JDRF which I love. It's just a show that is out to make money and I'm disappointed with it.
My 14-year-old daughter has T1 and found your blog. This is very well written. I hope you don't mind me sharing this with others...
I am more concerned about the children's shows. "Everybody Hates Chris" has made jokes about diabetes, Miley Cyrus, in fact, most of the Disney and Nick shows have made negative comments. The topic has come up routinely on shows geared for children. Each time, a "joke" linking eating too much sugar or sweets causing diabetes. When children are the audience, writers must be made aware that most children have Type 1 or Juvenile Diabetes, not Type 2. And that these "jokes" cause more pain to our kids. The jokes are lame; not funny at all, so don't see a purpose to them. Perhaps they are aimed at the Prediabetic or Type 2 teens or obese children. Obese children are tormented enough; they don't need shows they and their friends watch to add more fuel to the fire. These comments hurt both Type 1 and Type 2 children. Maybe post the info on line and lets start a letter campaign. Keep track and keep writing until they stop.
Thank you for your comment. Here is a facebook page that has been started to let NBC know how people feel on this subject. Please feel free to join https://www.facebook.com/pages/NBC-346-Million-People-Deserve-An-Apology/210826292341284
Also people are posting their thoughts on the Are You There Chelsea facebook page as well as writing NBC letters.
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