Diabetes Personal Stories

In a report published in the December 23, 2000, issue of the British Medical Journal (BMJ), researchers at the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom write that hypoglycemia is one of the complications of diabetes most feared by patients. They point out, "Intensive research has been devoted to the development of hypoglycemia alarms."

6 comments - Jul 31, 2008 -

What do an African medicine man, a diabetes researcher, a feminist philosopher, and a Native American psychologist have in common? They are all part of a new documentary, now in production, dealing with the psychological component of living with diabetes.

13 comments - Jul 31, 2008 -

July 27, 2008 marked the eighth full month that my son has not used insulin. His last A1c was 5.9%, on July 9, 2008. On August 14th of this year, it will be one year since he was originally diagnosed with type 1. As you know, he was taken off insulin on November 27, 2007, about a month after getting the experimental drug teplizumab. I don't know if it is the drug or not, but others have taken it with good results. It will be interesting to see if they ever get the drug approved and can use it quickly on newly diagnosed type 1s.

11 comments - Jul 31, 2008 -

You might think that having a disease is the last thing you would want broadcast over the World Wide Web. But for some writers, getting the word out there is the main idea. In a world inundated with celebrity gossip and angst-ridden posts, a few people rise above the online mess and use their blogs to foster a sense of community in what could otherwise be an isolating dilemma: living with diabetes.

5 comments - Jul 24, 2008 -

Have you heard the story of the little boy who was on the beach after a storm?  Thousands of starfish had washed ashore, and he picked up one after another and threw them back into the sea.  A man watched him work and after some time said to the boy, “Look at all these starfish.  You’re never going to be able to save them all. Do you think all your work will make a difference?”  The boy thought for a minute as he looked up and down the beach. “I don’t know,” he said as he picked up another starfish and flung it into the brine, “but it sure will make a difference to this one!”

4 comments - Jul 10, 2008 -

I’ve always been a pretty good traveler. I simply checked the weather at my destination and packed accordingly. Easy. Then I learned that I had diabetes, and suddenly even weekend trips required an intense amount of additional preparation.

2 comments - Jul 3, 2008 -

Every pilot’s nightmare is the thought of losing his medical certification and being stopped from flying.  That happened to me in May of 1986, when I was diagnosed with type 1.  In accordance with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Standards and Recommended Practices, Canada, along with every other country in the world, would not allow insulin-dependent pilots to hold any type of pilot’s license.  My short eight-year career with Air Canada came to an abrupt end, and I was told in no uncertain terms that I would never be allowed to fly an aircraft again.

5 comments - Jun 26, 2008 -

Dear Editor:
 
A few weeks ago, I was reading in bed at around one o’clock in the morning. I got up to administer my twice-daily Lantus dose and a small amount of Humalog to "cover" the carbs I'd consumed about an hour earlier.

1 comment - Jun 26, 2008 -

It doesn’t matter whether your doctor is a blunt bull-in-a-china-shop type or a hand-holder who tries to deliver the news as softly as possible: it’s a shock when you learn you have type 2.

3 comments - Jun 19, 2008 -

Dear Editor,

Sometimes the personal challenges we confront lead us to recognize value and opportunities we had not discovered before.  That has been my recent experience, and that’s why I am especially proud to be a member of the Phoenix legal community.

3 comments - Jun 12, 2008 -