Share Memories of Kathy Putzier

We’re still learning the details, but it’s been confirmed that last night our dear friend Kathy Putzier (@Kathy) passed away at the young age of 63.

She has contributed to building the TuDiabetes community and has also been a fixture in the entire diabetes online community. Please use this space to share your thoughts, memories or to say a goodbye.

She will be missed.

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Kathy was truly one of my dearest friends. She was one of the very first people who welcomed me into TUDiabetes and shared an abiding love for classic rock music. For at least three years we tried to outdo each other by posting video clips of classic rock performances on each others page.

She loved Bob Dylan, great film, and live rock performances. She is also one of the pioneers of the modern day DOC.

Kathy faced so many issues bravely with a better outlook than I could have ever had. I once asked why she was so strong in the face of such adversity? She said simply she loved life, and I believe she did.

Kathy, you will always be one of my best friends. Our many talks and long emails often gave me perspective to keep going.

One of my most enduring memories I have of Kathy was a comment she made to me about a film. We were discussing the film “Taking Woodstock” a film we both loved. I said well Kathy it is not real because Arlo Guthrie is shown playing in daylight and he performed right after midnight.

Kathy was shocked I knew that. It took several days for her to respond. She said Rick; I know no one knows that, how did you know it? After a few days of her asking, I let her know I had no idea until I read it in an online movie review. We laughed so hard about that and whenever we teased she reminded me she could read online movie reviews as well.

I will miss you, dear friend. Thank you for what you did for me. I hope I gave you at least as much you gave me.

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I’ll miss you the most when the Lady Slippers bloom. Many thanks for such a very special friendship for so many years.

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RIP, Kathy. Thank you for your voice on the DOC. I will always remember reading your words when I first got Type 1 Diabetes, 23 years ago. I love this photo!

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Kathy I am missing you so much today. Hang on Sista it is what we do after all.

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oh my, TuDiabetes friends, this is shattering news. Tears are flowing here, and I’m sending everyone a big big hug. Like so many others, Kathy was one of my first friends here. I nearly lost my mind when we almost lost her soon after, she’d had some surgery that did not go well and I think a heart attack during the surgery caused her kidneys to fail and she was on dialysis for at least a year afterwards. It was a MIRACLE when she shared the news of her regaining function.

Those early years of TuD there was a great deal of joking around on each others pages, I remember Kathy & @Rphil2 and @Mark46 doing a LOT of passing around music videos and my totally enjoying listening to different tunes, notably Dylan. Of course when @askmanny asked me to make a quilt to represent DHF, Kathy was a must (please take a look at her thoughtful post here about that)

She was not able to make the successful transition to our Discourse platform, so newbies to our community might now know her. I know she was active on facebook and well known throughout the DOC.

This is for you Kathy: May you stay “Forever Young”

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@MarieB there is not enough space around today to post Dylan songs. i have had it running non stop all day, she loved our community and loved having fun. That is what was so special. Kathy is Forever Young in my mind always

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Cathy was a great woman she and I used to constantly talk on the old format. I will truly miss her.

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Goodbye Kathy…goodbye my friend. I have known you, it seems like forever. We never met face to face. I always hoped that someday we would…but connecting, we did. Online.
You were supportive and supported. I loved our chats, because not only did you listen…you heard. We shared similar thoughts…similar likes. We understood each other. You saw beauty in the world…and looked into people’s souls, because that’s who you were…and old soul.
Rest in glorious peace my dear friend…and I know, that someday we will meet…face to face. I miss you and love you…sending baskets of hugs to heaven, fair angel.
linda

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So sorry to hear. RIP Kathy.

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I’m so sad to hear this news. I didn’t know Kathy but I always enjoyed reading what she wrote here. She was a sweet lady and it’s such a tragedy to go so young, Rip and my sympathies to her friends and family <3

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Kathy Putzier was a friend to many of us with Type 1 in the Minneapolis area. Here is a tableful of people who will miss her greatly. Kathy is 2nd from the left in the dark purple shirt.

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I am really sad to hear this. From the earliest days when I joined TuDiabetes, Kathy had always been a good friend. I always thought she was a brave woman who faced up to very serious health issues with a great attitude and always was one to look on the bright side of things. Not many of you may know, but she had very serious kidney problems and for whatever reason, maybe God shining down on her, her kidneys came back to life enabling her to stop dialysis. If anyone deserved a miracle, it was Kathy.

