injecting insulin in the head (toilet)

I saw a sad sight when I was leaving the Men's Room at the local IHOP this morning: a Father and Son were standing in front of the sinks. The Father was holding a insulin pen and was about to inject the boy. He said something that finished with "let the insulin work properly". The boy was in his early teens and much calmer than his Father. I watched the Father give his son insulin in the right bicep and I can understand why they did this in the "privacy" of the Men's Room.An injection at a table would have drawn unwanted attention and might upset other diners; as it was, it got my attention as I was leaving. (I still wonder what the boy could have done that would prevent the insulin from "doing it's work properly"?)

 

I fear he also makes the boy check his blood sugar in the Men's Room, which is too dirty a place for something as potentially dangerous as blood testing. The boy should be allowed to test at the dining table (screw the other customers if they are offended) or find some private table. Regardless, he should not blood test in a toilet room.  In fact, his parents should have quietly rigged the insulin pen and let the boy give himself a shot in the belly at the dining room table. He should not care if the other customers are offended!  (Perhaps the boy simply could not inject himself and needed the help? There were times when my Father and my youngest brother could not bring themselves to inject with the huge needles common in the 1980s and 1990s.)

 

I will admit it took me a long time to get used to openly checking my blood sugar at work and I am still successful in fending off the insulin needle! To be candid, I don't know if I would be any more sanguine about openly injecting insulin.  

 

It helps that I have a co-worker who openly test her blood and injects at the kitchen table at lunch. I know other diabetics who inject at the table and this simply is not a big deal. I am willing to put off finding out for myself!

As I have commented in one of the American Diabetic Association talk pages, diabetics are simply too secretive about their condition.