69 YEARS WITH DIABETES:� HAROLD FELENDER

Photo:� portrait.� Caption:� Harold Felender

"I was born October� 19, 1918.� I can't remember

exactly when I was diagnosed with diabetes--I believe I was

12 or 13 years old.� I was very young, and I'm 81 now.� I

went into the hospital at Christmastime, but I don't

remember which year.� I've had diabetes at least 69 years...

It could be even more.

A little incident in that hospital sounds funny now.

First I went to the clinic, and from there they sent me to

the hospital.� It was Christmastime, then.� My diet was so

restricted...� They served me a tray with a little ornament-

-a gumdrop and one of those candy bubble ornaments.� I ate

the whole thing!� I was so hungry I ate anything that was

around.� It was kind of cute.� You weren't supposed to eat

that kind of thing--I found that out later.

I wasn't in a coma, yet.� I urinated a lot, all the

normal symptoms of new diabetes.� Fortunately, they got me

OK before I passed out or anything.

I was taught, there in the hospital, how to give myself

shots.� My mother had tuberculosis, so she was not at home,

and my grandmother was there but she didn't know too much

about those things, so I had to do everything myself.� The

hospital staff taught me...� I think they used an orange or

a grapefruit for me to put the needle into, just to get the

feel of it.

I ate a lot of oranges in the evenings, back when I was

young.� That was my bad time--lots of hypos--and we would

buy dozens of oranges and I would eat them quite a bit.

Oranges used to be a pretty standard thing to get you back

up.� I couldn't use any sugar back then.� But I used to slip

a bit into my coffee to give it a little flavor, you know.

I started out with three shots a day (there was only

Regular insulin, those days).� I was going to school, so

they took that into consideration, and shifted me to two

shots, morning and night.� Now I'm on a sliding scale

besides two shots a day.� Now I use the Ultralente for

morning and night and in between, on a sliding scale, I use

Humalog.

You know, I was a Boy Scout.� I made Senior Patrol

Leader, and even went on an overnight, sleeping in a pup

tent, with my insulin.

My sugars fluctuate too much, now.� They call it

"brittle diabetes."� My numbers can go from 350 down to 80

or 70, and I won't feel any different.� I don't really know

why all this happens.� Sometimes, you do a lot of exercise

or something and you know that will help bring it down.� But

I found out later that when the sugar was high to start

with, exercising could make it even higher.� (Editor's Note:

Doctors advise caution starting physical exercise with a

blood sugar reading of 250mg/dL or higher.� Diabetics should

consult with their health care team before beginning an

exercise program.)

I was strict on my diet.� I didn't eat sugar.� That was

the main thing.� As far as everything else, I would eat most

any food that didn't have added sugar.� I ate within reason,

I didn't measure anything.� The hospital put me on an 1800-

calorie diet and that seemed to be plenty for me.� They

increased it to 2000,� I think, when I got married.

Of course when they released saccharin for diabetics

that was really great.� I've used that for over 30 years.� I

still use it as a sweetener.�

My wife, Beatrice, and I had three children.� Those

were the days when they thought it wasn't too wise for a

diabetic to have children.� But we went ahead and we have

three lovely children.� My wife passed away two years ago.

She had cancer.

My oldest is Donna.� My son, Duane, was next.� And the

baby is Elizabeth.� They are all married and have their own

children.� The first was born in '41.� One about four years

later and the last one was four or five years after that.

My oldest, Donna, is the one who takes care of me all the

time.� The youngest daughter is in South Carolina so she's

out of the picture.� My son is in Simi Valley, California,

but he has to work all the time, so he comes in the evenings

and during the weekend sometimes, and we go to dinner.� But

my daughter is here every week and calls me every day.

From the Editor:� Daughter Donna describes her father

as "amazing... strong in mind and body, someone who figures

things out.� Diabetes never seemed to interfere with any

part of his life," she says.� "I have diabetes as well, and

he has been a role model--I look at him, and know I'll be

all right."

To keep track of my diabetes, in those early days

(Harold continues), I regularly tested my urine.� I didn't

have to use the test you boiled over a Bunsen burner.� I had

strips you dip into the urine, then look at the color.

That's what I used for a long time.

When I was young, my diabetes seemed to be under

control.� Once we first got married, my wife, Beatrice, took

over my diabetes management.� She was really excellent.� She

watched everything.� I didn't have to do a thing.� I

depended on her, and that's what made it so difficult when

she passed away.� I didn't know anything.� I had to learn

everything again.

I started out as a sheet-metal worker, making aircraft.

