I'm sitting here watching the Grey's Anatomy episode from this past week and a scene just came on that I'm not sure I like how they handled. This guy was having surgery to remove a kidney (because of a tumor on it) and the doctors noticed a cyst on his pancreas. When talking to his 'wife', the doctor said that they'd have to remove part of the pancreas, causing the patient to become diabetic. The doctor was asking the 'wife' if the patient had the support system to handle that tricky, complicated disease. That was not what I have a problem with. Diabetes is a tricky, complicated disease. My problem was that they (the doctors and 'wife') acted like death was comparable to living with diabetes. That diabetes was the most horrible way to live that people would rather die. Pssssshhhh... please.
Diabetes is a pain in the neck. It is a lot of work. It can be a lot of heartache. But, in no way, would I choose to die instead of living with diabetes. I just have to live a bit differently than most of you.
*The show did redeem itself a bit. When the patient was told that he would be an insulin dependent diabetic for the rest of his life, he didn't see it as a burden that he would rather die, instead of living with forever.
I saw the show too, and I took that part of it as a lesson for the "wife" more than anything else because I agree anything is better than death. However, the fact that the "wife" didn't know what the guy would want or how to contact his family or anything I believe was more the point than him living with diabetes. I think the doc wanted the "wife" to realize that marriage isn't just paperwork, or for insurance.
ReplyDeleteI understand the concept of what they were doing; it's just how diabetes get portrayed that bothers me. Kinda like the big Ricki Lake diabetes controversy (Slip up around the 1:20 mark). The one where she said juvenile diabetes (aka Type 1 diabetes) was preventable without explaining that she meant Type 2 Diabetes in children. Most people already think that diabetes in general is preventable.
ReplyDeleteBefore I continue my rant even further, I'm just going to say that, yes. I agree that the show pointed out the marriage is more than just paperwork as it should be.
So glad I'm not the only one who stopped in their tracks when watching this show! I'm not mad at the show I'm concerned like you are, that they're making diabetes look like a death sentence or something. And the thing is, maybe this would happen in real life. And I can't help but wonder if someone has died because a loved one didn't think that person would want to live with diabetes...yikes! Thanks for posting a comment on my site, I'm happy to discover yours! :)
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