Today in 1962, at 10 years of age, I was told I had “juvenile diabetes,” now known as Type 1. Mom and Dad had known since before Thanksgiving, but wanted me to experience a “holiday free of diabetes.” Seems outrageous today, but their hearts were with their only child, namely me.
On 12/26/1962 I entered the hospital for a two week visit. How to give shots, what to eat, etc. Can you even imagine that today? Syringes were glass and had to be sterilized after use; all BG testing with Tes Tape and pee, unless you went to a lab; no diet soda available at all. A really different world to be diagnosed in, especially as I moved towards being a tween.
Anyway, 53 years later, T1 is a whole new ballgame. I am actually pretty proud of myself to have made it this far. I was diagnosed right as the cusp of new understanding, new technology, and new treatments for diabetes. I have controlled retinopathy as my only real side effect of this horrid disease.
So, this is my pat on the back to myself. I have done OK. Happy Holidays to all!
Yes, you have done well, @Sue27. I wasn’t diagnosed until 1984 and I had the BG Chemstrips right from the start to test my blood glucose. I also had disposable syringes. I can’t even imagine living with T1D in the '60s. You had no way to calibrate your insulin to your meals. Not only no way to bring down high BGs but no way to confirm being high. I’ve often confused feeling high with feeling normal and the reverse. I think I would have been constantly high or on a first name basis with emergency room staff.
At first I didn’t get this whole “diaversity” thing. You’re celebrating it? Wha…? Until I realized it was about being proud to have managed it for so long. This month marks year 32 for me. Congratulations us, every one!
Dr BB…this is actually a celebration. When I was diagnosed…at 10…the doc told me I would never live to 50. My 50th birthday was the first time I realized I had beaten the odds. SO YES. Although this chronic disease totally stinks, I struggle daily to beat it. I fight. If I did not, I would have never made it to 50.
Congratulations on #53! July of 2016 will mark my 50th year with type 1 (or “Juvenile” as they called it then) Diabetes. I had similar experiences as you, Clinitest, a small chemistry set in the bathroom, ketone strips, a urine bottle, glass syringes that needed to be boiled and metal hypodermic needles that also needed the same sterilization (I still have these in the box they were stored in to remind me)–fun times–NOT!
Again, congratulations on the milestone, you certainly deserve it.
Congratulations on a great job! Though I’m Dx’ed as Type 2 on insulin, I’ll have to ive to 103 to compete with that! – I plan on trying
Although at the time, the odds were against you, it’s terrible that your doctor gave you that prognosis (as so many doctors at the time believed). Even by 1962 there were people who were “beating the odds” and managing with varying levels of success (we even know some of those here!). If you haven’t already, I’ll get you’ll outlive your doctor!
Congratulations @Sue27 well done. Wish doctors weren’t so negative sometimes. What a journey diagnosed before home blood glucose meters etc. No idea how you did it. Do you think listened to own body more pre cgm etc?
Congratulations! I am right with you in memory lane, Sue. I will “celebrate” 50 years of Type 1 in April 2016, and I, too have been blessed with fairly good control and very few side effects. However, my doctor back in 1966 was a bit more optimistic. When my diagnosis came in (with a blood sugar over 600!), my mother began to cry. He told her that I could live to be 99 because I would have to monitor my condition, eat nutritious food rather than sugary garbage food, and get plenty of exercise to keep my weight down. I have lived by the motto. Were the 60’s and the 70’s a great time to deal with diabetes? Heavens, no! But we did the best we could with what tests and equipment we had, and we survived. My latest A1C was 6.4, I have maintained a healthy weight, I eat balanced nutritious meals, and I exercise each day. I’m 61 right now and looking forward to another 38 good years! Keep up the good work, Sue. The worst is behind us!
Hi @Sue27,
Your story is not unlike my own. I was diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes in February 1964 and spent two weeks in the hospital learning all the ins-and-outs too. I remember the Exchange diets; glass syringes and metal needles that needed to be sterilized with each use; injecting Lente Insulin that was produced from beef and pork Pancreases; peeing on a green strip or using a test tube with regent tablets to check drops of urine (there were no home BG meters to test blood and they wouldn’t be introduced for at least another 10 years). With the introduction of BG meters in the mid-70s, just about everything changed; I think that was the beginning of a whole revolution in the treatment of Diabetes. It’s been slow-going, but I think the improvements have been wonderful. I remember being told at diagnosis that my life expectancy was no more than 25-30 years and that those years would be filled with awful complications that might include blindness, Kidney disease, loss of limbs, just to name a few. But here I am, nearly 52 years later, and the only complication I have thus far is mild non-proliferative Retinopathy. I consider myself lucky to have lived long enough to benefit from the use of an Insulin pump. What a great step forward that was!
Congratulations to all who have turned the 50 yr old mark!
In October 1964 I was diagnosed at age 12, so 51 years of type I. My experiences are pretty much the same as the others growing up in the 60s with T1D. My parents were told I die before 40 - but no one told me! Except for PDR and extensive laser treatment, I have no other diabopathies. I do a lot of hiking and backpacking. When Bernstein published home bg monitoring in 1980 I immediately went out and got a glucometer.
My story is pretty much the same. I was diagnosed in with type 1, called sugar diabetes the, in Feb. of 1962. I was 12 and this year will make 54 years. I lived in a rural area and was taught that it was sugar foods that was bad for me. I suffer from a little controlled retinopathy in one eye. I also have a lot of neuropathy which I don’t know if it is from diabetes or all of the spine problems as my dad also had it and didn’t have diabetes. I am thankful for today’s pumps. They have been talking about a cure since the day I was diagnosed!
That is neat that you have made it this far.1962 was a longtime ago. I am a type1, since 1992…so much injustice in what diabetic goes through and other than family, alone, reminds me of soldiers who fight for our freedom…I hope I don’t offend our service men,woman saying that, but for me, it has been war everyday since that day in 1992…God Bless everyone.
Congratulations!! I heard the same thing in 1973 at my diagnosis. I thought then, who wants to live to be 50? Now I’m 57 and am happy the experts were wrong. We are fortunate to live in these times.
