Starting a new job and having Type1 diabetes can often lead to serious awkwardness…

WRITTEN BY-JANINE LEVERIDGE

Now, I’m not going to lie… Type1 Diabetes is sometimes hard and I’m about to get really real with you. I am going to let you in on this diabetics’ small mishap at work last week. I was working at the Midnight Oil concert in Sydney’s Domain Park last Friday night, just behind the bar. I had not worked for this event company before, but have worked at events like this before, and in hospitality for years. I came straight from working at my day job from 8am-3pm and raced into the city for a 4pm start time in the city. I had eaten a large pasta for lunch followed by some 2 minute noodles at around 2:30pm, as I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat dinner. I had some food in my bag for just in case and also for afterwards- due to finish at 10pm.

When I got to the shift there was a big kafuffle trying to get in to the grounds and find the right bar that I was to be working at. In the big rush of it all, I never even thought to let any of the supervisors know that I have Type1 Diabetes before the gates opened and we were already serving. It wasn’t until around 6pm that I started to feel my blood sugars were dropping, but just pushed on as we were getting slammed with customers. By 7pm, my mouth was tingling and I was feeling well and truly in hypo, (low blood sugar levels) however, I still didn’t stop working. Shortly afterwards my vision was blurry and I was actually struggling quite a lot to open drinks, but again, did not stop. All I did was put on a temporary rate on my pump to -50% basal. The hypo symptoms continued through to around 9pm and then started to subside and I managed through until my finish time of 9:45pm when I then ate. Now, it is only upon reflection when I think about why I did this.

In hindsight, I can see how VERY stupid this was but here is what I learnt from this experience.

• I should have told the shift supervisors that I have Type1 Diabetes, regardless of how busy it was, at the start of the shift

• I felt under pressure being my first shift for that company to not show any sign of ‘weakness’, thinking that having to stop work to go out the back to my bag, to then eat, meanwhile the bar was very busy, would be seen negatively or as ‘lazy’

• For all other staff in that bars’ safety, and my own, I should have treated this hypo straight away

What I find interesting is thinking about the deeper why. Why didn’t I treat this hypo when I felt it coming along or getting worse, and why did I let it get to a point where I couldn’t even see straight? Well, I feel that perhaps there is not a general understanding of what Type 1 Diabetes is. This view might be totally wrong, but sometimes when someone finds out that I am diabetic, they still have no idea what that is, followed by a response of “but you’re so sporty” or “you’re not fat?”. So I worry that this might be same with a supervisor in a new job, who might not fully understand what you are on about when you say “I’m having a hypo” or “I need to eat”. I fear the judgement. I fear that maybe even if they do understand what diabetes is, by being hypo, I may be thought of as ‘not having it under control’ or having not being properly prepared. I fear the idea that (especially in a first shift) that it may look like you are just being super lazy. Just chilling out the back and eating while the rest of the staff are out front getting slammed with customers, might not be the best look to some.

So although I was lucky that I didn’t have an even more severe hypo, I have learnt a lot from this experience and have uncovered some deeper thoughts and feelings that I have about being a diabetic and having occasional problems with this disease.