I don't make any efforts to hide my diabetes. I don't just throw it out into the open though, either. My pump lives on my belt, so you don't normally see it unless I pull it out to bolus. I don't test in public a whole lot, because the time I would [ie school] I don't actually test at all.
So how do people know I have diabetes? Inevitably I will eat something, and out the pump comes. I don't mind explaining the whole thing, but I don't always feel like being forced to explain what that is (I've only had it referred to as a pager once :P ) or why etc.
What's kind of funny is that when I get the 'you have 20u or less' message, I clip my pump on my pocket, so when I run into walls and stuff with it, I remember that I need to change it soon. So that's one of the reasons it doesn't live there all the time.
Apparently I do my arm sites fairly high up on my arm as well. I dunno, I just put them where I recall the most shots having occurred. So you don't normally see those either, because I'm hiding my horrible farmer's tan and/or pasty white vampire skin.
In the end, I suppose my most visible sign is my fingers. I always have the little black stab marks on my left hand, and I pick at them. I peel off the skin, to get the marks to go away, and end up pulling off enough to get to the raw skin, sometimes making it bleed. That's my biggest problem, over nine years with diabetes, picking off the scabby/pokey skin bits.
And recently the adhesive residue from the IV 3000 things that I use to make the Dex last two weeks without potentially falling off. I just have to ask for some of those adhesive remover wipes...
Next week, [or next post, whenever that happens] read about my research into the TSA's flight regulations in preparation for a solo trip to Texas... Oh joy?
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