It is not really a celebration or anything. It does not feel like any kind of milestone or special day. But it has given me a lot to reflect on, as I think back on everything.
There is a lot to tell about the diagnosis and my stay at the hospital, but I won’t bore you with all of that. The short story is that I was in the hospital for 9 nights. I was in pretty bad shape.
The realization that has come to me over the past few weeks leading up to this day is that I don’t feel sorry for myself. I have been able to do whatever I have wanted. I have probably done more in my life because of diabetes, just because of the mental resolve it has given me.
While I don’t feel sorry for myself, I do feel sorry for the little 6 year old boy who was admitted on that day. It was tough for him.
And because of that, it has given me a compassion for other young ones (or old ones) who have an adversity or a challenge in their life. Not just diabetes, but any difficulty.
I am grateful for the compassion diabetes has given me.
How am I celebrating today? I am not really. Other than some reflection on it, I am treating it like any other day.
Because that makes the most sense to me. It is there every day, but it is in the background. It is no big deal, just a little extra stuff you gotta do sometimes.
I’m not nearly the veteran you guys are. While I had been diagnosed as insulin resistant “Metabolic Syndrome” over 20 years ago, I wasn’t diagnosed with D until 10 months ago, 4/20/22. Your photos of your chart put me in mind of the day I sent this message to my GP through the Mt. Sinai Doctors patient portal:
In all the years I have been seeing him, it’s the first (and still only) time I got a telephone call from the office instead of a return text message. I was given a shot (I don’t recall what medication) to bring me down and by the next day I was in the 250 - 265 range, where I lingered for a week or two before settling back down into a more normal 80-110 range controlled with trulicity and metformin, but I was never sent to the hospital. Although the doctor who saw me told me that my usual doc (who was away) would definitely have sent me to the hospital, she thought we could get it back under control quickly with medication and diet. Idk how she knew, but fortunately she was correct. Nevertheless, that was a scary day; one that remains sharp in my memory.
@Eric What I think a lot of us would like to say, “We’re both sad and glad you’re here! We’re sad that you’ve had to deal with ups and downs, highs and lows, for as many years as you have, and for the future years you’ll do likewise! We’re glad because you’ve had so much positive impact on all of us because of your experiences and willingness to share them, whether here on FUD or in your future day-to-day life!” Thanks for all you offer!
I like to reflect at life milestones and it does put a few things in perspective seeing how far we have come. Diabetes was a death sentence for children. Then it was surviving with a very limited life expectancy. My dad only made it to the age of 40. I will soon exceed his life by a decade and God willing I will add on a couple more decades. Today children diagnosed can expect a full life while dealing with the annoyance of diabetes. Yay for science, technology and education!!!
Congratulations and I hope you know how much your knowledge and commitment means to this community.
The 7 year old grandson of a woman I know was diagnosed with type 1 yesterday and his family is going through the panic and confusion and sadness and anger surrounding it. I am hopeful that they will join us here. Their journey will be so different that what many of us experienced – I am so thankful for the incredible progress being made in diabetes management and toward a cure.
Today, though, I want to say that I am thankful for YOU, Eric. You reached out on another site to me five (?) years ago and said that you thought FUD might be a good fit for me and my goodness were you right! You see with clear eyes what others might need and you are selfless with your help. So, thank you. I am grateful for the compassion diabetes has given you.
@Eric is a gem. If you look up selfless, caring, compassionate, smart af all things diabetes, you will see Eric’s smiling face next to all those words.
Diagnosis is a scary time. My wife and I cried for a few days until we pulled up our britches and stopped feeling “oh woe is me’ish” and decided to just buckle down, learn as much as we can and play the cards we’ve been dealt as best we can. This community (and Eric most importantly) has made our d-journey a breeze.
Hopefully they will come here and let us support them, or just be a safe space for venting during those late nights you’re up managing crazy BGs or tech issues.
Congratulations, Eric! I’m brand new to this group and this is my first time commenting. You and I were diagnosed in the same year, you in early February and I in early April! I’ve experienced a life of roller coaster blood sugars and I still struggle to keep them steady. The best results are when I barely eat anything and have little activity. Who wants that kind of life? Not I! Yesterday was my first full day and night on OmniPod 5. I was so excited to get it, but the durn thing kept me up in the 200’s the entire evening and night. It also suddenly dropped me down to 54. I know there’s a learning curve, although being in the 200’s for most of the day is not where I want my bg levels to be.
Eric, I think it’s incredible that we have come this far living with diabetes, given that for the first 28 years of our diagnosis there were only urine tests for home use and that only gave us a vague idea of what our sugars were. Clinitest, Tes-Tape or that dipstick were the only method. Then came the AccuCheck sticks for blood testing, with a comparison chart on the bottle. Sometime after that came the big bg test kits for home use. The late 80’s - 90’s brought better tools to our lives, including including insulin pumps and different types of insulins. Today that continues. Yay for technological innovations!
I want to say how impressive it is that you’ve still got your medical records from 50 years ago! They are so clear to read and unfaded as well! I used to have mine, however, I moved many times in my life from across oceans and countries and states and no longer know where to find them. Can I blame forgetfulness on too many low bg’s!!? JK.
BTW, That’s a cool medal and Achivement Certificate from Joslin! May I ask how you received it? How did you apply for it? Is documentation required? Does it take a while for it to come in the mail? Does it cost anything? Thank you for your reply and/or comments if you are willing. Have a great day!
Thank you very much, and congrats to you for 50 years as well!
I agree with you about the better tools now. But for me, the best tool is the one called “experience”! I have learned so much since the early days. I hope you will share your experience with us here too!
There are others using the O5 on FUD, so they may be able to give advice on that pump.
The medal is totally free. They will send it to you. There is a form you need to fill out. And it asks for some form of documentation.
If you don’t have your medical records from 50 years ago, you can also use anything like a diabetes camp brochure, or pictures of anything diabetes related you had from way back. Even old log books with blood sugar records will work.
If you don’t have anything like that, you can ask your current doctor to write a letter and note your date of diagnosis.
When you have your documentation ready, send an email to this address and tell them you would like the medal, and they will send you the form to fill out:
medals@joslin.harvard.edu
You fill the form out and send that back to them in the mail, along with whatever documentation you have been able to obtain.
It’s really easy, other than finding your documentation!
I love when people are dealt a not so good hand win. I know. Plenty of perfectly physically healthy people who fold with a good hand. Sorry for the card analogy.
I was diagnosed in Paris in 1972. They gave me a glucose tolerance test and my blood glucose hit 600. Doctor said need to admit you to hospital and I said no, have work to do at the office. He said “that’s just like an American.” Nurse said “you’re so lucky, the cure is just around the corner.”
I’m a 18 Month LADA SO great to see. My hat is off to U !! I can not imagine dealing with this 5 YEARS ago much less 50 !!!
