twocute64001
04-25-2005, 10:02 AM
Hi my name is kATHI and I was diagnosed as diabetic at 7 years old, that was in 1962, 43 long years ago. Health care for a diabetic was very lacking back then, my parents were told I would never see my 21st birthday, and that I would get severe infections, lose my sight and become an invalid before I finished high school. We didn’t have glucose monitors back then to tell you how to adjust your insulin. Only doctors had such luxuries. Only doctors told you how much insulin you need each day, and when to take it, if due to what you ate, your insulin needs changed, there was no way to account for it. The needles were not the thin short needles we have today, they were big and thick and hurt like hades. I had to take 3 shots a day, it was something I feared and cried and begged my mom not to do.
That’s the way it was 43 years ago. Today I have an insulin pump which keeps my blood sugars around 95 to 110, (until Gall bladder then Graves disease struck) I still have my sight, a little worn for wear, but contacts fix any incorrect vision. I work in my greenhouse, swim in my pool and work a full time job. I have no time for infections or illness, I have a busy life.
How did I escape all the complications of diabetes, “GOOD PARENTS” My mom overprotected me and drove me nuts with all the right foods, warm clothing, and those horrible shots. My dad indulged me, he let me play baseball with the boys, let me play football with the boys, took me skating, even clapped as I won my first “free skate” contest, he bought me ice cream cones when the other kids had them, he bought me hot dogs at games, cleaned and bandaged my bloody scraped knees so my mom would not know and worry, and remembered to take a clean dress with us so we would not get caught, enjoying all the things I diabetic kid was forbidden to enjoy. And both mom and dad were always there for me, in or out of hospitals, they always encouraged me, told me I could accomplish anything I wanted to accomplish in my life. But most of all they taught me Diabetes is NOT a disease, it’s a condition. Diseases can be cured, but conditions have no cure, we must instead learn to CONTROL them.
I believed in my parents, who believed in me. Thanks to them I was encouraged that I could do anything I desired.
Now at 50, I am on my second pump, first was a minimed not a Cozmo. I can not immagine life without a pump now.
Happy pumping
Kathi
That’s the way it was 43 years ago. Today I have an insulin pump which keeps my blood sugars around 95 to 110, (until Gall bladder then Graves disease struck) I still have my sight, a little worn for wear, but contacts fix any incorrect vision. I work in my greenhouse, swim in my pool and work a full time job. I have no time for infections or illness, I have a busy life.
How did I escape all the complications of diabetes, “GOOD PARENTS” My mom overprotected me and drove me nuts with all the right foods, warm clothing, and those horrible shots. My dad indulged me, he let me play baseball with the boys, let me play football with the boys, took me skating, even clapped as I won my first “free skate” contest, he bought me ice cream cones when the other kids had them, he bought me hot dogs at games, cleaned and bandaged my bloody scraped knees so my mom would not know and worry, and remembered to take a clean dress with us so we would not get caught, enjoying all the things I diabetic kid was forbidden to enjoy. And both mom and dad were always there for me, in or out of hospitals, they always encouraged me, told me I could accomplish anything I wanted to accomplish in my life. But most of all they taught me Diabetes is NOT a disease, it’s a condition. Diseases can be cured, but conditions have no cure, we must instead learn to CONTROL them.
I believed in my parents, who believed in me. Thanks to them I was encouraged that I could do anything I desired.
Now at 50, I am on my second pump, first was a minimed not a Cozmo. I can not immagine life without a pump now.
Happy pumping
Kathi