The other thing that I really admired about Kathy was that she didn’t take gruff from people, particularly her medical team. If she didn’t think she was being treated properly, she told you. I exchanged emails over the years with her and she always thought we need to speak up as patients. Sadly she wasn’t active after the transition and we didn’t keep up. I feel doubly badly now that she is gone. I hate losing friends, it makes me feel so mortal.

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As others have mentioned Kathy did not make the transition to our current format, for all its successes our migration failed in one respect. It caused us to lose contact with some very good friends. We lost contact with Kathy due to the migration and now we have lost her forever. How I wish she had been with us so we could have held her in her times of need like a family is suppose to do.

Rest well Kathy and enjoy your eternal peace, it is well deserved by someone that always fought the good fight.

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On Agust 30, 2015 I published this item written by Kathy on my site www.RADiabetes.com. The item is titled “Trust Yourself” I present it here as I believe it is the last blog Kathy prepared.

Trust yourself

Trust Yourself
By: Kathy Putzier

I am a child of the sixties where the phrase “question authority” was a cool, hip way to sanctify rebellion ranging from tipping the vending machine upside down to calling the police "pigs’ to having a "sit-in’ on the steps of a government building.

But, now as a person living with diabetes for over four decades, and a few other co-morbid conditions in the last 5 years. It is my duty and obligation to myself to question authority.

My First Doctor

My hometown on the Minnesota prairie consisted of about 5,000 people. It was served by two family practitioners who were considered pillars of the community - the top of the pyramid. People nearly bowed to them as they walked by. Gosh, one of them even drove a Cadillac. No one ever dared to challenge these doctors with a question, an observation_ or a simple general comment. What they said was the absolute.

Of course, I took that attitude with me into adulthood.
I was diagnosed with diabetes in 1974, and the doctor told me not to read any books on diabetes because it would “only confuse me”. Yes, sir.

Minneapolis

When I moved to Minneapolis in 1975. After graduating from college. I discovered that the library had a magazine called ‘Forecast’. Back then it was more of a pamphlet. But on the days when I knew the new issue was coming I’d go over and sneakily read it at one of the darker back tables. God forbid anybody would catch me. Since I went home to visit my parents frequently. I was still going to the doctor who’d diagnosed me. After reading in Forecast about taking 2 injections rather than one per day. I timidly asked him what he thought. "Nah Its’ not necessary” Phew. I’d been given permission not to hassle with a second shot because the doctor said so.

Internist

After a couple of years, I finally switched to an internist here in town. Since I had no history with him. I felt I could be a bit bolder in voicing my opinions. After all, in a metropolitan area, I could simply find another doc if I didn’t like this one. This was about 1978 or so and multiple daily injections had not quite saturated the diabetes care scene.

I clearly remember seeing a book at the store called The Diabetes Self-Care Method by Drs. Lois Jovanovic and Charles Petersen. I bought it immediately and read it in one sitting. It introduced MDI by giving a starting point to calculate basal insulin based on body weight and also initial instructions on carb counting.

Health Crisis

Things perked along for a few years and then 5 years ago I had a very serious health crisis - a blood clot in my lung following a surgical procedure. This caused ‘multiple organ shut down syndrome’. I was in respiratory, heart, and renal failure. My family was told that I was dying. They were getting ready for my brain activity to completely taper off so they could pull the plug. But one day I opened my eyes. The nurse paged the doctor and soon my bedside was flooded with hospital personnel looking mystified and wide-eyed. I did not know that I had been unconscious for 3 weeks in intensive care.

At that point, I was too weak to roll over, lift my head, or even move my arm up to scratch under my nose. I was told that I would never get out of a wheelchair never breathe without supplemental oxygen and never be able to live independently.

But - I questioned authority. It would have been so very easy to surrender to their predictions.

Questioning authority

When I was strong enough to use a computer I downloaded the manual for the oxygen machine. I learned how to turn off the alarm that sounded when saturation levels fell below a certain point (yeah. no one at the hospital noticed - go figure). I also learned how to dial down the amount I was getting just a small bit at a time. I was friends with a respiratory therapist and he agreed to let me give it a go without the machine. He could have gotten into big trouble, but, thankfully did not. Within a couple of weeks, I was completely off the oxygen.

