My little sister, Starlight Melody, has the same wish each and every night she goes to bed. (She is 11.)
She wishes a cure for diabetes could be found.
See, she happens to BE diabetic. She's had diabetes since she was five. (She's now had it 6 years, and it often makes her feel cruddy a lot of the time.) She has the juvenile form of the disease, and she has to take insulin injections twice a day because her pancreas (which produces insulin, which acts as a neutralizer for the body to break down sugar from foods) doesn't produce enough insulin. Instead, her body produces TOO LITTLE of the insulin, and she has problems as a result. Her blood sugar often goes out of whack, causing her to feel dizzy and weak (especially if she has a "reaction"), and she is slower to heal from sicknesses like the flu or colds, and whenever she cuts herself, they don't heal as fast as most people's. If her blood sugar goes too high she can go into a diabetic coma, and have seizures; if it's too low she can just pass out. Either way, she needs help--and FAST.
Starlight HAS passed out on numerous occasions due to her insulin levels being abnormally high or low, and she has even had a seizure or two. We've had to call 9-1-1 for an ambulance on more than one occasion because of this. She's also had to go into the hospital until her blood sugar levels are straightened out. She is restricted in her diet; she can't have sweets or foods that have a higher sugar content; these seem to mess with her blood sugar levels as well, and besides, they are DANGEROUS for people like her. She can only eat healthy foods, and if she DOES have anything in the way of "sweets" she can only have LOW SUGAR or LOW CALORIE foods. Besides having her shots twice a day (one in the morning, before she eats, and at night, when she goes to bed), she also has to regularly test her blood sugar by means of a glucometer, which is a machine that registers the level of her blood sugar; she can tell if it's too high, too low, or just about right just by sticking her finger or just by the way she feels. If she feels cruddy she knows it's too high or too low, and she can adjust her food intake based on the readings from the glucometer. If it's a reaction she is having we can give her a regular candy bar or a can of orange or apple juice to get her body the sugar she so desperately needs at that moment; and we have saved her life many times by doing this. We know the symptoms of a diabetic reaction (cold, clammy skin, profuse sweating, weakness, dizziness, confusion, etc.), and we know what to do for Starlight whenever she exhibits any of the above symptoms.
The same also can be said whenever she's gone into a coma; and when she does we give her glucogen by injection; which brings her out of the coma in a hurry; we then take her to the docor, and he usually puts her into the hospital overnight, just so he can watch her closely, to make sure she is going to be okay.
Because of her diabetes, Starlight has had to make many sacrifices in her young life: no sweets or junk food, only low cal foods, get plenty of rest and exercise, regular checkups..not a really "normal" type of childhood, if you ask me. But one she's gotten used to, nevertheless.
She has no choice in that situation. It could be fatal if she falls from her diabetic routine.
Especially since, when she gets older, she is now prone to heart or kidney disease, stroke, aneurysms, or any other life-threatening situation. And she could also be prone to things like clots, which coud also kill her if the clot decides to break off and go to her heart, lungs, or brain.
Not a fun-sounding life, if you ask me....
Especially to a fun-loving, happy-go-lucky little 11-year-old girl like my little sister.
I just hope she lives to the day when a cure for diabetes IS finally found!!!!
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Dedicated to my daddy who was diagnosed with diabetes last year (in his 70s!), and to the memory of mom, who died 12 years ago from brittle diabetes at the age of 59 1/2 (she would have been 72 last month), and to all of my friends who suffer so needlessly from this terrible disease. Godspeed to each and every one of you!
May a cure for diabetes be found--SOON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love and Prayers to y'all,
Karen Lynn Vidra, Burleson, Texas.
I understand. I am the adult child of parents who had (have) diabetes. I know just what it's like for these courageous people. Let's keep ALL diabetes sufferers in our prayers!!
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