November 1961, I was a 7 year old thin female. I had started losing weight, peeing in the bed, crying a lot and couldn’t play or keep awake. My dad had recently abandoned my Mother with me, a 4-year-old brother and a newborn sister. Granny moved in with us. At the doctor’s office it was discovered my sugar was over 600. I was sent to the hospital and there I stayed for 4 weeks. I didn’t know insulin reactions and fell out in school many times, scaring the poor teachers. There was no blood tests, only urine, which was hours old by the time we checked it. Why I didn’t die…
Mama made me sit at the supper table until every single green pea, cooked carrot, whatever was eaten. I cried over this and she cried with me. I went through puberty and at age 14 vomited for 3 days and finally when I got to hospital it was discovered I had Ketones. The doctors that had diagnosed me 7 years before didn’t know about Ketones. I got saved from this and put on a new diet.
I managed to grow up and married at age 18. At age 20 I had a baby. You talk about a rough pregnancy!! There still wasn’t a blood check except at hospital. The first diet drink I had was Diet Rite and it was putrid. The first diet cookie was a oatmeal thing and it was putrid. To this day I don’t eat diet sweets since the first I cut my teeth on were so awful. Saccharin was melted in a spoon of hot water to put in tea or cereal. You sure did some spitting when you got a chunk of the unmelted stuff! My syringes at age 7 were glass with the metal needle. They were boiled each shot time. When they got a bit dull and barbed, it took a plug of skin to inject.
I have seen evolution of syringes, needles, more brands of insulin, A1C’s, blood tests done at home. You can’t believe how much better things are now. I have good eyes, good kidneys, feet…I have taken care of myself daily and am doing good for my 48th year of the most serious form of this stuff. It can be handled and lived with and you can feel good.
By ldgibbs
Leave A Comment