�� TAKE TIME TO SMELL THE ROSES: MARIA JOHNSON

Photo:� portrait.� Caption:� Maria Johnson

You never know your own strength, until you are tested.

You may think you have a "breaking point," a level of

difficulties you can't handle, a morass from which you can't

escape.� You're probably wrong.

Maria Johnson has diabetes.� She believes it started at

around the age of 12, but she was 15 years old when a nurse

at a birth-control clinic first told her she had high

sugars.� "I couldn't tell my mother I'd been there," she

says.

"I was pregnant with my first son, at the age of 17,

and was diagnosed at that time with insulin-dependent

diabetes," she says.� "My sugars were 550-600 mg/dL.� I was

overwhelmed with medications, diet, and exercise...

"Many people in my family have diabetes," she reports.

"I have a very large family.� My grandmother, father, uncles

and aunts from both sides of the family have diabetes; most

take shots, but some also take pills.� But," she adds, "from

my generation, out of cousins ranging from age 15 to 29, I

am the only one who has it.� They do not know how hard it is

to live with this disease, nor do they ask."

Maria has had a lot of recurring problems.� Some stem

from her diabetes, some don't, but all have to be dealt

with, at the same time.� She has dealt with neuropathy in

the feet and lower legs, retinopathy ("floaters" in both

eyes, and a vitrectomy in February of 1999), frequent yeast

infections (not uncommon for diabetic women), gum disease

(again, not an uncommon complication of diabetes), postural

hypotension, unexplained pain in various parts of her body,

weight gain, hair loss, and nuisance infections.� Add to

these difficulties with her upbringing (her family emigrated

from the Philippines when she was one year old).� But Maria

is not a "quitter."

Maria and husband Terence have two children: Tyler, age

nine, and Tyson, age one (neither of whom have diabetes) .

And she is getting control, going about with her life.

"My health care team now consists of a family

practitioner, an endocrinologist, an ophthalmologist, a

neurologist, a podiatrist, a dentist, and a dermatologist.

I have seen many doctors.� I have changed doctors, when one

did not meet my needs.� I believe that you and your doctor

should have a good relationship, because this is your health

and your life.

"My life has always been hard," she says.� "It still

is.� I try my best to stay positive, but at times I just

can't.� I am writing a book, about my diabetes, about the

stresses of my upbringing.� Some people will never

understand what I've been through, because they've never

walked two miles in my shoes.� When I tell my stories, it

helps me heal."

Maria is determined to carry on with her life:� "I take

care of myself, at least I try.� I take 4 shots a day, and

check my blood sugar five to six times a day.� I've ordered

a MiniMed 508 insulin pump.� I use large-print settings on

my computer screen, I still model, part-time, and I work for

ABC TV as a receptionist/operator."

Maria believes that when you were born, you were

crying, and everyone around you was smiling--so live your

life so that when you die, you're the one who is smiling and

everyone else around you is crying.� Her words of wisdom:

"I almost fell into a coma, exactly one year ago.� My doctor

said I almost died.� Now I take time to smell the roses, and

I try not to sweat the small stuff in my life. Thank you,

and stay healthy."