So the next authority figure said there would be no way I’d ever again walk. Hump(… One night after supper I had the nursing assistant wheel me back to my room and said I wanted to sit for awhile before getting back into bed. And please close the door. I thought. If I can stand. I can eventually walk’. I put the brake on the wheelchair, pushed hard with my arms, stood up for 2 seconds and then collapsed back down. I secretly increased this every day and when I reached 10 seconds. I told the doc that I wanted physical therapy. He said. ‘no’ I don’t want you to get your hopes up’. A couple of weeks later a physician’s assistant came by and I told him that I really, really wanted to try PT. He reluctantly agreed. God bless him. And. the journey to regaining my strength and balance began. It is most disturbing to think that I could currently be living in a care facility having no comparison to the quality of life I have now.

But… I continue to question authority.

The Broader Approach

Once I was given a printed summary after an appointment which said to take a daily aspirin. Well. I was already on the prescription blood thinner so waited until the doc came out of his next appointment and confronted him. He mumbled and stuttered and said, of course I should not be taking both.

I have fragile kidneys and was on dialysis for 14 months. I have been off for 3 years. There are a ton of both prescription and Over the Counter meds that can further damage them and I am to take nothing new without the consent of my nephrologist. I need to go to Urgent Care for a skins problem and the doc prescribed an antibiotic. This place was a part of my clinic system and he had my entire record on the screen I specifically asked him if the drug was safe for my kidneys and he said “oh sure • no problem”. Well he was a doctor he should know. No? I phoned nephrology as I was living the clinic and two minutes later got a call back saying “no! Absolutely not!!! We will give you something else to take”.

I have a b’zillion other stories like these. And. I continue to think about patients who meekly submit to medical professionals.

Of course, there must be some initial level of trust or we’d all drive ourselves bonkers. And. perhaps I question authority because I have a long history of dealing with the medical professions I could mention pursuing information on the Internet, but. ahem, that’s gotten me into trouble a couple of times.

Yes. it’s too bad that everything can’t be cut and dried. Always being on the watch is time-consuming and exhausting and annoying. But I will continue to do it.

Trust yourself to question authority - it may save your life

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Uploading… There is a picture of me and Kathy and Scott Johnson having coffee and tea together in Minneapolis. I have posted it before…It is apparently a nono tonight and this is hard enough to write…

We knew each other for awhile here at TuD and then we totally bonded during the process of our mothers dying (my family is in Minneapolis, I live in Portland, OR) and figured out getting together whenever I was in Mpls.

I talked with her in early July after my sister died—about life, the universe and everything. We commiserated on difficulties that were no fun, but also about the loving things in our lives. We exchanged little gifts from time to time. She was always exploring new avenues of expression. I have 3 of the exquisite ceramic tiles that were a recent exploration.

She was always supportive and compassionate and spiritual and earthy. She was also funny and really did not suffer fools gladly. She was just learning the guitar and loved her teacher.

She gave a really great Hug!..That is very sketchy for how traumatized I am by this news. Especially coming on the heels of my sister’s death. Too much…Sorry the lovely picture won’t post…

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Uploading… Nope…Sigh…

When i first joined tuD Kathy was one of the regulars. I remember someone who was always optimistic, no matter what challenges life threw at her… As others have mentioned she loved music and this sparked an online friendship with me. She decided to take fiddle lessons and shared with me videos songs she had learned.

Unfortunately she did not make the transition to the new platform. From time to time I would check her profile but there was no activity and I wondered how she was doing and how her fiddle lessons were going. Alas this is the nature of online friendships, people can just disappear. Her way of facing her health challenges will always be with me even as I face my own challenges.

Thanks Kathy, I am proud to have known you.

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I met Kathy in Minneapolis in 2011, at a T1 meet-up. She was a very nice lady, and we have communicated many times on Facebook. She survived a long ordeal with kidney problems and dialysis treatment. She was then healthy and doing well, several years ago. Kathy was taking guitar lessons and she posted about that several times. She really liked her instructor. I was very surprised to hear about her passing. I will miss her, and I know many of you will, too.

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My heart sank when I read about Kathy. Even though I’ve never met her personally, I’ve read many of her posts from years back. I think because we shared the same name “Kathy” her posts always caught my eye. This day is especially hard and sad for me because I buried my Mother today. May you both rest in peace.

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