Diabetes Veterans

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Comment by Sheila Green on April 16, 2009 at 5:47am

I have had type 1 for 55 years. I was diagnosed while living in Kenya, East Africa. They still had "witch doctors"...and the missionaries didn't know anything about diabetes. YES - things have changed DRAMATICALLY. I am now on the Minimed pump and the CGM system. I never thought you can "teach an old dog new tricks"...but yes the pump and CGM is great. I have had two healthy children and have a relatively complication-free life. Yes, years ago you just learned what it felt like to be "low" and thirstly and loosing weight was the high BG's...I am sure I ran around constantly with a BG in the 500's. ? Testing...didn't exist. You had to test your urine for glucose and ketones....and what good is that ? The glucose is already leaving your body !!!! ? Low carb foods ?? what was that? Just eat anything and everything and shoot up with insulin afterwards ? I remember for many years taking just one shot a day ??? ? Huh, what good was that?
Anyway, I am glad the advancement that medicine has made and I hope to live another decade. STAY active - that is the key.
Sheila

Comment by Suzanne on April 10, 2009 at 5:56pm

It makes me feel a bit old when I look at the small, fancy ones we have now! Remember how big of a sample you had to put on those strips? One thing I do miss about those strips is that you could put a drop of soda on one when you were eating out to make sure it was a diet drink that the waiter/waitress brought you :)

Comment by Jason K on April 10, 2009 at 5:53pm

wow suzanne. that is amazing. I had the same one, an AccuChek version, too. For some reason, I feel like I really liked that meter when I was young. It probably seemed really high-tech and futuristic to me. Anyway, thanks for posting that one!

Comment by Suzanne on April 10, 2009 at 5:41pm

Here is one for the vetrans here, you may remember this glucometer well. Mine said AccuCheck but looked identical to this one

Comment by Danny on April 5, 2009 at 4:41pm

Oh, okay, I found a group that I an relate to very well. Hello, fellow Veterans of Diabetes! My name is Danny and I am a veteran since 2004. I now have had Type 1 Diabetes since 1984 (the same year Van Halen had the hit "Jump"...you know you loved this song.;) Anyways Iam glad the internet is here and I sure could have used it in 1984 ( I thought I was the only type 1 diabetic on the planet,sheesh) Drop me a comment or message if you want to talk about 10cc horse syringes, urine strips and the first glucose meter that was the size of a briefcase (seriously I had one in 8th grade).

Comment by Jason K on April 1, 2009 at 8:06pm

Hello all, new member here. I was diagnosed T1 at age 5, that was 25 years ago. So far, complication free!

Comment by Amanda Castellanos on March 5, 2009 at 7:43pm

Hey everyone, I am new to this site and to the group. I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes November 8, 1987, so that makes 22 years this year. I have two healthy kids ages 8 and 2, and no major health problems to speak of. I feel very lucky.

Comment by Spooky on February 7, 2009 at 9:03pm

I was diagnosed when I was a senior in high school. I lost a lot of weight in a very short amount of time and was constantly in the bathroom. My eyes were also blurry. I unfortunately had a lousy doctor who went away for the weekend to play a golf tournament and decided that my BG of 800 wasn't an emergency and he could wait to call my parents on Monday. I almost died that weekend. I spent 2 weeks at the Joslin Clinic in Boston and had one of the first glucose meters- my dad paid $600 for it! I was the only patient with one in the entire clinic!

I am doing well, no complications, and have been on the Omnipod for two days. My A1c has always been under 7 closer to the 5's but this last year went through the roof and has scared the heck out of me. I have resisted the pump because of a fear of the tubing and inserting it. It took a 16 year old famous young man who is on the Omni pod to convince me to try it and I feel like a fool for waiting so long.

I love reading about everyone and their triumphs. For so many years I thought I just had to accept that I wasn't going to have a long life and it's just so not true.

Comment by Amy on February 1, 2009 at 10:19am

Hi All! It will be 23 years for me in March. My how time flies. Although I remember "the day" like it was yesterday. I had been to my Dr. because in 2 weeks time 1 lost 20 lbs despite eating 24/7. He made a joke and said "what do you think you are Diabetic?" I did not even know what diabetes was....24 hours later he called me in tears and said go to the emergency room....you are diabetic! God, I was so scared and off I went. I was so skinny at that point a lot of people were worried. When I think back on all the advances in care and treatment of diabetes in a relatively short period of time it is amazing. Glucose meters, smaller needles, insulin pumps and now CGMS's...At least to me that is improvement. Especially the CGMS systems. Not that long ago testing was done by dip sticks in urine. Good to be here!

Comment by Sam Ebert on January 28, 2009 at 10:00am

Hi Folks, I was diagnosed when I went for a physical to start first grade. I guess I was six or so. I remember going to the hospital for a couple of weeks while they got me adjusted to insulin injections. It was weird because I was not sick. I remember racing wheelchairs down the hall with a couple of other miscreants in there with me. I also remember getting all kinds of neat toys.
I was fortunate that my mother was a nurse and knew a bit about the diabetes regimen. I was very active as a kid and an adult and never felt that I could not do anything that I wanted in spite of diabetes.
I will be 57 in April and other than a triple coronary artery bypass in Dec.2005, have had no complications. My vision hasn't changed since I got contacts 20+ years ago, I still have both hands and both feet,my kidneys are doing OK, and other than a few scattered bouts with depression over the years, I have felt great.
I have to admit that a lot has been good genes and luck. But after 25 or 30 years, diabetes is just kind of second nature. I try not to analyze things too much nor worry about what happened when things get off kilter.
Non carborundum illigetimi.

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