Conan O'Briens cheap shot at Diabetics...

I'll first start off with a small introduction. My name is John, I'm a father of a Type 1 Juvenile Diabetic. He was diagnosed with the disease when he was only 2 years old. It was a very tough time to get through the first couple of years between his blood sugars, adjusting his diet, and all the complications that come with a newly diagnosed child with diabetes. I remember having to hold him down while he was kicking and screaming to give him his shots when first had to. That is probably a memory that will haunt me forever as the most horrible thing I've ever had to go through as a parent. I'm sure some of you can relate to me if you are in the same situation. Stay strong, my son does great with checking his sugar and taking his shots.

That said. I got on YouTube yesterday morning as I usually do to check some stuff out. A regular Channel I tune in to was TeamCoCo. (Conan O'Briens channel). At the top of the list was this video --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUfI0QcLCk0&list=UUi7GJNg51C3jgmYTUwqoUXA&index=7&feature=plcp ...I was absolutely hurt and disgusted. Being a long time fan of Conan I've NEVER seen him take such a cheap shot at anyone with any kind of disease and I instantly left the video a comment. After that I called TBS themselves and left a voicemail. (I'm sure they'll never reply). I got back on my computer and emailed the channel themselves with my concerns. He was making it out like the only people who get diabetes are lazy, overweight, video game playing couch potatoes. As a father of a diabetic and an avid gamer myself I was insulted on both levels. Do any of you feel the same way as I do? Please feel free to reply back to this post with your thoughts, and even go to TBS's website and let them know how you feel. Leave comments on the video like I did. I'm not going to stop bugging them until I get an apology on national television from Conan HIMSELF. This issue needs to be addressed and it needs to be made clear that some people with diabetes couldn't prevent it, and definitely didn't choose to have the disease. Thank you for taking time to read, and please reply with your thoughts...

-JohnnyC

Firefallvaruna from YouTube here. :)  I'll also be writing myself, like you suggested.

In all honesty, I'm not sure it's going to do much good.

The big problem here is how Diabetes is perceived in our culture and society.  Many people only know the disease from their grandparents or from the obesity epidemic... that is, Type 2.  It's easier for people to think in a cause-effect relationship, rather than in a "this can happen completely at random and no one actually knows what the real trigger is because so many factors are involved."

For me, my mom's sister was diagnosed when she was 12.  I can tell you, my aunt and I have never been overweight a day in our lives -- she and I are both extremely petite women.  But that cause-effect thinking has prompted comments like "you must have been fat", "you must have been lazy", "mom fed you too much sugar", and a host of other comments others here will nod sagely at.

In the long run, it may take totally renaming Type 1 to something not "diabetes" to escape the stupidity and ignorance.

Thank you for your support, Sally. I truly appreciate it! And yes it is a big corporation but I'm not one to back down from a fight. I'm gonna do everything in, above and beyond my power to get an apology because we deserve one. I'm not diabetic myself but it has effected my life in a big way because I deal with my son's condition on a daily basis. Except for when he is staying at his mom's house. But that's another story. Thanks again Sally for following me here and I hope everything is going good for you. Feel free to keep in contact here or on YouTube...:O)

JohnnyC-

Commedians take shots at everybody.  Diabetes is so prevalent that it's a part of our culture.  Something like 95% of diabetics have type 2 and of those 80% are overweight.  

I wish people could treat type 2s with more respect and also that they didn't confuse type 1 and 2.  But I've been wishing that for most of the 35 years I've been diabetic.  I used to get mad like you are, but have since resigned myself that I will educate the people capable of learning more and forgive everyone else.  

Your son will live a long, healthy life with diabetes.  Along the way he will have yahoos telling him horror stories that have nothing to do with him.  It can be frustrating but it's just part of having diabetes.  

Take care.

-Jenna

Thats really painful...

Thanks Johnny, I have posted this in many places on Facebook. People are being denied making comments. Several have tried. People in other countries are not able to watch the video.

Here is a horridly offensive segment on diabetes from the TV show "The View" called "The Fat Show" it really makes my blood boil!!

I don’t understand why it’s okay to make fun of diabetics. How would my 12 year old daughter feel if she saw this (which I seriously hope won’t happen). Those of us with young kids have an even harder job because of these misconceptions, and because we are the ones who have to temper explaining the complications with helping them to understand the need to take good care of themselves. I know this was obviously aimed at type 2 – but the complications run both ways, and even if he’d stated type 2 it wouldn’t make this less offensive.

At the risk of being politically incorrect myself, would he have created a game around *** cancer, and made a joke and visual of a woman’s breasts falling off? How about childhood brain cancer? Why is my daughter’s disease funny, when no one would DARE to make a joke out of many others?

I know I'm in the minority, but I give Conan a pass because he's a comedian.  I don't get my medical information or expect an informative, compassionate discussion from his show.  

The View show is different because it features so called medical experts and actual diabetics (Paula Dean) giving confusing and misleading information about diabetes.  Even diabetes magazines and books typically do a terrible job of educating.  I'm a nursing student now and am shocked by the antiquated diabetes info that is taught in my classes.  So we shouldn't be surprised the general public is confused.  

As much as I hate it Michelle, I doubt you will be able to protect your daughter from insensitivity about diabetes.  Ignorance about it is rampant, even in the medical community.  But your daughter can live a good life and correct wrong information when she encounters it.  It's an issue that every diabetic has to deal with.  

Hi Jenn, it is always nice to read your replies. Thanks! I don't have any issue with your reply to this discussion, but I am concerned that the viewers of these comedy shows will take this misinformation seriously. They are hearng false statements about diabetes, all in fun, but many viewers may remember these falsehoods, and theik they are for real.

Here is something posted on Facebook about Conan's shows. An opportunity to get Conan and his staff to take notice, perhaps.

teamcoco.com/hahaifoundanerror

That's cool if others want to try to get Conan to correct.  I think it's a lost cause, but am wrong about plenty of things.

Do not post anything on Found and Error unless you want to be made fun of... Conan takes the most absurd videos and plays them on his show.  

Take care Richard.  You're the best.

-Jenna  

Thank you Richard and good job!

Thanks to everyone for their replies and support! Still trying to contact producers, network, pretty much anyone affiliated with Conan with no luck yet...I'm not as angry as I was on day 1 when I saw this video but I am still pretty upset about it.

sadly many people look at diabetes as only type 2.. when ever people r talking about diabetes they usually are talking about type 2, but they never clarify what type. so now everyone thinks diabetes is all about type 2's. i actually was shocked when i got into college and it was my 1st chemistry class and we had to tell one thing about ourselves. so i told my group i was diabetic. and the kid sitting across from me looked at me and said you must be type one. and i looked at him shocked and he said that i don't look like i would have type two. all i could do was smile at him.. i remember sitting through English 102 watching a video of food industries and them adding extra crap to the food (the class was a topic class) and i remember sitting watching the video and all of the people talking about diabetes and how this food causes diabetes and all this nonsense. it pissed me off to sit there and think you butt holes at talking about type 2 not type 1. i kept my mouth shut but i was pissed.. hopefully one day schools will actually teach students about diabetes and what it really is..

I can't really say this offended me. It's sad because most of the world sees people with diabetes as that image. Either that, or they see them as elderly people. This is why we have to educate the world on what diabetes really is. There are plenty of type 2 diabetics that are not overweight. I'm type 1 and 13 years old, do not game, 87 pounds and do not sit on the couch all day. It's honestly not their fault. What if you grew up and heard about something called "Yigalria" (completely made up by the way) and everyone always said they were overweight and had five feet instead of two. You'd probably believe it because you never heard any different. That's why we're here to change that. :)