…if there is a difference between making it a requirement to provide a private room, at the workplace, for a new mother to pump breast milk, and providing a similar private room in which a diabetic and inject his or her insulin?
Today’s Dear Abby column is devoted completely to the breastfeeding thing.
I knew about the existence of these “lactation rooms” at some workplaces, and I asked Mike if he knew if such a thing existed at his work. He said he didn’t know. He’s never lactated. I told him that if they did have such a room, then why can’t he ask that such a room be available for diabetics to have a private, clean place in which to inject their insulin?
Nursing mothers have bristled over the suggestion that they pump the milk in the restroom, and rightfully so. In my honest opinion, ladies’ rooms are often more filthy and gross than men’s rooms are (don’t ask me how I know this, I just do).
So this is why Mike is not too keen on sticking needles into himself in the men’s room at work, even if it is cleaner than the ladies’ room. Also, there is the fact that in a toilet stall, there is no clean place to put all of his stuff, he has the meter, test strips, needles, the insulin pen, and such.
In my last post, I said that he could opt to stick the needle in his arm or belly, but he really does not feel comfortable doing that…sticking it in his leg is easiest for him. And for that, he obviously has to pull his pants down. He works in a cube with no privacy, and even the higher-ups have no privacy. Even the office of the head honcho has GLASS WALLS. Sheesh!
Anyhoo…if I researched Massachusetts law about the breast-pumping rooms, and found out that they were required by law here…would that be a case for requiring Mike’s work to provide him with a private, clean, and otherwise suitable place to inject his insulin shortly before he eats his lunch? Wouldn’t that be a “reasonable accommodation” under the Americans With Disabilities Act?
I mean, pregnancy and breastfeeding is a CHOICE, but diabetes is not. It’s not like Mike woke up one day and decided that it would be fun to have diabetes, and have to stick himself with needles several times a day, checking blood sugar (which can actually be done in his cube, as it’s in the fingers) and injecting his insulin (which is where he needs some privacy).  So if the breastfeeding mother has a right to privacy when pumping, then Mike deserves the same rights when injecting.
It’s not like he is asking for a whole bunch more ddr memory for his work computer, so he can goof off and play video games…he just would like to be able to inject lunchtime insulin in a clean and private place.
Thoughts?
I don’t see any difference one way or the other. I think if one should have a room, so should the other. Your point about diabetes not being a choice is a valid one, and one that I understand as my husband is diabetic. He’s fortunately diet controlled so he doesn’t have this problem, but if he weren’t, I’d feel the say way you do.
I think the number concessions made for mothers is ridiculous as it is, this is just one thing to toss on an otherwise heaping pile of mommy-pandering. I understand the need for a clean room for pumping milk (even if I do find the idea of pumping one’s breasts for milk, like some sort of farm animal, repugnant), but diabetics need a clean environment in which to inject their insulin, too. I would certainly think that the men’s room is not the optimal environment.
I suppose it all stacks up to yes, I agree with you.
Kristyn’s last blog post..I want the weekend back!
Thank you! I say that if they do stuff like this for one group, why not for others? Especially those with a permanent illness that needs daily attention.
Mike used to be rather irresponsible with his diabetes, which landed him in the hospital for the first of four times this year. He had gotten to the point where he thought it was too much trouble to take insulin at all, and he ended up hospitalized with diabetic ketoacidosis. The further hospitalizations were not due to diabetes, but due to inferior care from his original primary care doc and hospital, which aggravated other health issues, such as his heart thing. This fourth time should be it for a ling time, we hope.
So he’s been home on disability and will be returning to work very soon. It’s easy enough at home (except for that one time when he took the fast-acting stuff and didn’t eat soon enough). And it was easier in the hospital when he had nurses giving it to him. But something needs to be done when he goes back to work, and I really want him to ask about this when he goes back. I’m just afraid that once he returns to work, he will return to his neglectful ways, and end up back in the hospital again.
I’ve started looking at diabetes boards and stuff, to find out how others hold down jobs and deal with this.
Thanks for your comment!