EXPERIENCES
Wow, have I gotten to experience a lot since
becoming diabetic when I was 11 29 years ago.<br
part of the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study
in which laser treatment to prevent complications
was researched. Part of what they found out was that
the extensive laser I received could be reduced with
the same success. A bit of a pain to find out after
you have lost some vision due to the treatment but
WORTH IT since my other eye got the modified treatment
and I’m sure many of you have too. Ironically the eye
that got the modified treatment is scheduled for a
vitrectomy 4/2 due to a retinal tear and partial detachment
partly caused by scar tissue from the preventative laser
treatment. A word of advise on this. The 1st doctor I saw
said nothing could be done to fix this eye and that it
probably would get worse. Luckily I knew that was wrong
based on what the opthamoligist had told me in Atlanta
(I’m in Maryland now). I went to see another doctor
who said surgery would help me. Always get a 2nd
opinion when you don’t like answers you get. Wish me
luck. This is my “good” eye and I am nervous as
!@##.<br
Keto-Diastix! It’s great to have “real time” info to base
eating/medicating decisions on. For the youngsters who don’t know
the Diastix told you what your’e glucose level was 3
to 4 hours earlier and as we know a lot can change
in that time.<br
month and am happy to say that life is much more
predicatable without the NPH.<br
the National Institute of Health saying they want me
to take some preliminary tests to see if I would be
a good candidate for the islet transplantation
studies using the Edmonton protocol. After reading what
they sent which says that if it does not work the
liklihood of a successful transplant when they do perfect
the technique will be low I was a little uneasy. But
I slept on it and figure that the odds of my
insurance covering this procedure in my lifetime is about
zero so……….. I’m going to take the tests (even
if I have to pay) and then hope they pick me. The
only possible hang up I see is if my kidney function
has deteriorated too much to be part of the
study.<br
again!<br
July 20th, 2003 at 11:33 am
Tom,<br
like you have a positive attitude about it, and since
your first time at being a “guinea pig” is one where
you were pleased with the help you received - I bet
this comes out even better for you!<br
of everyone here I want to say “Thank you” - I know
you are doing this for yourself too, but you will be
able to help all of us, by teaching the researchers.
<br
UGH!! Talk about “learning from the past” - I also
remember that you had to give a “pint of blood” to the
first Glucometers for them to get a reading! HAHAHA!!
Isn’t it amazing how far we have come!!<br
luck & Best Wishes!<br
July 25th, 2003 at 7:30 pm
Hi Tom!<br
see that you have a positive attitude, that’s very
important.<br
very brave! I wish you the very best on this and hope
that you are chosen for the islet transplantation
studies.<br
August 9th, 2003 at 2:06 am
Now that’s a positive attitude! I am glad
everyone is posting because I realize just how lucky I am;
22 years of being diabetic and half of that not
taking care of myself the way I should have and my body
shows no signs of damage from the disease (knock on
wood) — my eyes are fine, low cholesterol, every other
test comes back fine. When I start to feel depressed,
I can just come in and read some of these posts
from those much worse off than I. I commend all of
you.<br
August 9th, 2003 at 5:48 pm
Hi Cheryl, Hi everyone.<br
to see that Diabetes complications didn’t do you any
harm. A good part of my childhood years I was out of
control, and then when I tried to get my sugars under
control, my sugars were like being on a roller coaster. I
guess, all this did cause me some complications. But,
most of my complications are under
control.<br
blood clot in my leg in 1999, I spent two weeks in the
hospital for that. I was told I had pneumonia, and while
doing some tests they found out that I had a blood
clot. Wow, that was scary. I went through some
depressing moments after I came home, it took me months to
recover from that emotionally, and even now I still find
myself thinking about that.<br
lazer surgery for my eyes since I was a kid, but I was
always afraid of having more problems with retinopathy,
I’m so happy that I haven’t had any more problems
with that. I have neuropathy, and I’ve experienced
pain because of it, but not as severe as some people
that I’ve heard about. My kidneys were starting to
have problems when I was a teenager but there has not
been any changes for the worse, which I’m thankful
for.<br
emtying so slowly was, and sometimes still is, a big
problem for me. Autonomic Neuropathy caused this problem.
These days, with the changes in my stomach medications,
things seem to be better.<br
such nice people to share all this with, it does help
to have a place to come to, where we can all help
and support eachother.<br
being a part of this club, I love being able to share
my experiences with all of you.<br
Love to all.<br
August 17th, 2003 at 2:50 pm
Taty:<br
It’s a place where we can all benefit. And there is so
much I’m learning — even after 22 years of this
disease. <br
couple of years ago, and was taking neurontin which
helped tremendously. But, since I have moved away from
all the stresses in my life, I have cut back from 3
pills a day to 1 and I’m not even sure I need that. I
think I was suffering from the anxiety and panic
attacks. Anyway, I know everything is under control now
without that stress I was under.<br
really growing; I was having computer problems and was
gone for a couple of days and WOW I couldn’t believe
the number of new people we had. Great job,
Taty!<br