That was another thing.� Jobs were scarce at the time and

just before I got married I went to North American Aviation

two times.� And they didn't hire me.� But then I went to an

air conditioning school, that agreed to find me a job.� When

I finished the school, they sent me back to North American,

and I got the job.� I had diabetes, but in those days you

didn't advertise it too much.� So that's one reason I guess,

they did take me on.

In 1970, when only our youngest daughter, Elizabeth,

was still living at home, she decided she wanted to attend

college in Israel.� Not taking it seriously, I told her we

could not afford to send her, but that if she could find me

a job there, we would all move to Israel, so she could

attend the college.� I thought that a fair offer, as I was

working for Rockwell Rocketdyne, and had 33 years of

seniority at the time.

A few months later, I received a formal questionnaire

from Israel.� I completed and returned it, and shortly

received a 3-year contract from Israel Aircraft Industries,

which would also pay our moving and transportation both

there and back to the U.S.A.� This would be a great

adventure.

Once we arrived in Israel, our first emergency was

finding out that the only insulin Israel produced was U-40,

far less concentrated than my U-100.� Plus, the insulin

types I was using were unavailable.� We immediately had my

company wire New York, and had some insulin flown in.� This

was expensive.

The next thing we found was that their syringes had a

needle about 1/16 inch diameter--big!� The people using them

had a scab each time, but didn't know any different.� We had

my daughter Donna, in the U.S.A., send us the needles I

needed, and later we found drugstores that imported the

insulin I needed.� All this went on while I was working with

the Westwind business jet.

As I was working all day, my wife Beatrice had to do

all the running around, on the bus (we didn't get a car

until later).� Finding different drugstores, in a strange

town and different language, she earned more than her pay

then.

I joined Lodge #51 of the Free and Accepted Masons,

there in Israel, and stayed involved with them.� When we

returned to the U.S.A. in 1980, we transferred to a Masonic

Lodge near where we lived, in Canoga Park, California.� When

I moved to Coldwater North Co-Op, North Hollywood, I

transferred to Beverly Hills Lodge #528, and went through

the stations, becoming Master of the Lodge in 1991.

Now, it's much easier for a diabetic to get jobs.� Some

companies are still restrictive, but generally� it's easier

all around.� Of course, I'm Jewish, and I had more trouble

getting a job being Jewish when I first started than having

the diabetes!� But, that's another story.� I ended up

professionally as a quality assurance engineer.� I was a job

shopper the last five years I worked.� It's higher than an

inspector.� It was for metal work, but I worked in

electronics, too.� Some people say I had too much experience

for the years that I worked.

I have a lot of friends and family, not close, but

distant, who have diabetes, and who thought it was a joke.

They would take some beer sometime or would eat chocolate

bars sometime, and they paid the price--the side effects of

diabetes.� In the end, it killed some of them--the side

effects.� I would say definitely to watch the diet.� That's

the important thing.� The exercise?� I never believed in

tying myself down to a routine of exercise which I knew

every day I wouldn't be doing.� But some exercise is

definitely good.� And they say walking is the easiest thing,

which I used to do.� I used to walk three miles in about 45

minutes which is about three miles an hour, not fast.

I am having some problems now.� I haven't had any

amputations or anything like that.� I'm passing out from the

low blood sugar reactions.� I don't have any warning, I

don't feel anything's coming, but out I go.� Like Saturday

night here.� We went out for lunch and finished about 3:00.

And about 7:00, I came in to take a test at home and my

meter said "error."� So I tried it again and it said "error"

again.� The third time I really watched everything I was

doing to be sure I wasn't doing anything wrong and it said

"error" for the third time.� I went to get my manual, and I

passed out.

I test six to eight times a day.� I have to now.� It

fluctuates so much and I pass out so easy that I have to be

more careful.� (Editor's Note:� The "hypoglycemia

unawareness" Mr. Felender describes is not uncommon, and the

actions he takes in response, to test more often and be more

careful, are the correct ones.)

The people who have diabetes, they don't have to worry

about being so exact and everything, you know.� It isn't

torture to have it.� It's just if they stay away from foods

with sugars.� Now that everything is marked, it's much

easier.� If something has more than 2 grams of sugar, I

don't use it except for special purposes.� I control it that

way.� I try to use zero sugars in all the foods I eat.

From the Editor:� Although the concept of "diabetic

diet" has moved on from "no sugar" to meal planning that

controls the entire food intake, allowing sugar in

moderation while limiting fat intake, Mr. Felender is right,

it is important to stick to your diet, and to test blood

glucose regularly.� He is to be congratulated for his

diligence, and for doing so well.��