by Fred Riggers
EDITOR’S NOTE: Fred Riggers is legally blind, and has had diabetes for over 60 years. He spoke at the Annual Seminar of the Diabetes Action Network, in Dallas, TX, in July 2006. Below are some of the highlights of his dynamic speech.
My
name is Fred Riggers. I’m from Nez Perce, Idaho. I’ve had diabetes
60 years. I’m 63 years old.
I remember when I was first diagnosed, nobody around here knew anything about diabetes. I was in a hospital in Lewiston, near Nez Perce, and, they didn’t know anything about it either.
I was sent to a hospital in Seattle, WA—to put me on insulin and get me regulated. Back then, insulin cost less than a dollar a bottle.
When I first started going to school, my mother talked to all the teachers about diabetes and what to look for, in case I had a low blood sugar reaction. Growing up with diabetes, my folks never told me I was different. In school, I was treated the same as everybody else, even though I was the only one in school with diabetes. My folks brought me up believing that I could do anything! So, consequently, I did. I even started driving a tractor when I was ten years old!
I remember boiling, cleaning, and sharpening the needles. Remember how dull the old-style needles were? I started out with urine testing; there were no blood glucose monitors back then. We had regular and long-lasting insulin. I remember protamine zinc was a terrible insulin. It hurt when it went in, and didn’t work very well. It was very erratic. The insulins we have now are so good. I’m on an insulin pump now, so I use Humalog.
The first pumps were the size of television sets, and you had to just sit there. But they started getting smaller, and I kept telling my doctors: “I want one.” I was one of the first to go on one, about 1978. They were still pretty good sized, probably, six, seven inches long, six inches high, and two inches thick. I’ve still got my first pump, upstairs...I couldn’t bring myself to trade it in.
How does one survive with diabetes for over 60 years? Let’s see... I don’t smoke or drink. I made up my mind at 13 or 14 years old, when all the rest of the kids were smoking and drinking, I decided not to smoke. I didn’t like it. Back then, I didn’t realize that not smoking was a real help. Now everyone knows that smoking is really bad for the heart, and the lungs. I’ve been a full-time farmer in Idaho all my life growing small grain, wheat, and barley. Everybody confuses Idaho with Iowa. And no, I didn’t grow potatoes.
Because
I never thought there was a stigma against diabetics, I’ve never been
a “closet
diabetic.” If it’s time for me to run a blood sugar test, I just
stop and do it. If people don’t like to see me taking a shot or running
a blood sugar test, they can leave. That’s their problem, they can leave.
I don’t do things to please other people; I do things so I can live. When
it comes to my diabetes, I’m open about it. The idea is that if I run
into trouble, people will know how to help me.
Living Life to the Fullest
I’ve never considered myself handicapped by being a diabetic. I have done
many things that some diabetics might think are outrageous. I’ve jumped
out of airplanes, I’ve shot on rifle teams, and I’ve played baseball
and football. I’ve even ridden a snowmobile, over 80,000 miles; and I’ve
hunted alone, all my life. Of course, when I’m out by myself, I have to
take extra food with me, and make sure I have my insulin. It becomes just automatic.
Even after losing much of my vision to diabetes, there is not much I won’t
try. If someone tells me I can’t do something; guess who tries it? I just
do it to prove to that person that it can be done. It’s just a matter
of attitude, and I’ve been told I have a big
one!