Diabetes Veterans

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Comment by JDavid 6 hours ago

Hi Kelly et al..........

I read your comment and could NOT escape echoing it.

I was on a road trip and on my way back a little over a week ago. I stopped at Truets in GA, a Chic-fil-a place. Had a snadwich and pop and asked the waitress for the carb count of the snadwich. She came back saying 4500..(yes 4,500!), I responded that could NOT be true. anywho she asked one of the other young ladies (late teens/early20s) and came back 45 grams of carb. The young lady she asked came out and talked about, guess what? Diabetes.......... she was a type-1 on a pump, said it was a life saver for her, the pump that is. Then yet another young lady came out and showed off her pump as well, looked pink to me.

You comment is so accurate........I am an old grumph grouchy 60 something and yet they were eager to talk diabetes with me.....

(*&*( GOMER

Comment by Kelly Rawlings on December 20, 2008 at 11:37am
Meeting people who have diabetes is great--there's always that instant connection, no matter the age or gender or nationality or race.

Comment by Ken Alfred on July 1, 2009 at 9:45am

Hello fellow veterans,
Figured I'd share a bit..dx'd in 1974 while in college..nearly killed by a nurse during that first week hospitalization when she misread dr orders and gave me 150 units (instead of 15)...I should have yelled LAWSUIT! but that was then. Have lived a relatively complication free life, been a pumper (minimed) for 9 years. Best advice? Well for this group, you all have it figured out pretty well; I relax about the daily ups and downs - inevitable - and focus on the long term.

Comment by Joe Brocato on June 30, 2009 at 9:10pm

Hi
I have had diabetes for 43 years since 1966 at the age of 8.I remember watching TV with my family and being really really thirsty, and sneeking to the refrig to drink rootbeer. Well the rest is a little blurry. I woke in the hospital after being in a coma for 2+ weeks, tubes in my arms and stomach pump down my nose. I did what any selfrespecting grogy 8 year old would do , I pulled all the tubes out( not knowing where I was ). There answer was to tie my arms to the side rails and re-insert everything. But wait the trauma was not over yet, they had me in a room with a diabetic man who had just had both legs amputated because of D. They used him as an example of what my life would be. Welcome to the D -Life I know that this crap would not fly in a hospital now. We have come a long way and still waiting for that cure that is right around the corrner LOL

Comment by John Nicholas on May 8, 2009 at 3:00pm

Hello Sheila and thankyou for your comment. Hello to all veterans!
I've just had high BS's for the past 48 hours. I have no idea what caused it, I had
to step up the shots. I thought I knew most things about diabetes but it can still throw a spanner in my works.
IA few years ago the British Diabetic Association ( now Diabetes UK ) used to
give a medal to anyone who had Type 1 for 50 years. Now there is only a mention in their magazine. Maybe they were giving out too many!
I do not miss the 3/4 in needles I started with. I used to inject in the thighs but
it became painful so now in the stomach.
My ex wife said she always knew if I had low BS's when we were out walking as I would lean backwards whilst walking forwards!
As an ex medical engineer I've seen enormous advances in medical technology
over the past 20 years. How about an artificial pancreas in the next 20 years.

Comment by Sheila Green on May 7, 2009 at 7:52am

Hello:
Hey someone with the same experiences - Clinitest, test tubes....gosh...do you ever wonder how we are still surviving....I hotestly think its in the "genes"...certainly not from "good management"..I never did get the fact that you had to test your urine....the sugar is then leaving your body !!! Excellent kidneys I guess...that's the only thing it would prove !!! I remember both pork and beef insulin....remember the NPH ?? I was still in denial 10 years ago... yes I too...got married, had two kids, got divorced ??? ever thought it might be because of low blood sugar !! I never crashed the car but passed out in a swimming pool once. Couldn't figure out why I was in the emergency room in my bikini !!! I was diagnosed in 1954-55 around then...and was living in Nairobi, Kenya. I am now in the USA - on MM pump and CGM...absolutely love the new technology.....do you ever wish the technology was around way back then ??? Would we have been so bad at managing our D - yes..probably !! Have been drunk a few times as well....or was that hypo ???? Well, would love to talk to you...write back.....Sheila...still alive and kicking at 55 years with Type 1 !!!

Comment by John Nicholas on May 6, 2009 at 9:26am

Hello. I've had type 1 since 1966. I'ts been an eventful journey. A few hicups along the way. I can still do in my sleep urine testing ie 5 drops + 10 drops water +Clinitest tablet in a test tube. Wait for the blue/green/orange colour to indicate
low/medium/high sugar present. I started of with a glass syringe kept in a metal tube with surgical spirit. I was on pork insulin. I worked as an electronics technician, passed my driving test, got married.
Not many problems untill the 1980's when I collapsed on my feet a few times and
once broke my ankle ( two screws). Got divorced.
Around 1990 I changed from animal to human insulin ( Actrapid ). First and only
collaspe at the wheel car crash . I should have gone back to old insulin.
Blood sugar testing started around this time.
Now on Novorapid / Lantus. No problems yet with eyes/feet kidney's but I think
time is running out. I take 5 tablets a day for blood pressure ,high cholestrol, stroke,heart. I've always disliked high blood sugar and have taken extra insulin to correct it. As one doctor once said to me " we are not sure what you are doing but it seems to work". Maybe a cure one day!

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

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