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Comment by ping00 | Hacker News Reader

I just wanted to add that your writing style is wonderful and that this was a pleasure to read.

Incidentally, I work in pentesting, and one of my colleagues has Type 1 Diabetes; your overview of it and its resultant complexities really made me empathize with what challenges he has to surmount daily while still being one of the nicest, most approachable people in our team.

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Yes... you can lead a normal life with diabetes (you can even be a top level tennis player - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Zverev#Personal_life), but this article really made me appreciate the level of self-discipline it takes to do that.

There's also an all-diabetic pro-cycling team: https://www.teamnovonordisk.com/

Several NFL players play/have played with Type 1.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sportspeople_with_diab...

Thanks so much for the kind words :)

also incidentally, pentesting as in testing diabetes pens may partially be done with pentesting as in testing with pen and paper. is it, though?

and then there is penetration testing as in trying to break into things. is that what you do?

sigh

Your employer must be good then. Lots of companies don't hire and fire sick employees. Actually it's generally advised not to share one's medeical information at workplace.

I even read recently about the case of a worker who wasn't promoted despite everyone else expected him to be promoted. His sin ? He told briefly one of his colleagues that his car got stuck and he was tired of fixing it every now and then.

The promotion involves commuting for a certain distance. His manager told him he would have promoted him but he heard his car was not fit.

Difficult to hide your diabetes when you wear a sensor on your arm and have to inject insulin throughout the day

Actually, the sensor is super easy to hide (especially with long sleeves) and injecting is also quite discreet these days. I've seen injectors that are about the size of a marker or a wireless earbuds case. It's easy enough to go to the bathroom right before lunch or when you get an notification on your phone.

I'm not diabetic but I'm pretty sure what you describe would cause a lot of stress, especially if you don't want anybody in the office to find out... "hey you have a small bladder maybe?" Stress has an impact on sugar levels, making it harder to regulate. If you think knowing of the medical condition is bad for your career at your current employer, maybe it is better to switch employers.

In Germany, depending on the type and seriousness of your diabetes, you can get officially recognized as handicapped, and companies above a certain size (20 employees) are obligated to have a certain number of handicapped employees - so an employee who is handicapped, but can work (more or less) the same as a normal employee is actually a win-win situation.

At my office I'm one of the more valuable employees, being diabetic type 1 or not, and my managers know that :)

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