Borrow a Diabetic

Meet our diabetic human book as she shares her struggles and faced possible unemployment because of her disease.

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“They say you can’t die from diabetes, but only from the complications of it,” said the awfully cheerful nurse with a smile. Like it somehow, those words were supposed to be a source of comfort for a 15- year-old who just found out that her pancreas has just failed. I did not develop diabetes due to the excessive amount of sugar consumed nor was it a hereditary. The doctors were at a lost at finding the cause and when they finally concluded, it was an auto-immune disease.

I was crushed. It meant that the doctors themselves were at a lost to figuring what the cause of it was. Autoimmune disease was the easiest escape goat. Coming on the 8th year anniversary of having my life on a fixed regime dictated by my illness. I still feel the need to defend myself to the stereotypical behavior of absent minded people. My illness doesn’t define me.

As discriminating the following recollection may be, my internship supervisor did wake me up to the harsh reality that was awaiting my arrival. However, I wished he could have approached it in a better way. One day after informing my internship supervisor of my upcoming blood test. He sat me down and told me flat out, “I will never hire you, not because you are a horrible journalist but that you are a diabetic”. That was a harsh blow for an 18-year-old who thought she could conquer the world. He had me at,” I will never hire you……because you are a diabetic. He made me feel like a liability, and for the longest time, I felt like one.

All the research conducted didn’t help my cause. It still pointed me back to the awful truth. Many Malaysian diabetics would rather conceal the truth during job interviews than face unemployment. Though, laws have been put in place and the diabetic association fighting for the rights of diabetics around the country. Nothing will change until it creates a Moral panic among Malaysian. I personally think sharing my experience on the platform provided by the Human Library of Penang is a good place to begin.