by Pat Oswald
I, Pat Oswald, of Marysville, Kansas, recently received two medals for having
lived with type 1 diabetes for five decades (50 years). I received recognition
both from the maker of my insulin, the Eli Lilly Company, of Indianapolis, Indiana
(who awarded me the "Lilly for Life 50 Year Insulin Award"), and also
from the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, Massachusetts, that awarded me the
"Joslin 50-Year Medal and Certificate of Achievement."
Fifty years of dealing with diabetes has not been an easy task; but I have done
pretty much everything in life non-diabetics could do: job, family, children.
Sometimes it has meant more finger sticks and a snack, here and there. You do
what you need to do.
Exactly 50 years ago, in November 1953, I was having all the symptoms of diabetes
-- frequent urination, hunger, fatigue, loss of weight, thirst, and I was irritable.
My parents took me to the doctor, a small-town physician, who treated me for
a few weeks for a supposed kidney infection. Since I continued to get worse,
he then did a urinalysis, which showed a lot of sugar. I was diagnosed with
diabetes.
At the time I was diagnosed, I was the only child in the area with diabetes.
I was a child of 12 years, growing up in the rural area near Winside and Carroll,
Nebraska, a place of small farmers, near Norfolk, Nebraska.
In 1955, my parents, Forrest and Bessie Nettleton, took me to Dr. William J.
Lear's office in Norfolk, Nebraska. He was just out of medical college, freshly
trained. Dr. Lear turned out to be one of the many "great doctors"
in my life. He taught me so much, and contributed to my complication-free 50
years with diabetes. Of all the complications, my biggest fear has been that
of losing my eyesight. So far, I have very good eyes and health, thanks, I am
sure, to the good advice of my doctors.
I never feared insulin injections, and I still have my very first insulin kit-the
glass syringe and needles I used back then. We had to boil the syringe and needles
in soft water before each use. My family did not have soft water, so I would
walk 3/4 of a mile to a neighbor's farm, with a gallon jar in hand to get my
supply of soft water from their soft water cistern. The walk was good exercise,
and was part of my treatment.
My parents never gave me an insulin injection. I have done it myself from day
one, except when hospitalized.
At the time I was diagnosed, there were no home glucose monitors. Sugars were
checked with a urinalysis test using five drops of urine, 10 drops of water,
and a pill purchased at the pharmacy. If it boiled to blue, you were negative.
Green meant a trace of sugar and bright orange meant a lot of sugar. Urine tests
measured spillover of sugar from the blood excreted by the kidneys. Home glucose
meters and small finger sticks are much better -- they tell you the amount of
sugar in your blood at that moment. I'd never want to go back to urine tests,
even though blood glucose test are more expensive.
So much has changed since the early days: meal plans, treatments, and technology,
as well as the price we pay for medications and supplies. Diabetes is an individual
disease, and must be treated as such.
Over the 50 years I've had diabetes, what has remained constant is the need
for daily exercise, which I do by walking my treadmill, taking a pleasant walk,
or riding the exercise cycle. My job at the local motel helps as well, since
I do much walking there, and climb steps each day.
My advice to others is to follow your treatment plan, be open with your physician,
ask questions, and be honest with your diabetes care team. Be sure to get an
answer you understand to all your questions.
I have only been hospitalized a couple of times for my diabetes. They were
when I was running a lot of very low blood sugars. My doctor could not get me
regulated, so I was sent to a diabetes treatment center in Wichita, Kansas.
There I was re-evaluated, and steered back into good control. Such problems
can occur in life's changes.
Diabetes has made me a stronger person. It has been a daily challenge, and has
helped me learn how to cope with living. Diabetes is much easier to control
now than it was 50 years ago. There were no sugar-free foods then, nor sugar
substitutes for sweetener, except saccharin, which tasted awful. Much more is
known now, about diet, exercise, and diabetes control, than was known in my
rural area in 1953.
Family support has been a big plus all my life. We have always eaten foods that
fit into my meal plan and ate on time.
You could say diabetes is "popular" in my family. My great-grandmother,
on my dad's side of the family, had diabetes. Five of his sisters had it. One
had type 1, and the others had type 2. My husband, Ed, has type 2. Douglas,
the elder of our two sons, has had type 1 since age 14 (almost 29 years). Daniel,
our younger, doesn't have it.
We also have a pet cat living with diabetes. I give him two insulin injections
per day, and monitor his food intake.
There is so much to be thankful for. Most of it is what people take for granted,
but I've learned to appreciate. And I keep busy. I work five to six days a week
for 7-1/2 to 8 hours a day, plus home upkeep -- canning, mowing, etc.
Over the years, I served as Marshall County Diabetes Chapter American Diabetes
President. I set up monthly meetings, an annual fund-raising bike ride and walk,
and annual seminars with diabetes specialists presenting the day's program.
I was president for about 15 years (The chapter is no longer going).
I do have much to be thankful for. And I'm far from finished with the list.