| Growing Up with Diabetes Mellitus |
| My mom and I both had received the education that was available when I was first diagnosed. She was extremely protective but felt that I had to learn the necessary things to take care of myself since I would have to contend with this incurable disease for the rest of my life. |
I did my own urine tests (no blood testing available), gave myself the shots, and boiled my glass syringes and needles (they were not disposable) under my Mom's supervision. I very seldom had lows in those days, my urine tests tended to run high. I took pork or beef NPH insulin once a day; we did not know about the short-acting insulin. Of course we had to be very strict about adhering to regular meal schedules otherwise I could run into trouble. I had to eat whether I was hungry or whether it was convenient or not. At that time you were admonished not to eat sweets and certain other foods. There were few dietetic foods available in those days and they tasted terrible. The only artificial sweeteners we had were saccharin (yuk) and Sucaryl which was later banned. I had to keep a notebook of very detailed records noting my urine test results, my insulin dosage and any illness or other effect on my well-being. Mom oversaw my record-keeping and would discuss the entries with me. We had to take my notebook whenever I had a visit with my doctors, the pediatrician group. A little over a year after I was first diagnosed, the doctors felt that I wasn't doing well enough so they put me in the hospital for about two weeks so they could fine-tune my treatment. After I passed my twelfth birthday, we started seeing our regular family doctor. I don't think there were any endocrinologists or certified diabetes specialists/educators in those days. The doctors were impressed with our record-keeping but not with my test results. They always felt I was doing something I should not be doing so I learned to dread the doctor visits since they were never positive and never seemed to accomplish anything. They always wanted me to get a urine specimen in the doctor's office so I remember taking a friend with me and coaxing the friend to give her urine for testing instead of mine. In the fall after I passed my thirteenth birthday, I started attending Easley High School. Mom knew I wasn't doing well but she accepted it as a fact of life; I remember her saying she was not sure I would be able to attend school. There was an added reason I was not doing so well now; as a teenager I had more freedom and would accompany friends to the ice cream parlor for shakes and ice cream, which were absolutely forbidden since we did not know to give short-acting insulin to cover it. On the first day of school I became very ill and was sent to the "sick room" until my Dad could come pick me up. That evening I went into a ketoacidosis coma and was admitted to the new Easley Baptist Hospital, where I was unconscious for about 24 hours. That was the first occasion we learned about Regular insulin which is a short-term quicker-acting insulin. Mom arranged with the school to have Dad pick me up at lunchtime for urine checks and more insulin if needed and a mom-prepared lunch. I managed to make it through the rest of my teenage years without any further mishaps. A humorous note to my high school years is that because I was very clumsy, I did not care for physical education classes so I convinced both my mom and my doctor to get me permanently excused from the classes. Today of course we would know that exercise is one of the best treatments for diabetics. |
| Me at 12 |
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