Part of a community...

Part of a community...

______When I was first diagnosed (7 May 2004), I thought I was unusual but certainly not unique. I felt like part of a small culture, To paraphrase Stalin “one diabetic is a tragety but a million is a old monster was referring to murders.) I really didn’t have any right to feel unusual given the large number of “we provide supplies for diabetics” ads but I. Admittedly, these were for blood sugar meters but it brought the realization that diabetes was not a problem. I didn’t know very many people who were diabetic and didn’t realize how many were “type two”.
______I didn’t even know that “type two” even existed!
______Within a couple of months, I found out my Father-In-Law (a very slender man) was a type two and had been on Metformin for years. In September 2004, my brother Jim told me he was diagnosed as “pre-diabetic” and advised me to ask my MD if I was “pre-diabetic”. I asked him if he “was on metformin” and he promptly read between the lines and told me “I need to know if you’ve been diagnosed as diabetic” [or words to that effect]. I said “yes” and he strongly advised me to tell my Mother and my brothers. She was not thrilled and certainly did not seem surprised.
______I went to a meeting of the Dodge City Diabetic Support Group in fall of 2004 but haven’t been back since. They meet the Third Thursday of each month at the local hospital at 7:15 PM. I am either working at 7:15 PM (and no my boss won’t give me “sick leave” to attend!) or I’ve already gone to bed since I’m getting up at 3:15 am to leave for work...
______I went to a Diabetic Support Meeting in October and met a lot of folks whom I didn’t know were diabetic. It was quite revealing...
______This past weekend, (yesterday), we were at a Loins District Convention and we ate “breakfast” with some friends. She said “he” (her spouse) was using “something”. It was a diabetic treatment I’d never heard of; I asked and he said he’d been on Metformin for five months before he had to go to an injectable drug. “Oh, shit!” I thought, will I be going to the needle myself?
______Another person, Anna, said she had started treatment several months ago. She was using “Byetta” and spoke of it with a convert’s zeal. She urged me to ask my MD about Byetta. She didn’t use any pills but went straight on Byetta and said it really helped her control her blood sugar and lose weight (Anna can be subtle about getting a point across!)
______I started looking around the room and wondered how many diabetics were out there. From the talk I’d heard whilst getting my “good snack”, I got the feeling there were a lot. I am become a statistic! (This is a paraphrase of the last line of the brilliant “I Am Legend” hy Richard Methason or so I recall it....)