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Newly diagnosed T1 and finding it hard to adjust
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<blockquote data-quote="Scott-C" data-source="post: 1446631" data-attributes="member: 374531"><p>Hi [USER=394996]@HLC2017[/USER] , it takes time to get used to it. You'll go through a riot of emotions, but after a while, you'll learn the rules, what works, what doesn't, and it eventually becomes just a bit of a nuisance which you can handle.</p><p></p><p>I see you're an historian of science. There's a book which is maybe a bit too pop-science for your level but read it anyway: Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, the discovery of insulin, and the making of a medical miracle, by Thea Cooper and Arthur Gainsberg. Their editors should really have shortened the title a bit (!), but I took a few points from it:</p><p></p><p>First, this is a savage disease which killed pre-discovery of insulin. T1s before 1922 would be overjoyed to have the facilities we have now, so I'm never going to complain about the odd hypo/hyper here and there when I know that the pre-1922 alternative was death.</p><p></p><p>You only need to look at some before and after pics to appreciate that, all things considered, we're remarkably lucky:</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]22684[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p>Second, the girl in the title, Elizabeth Hughes was one of the first people in America to get insulin. The authors found a letter she wrote to her parents when she was 14. She'd been looked after constantly by her nurse on a starvation diet, but decides she is going to do it herself. She writes about doing her first injection. She says she is going to be, "the captain of her own ship". It's a bit cheesy and 14 yr old pretentious, but she then goes on to describe how she has decided to "manage the target practice", "boiled the gun", "fired the first shot heard around the world (my world that is)". That kid stepped up to the plate in days when needles had to be manually sharpened, syringes boiled, glucose measuring was more or less guesswork, as was the potency of insulin. She called hypos, "the feels", and sorted them with molasses, "a kiss". She died in her seventies, unrelated to diabetes.</p><p></p><p>Also, google Eva Saxl. Bit more history for you. Made her own insulin from water buffalo pancreases in a make shift lab in a Shanghai basement <em>during a war</em>. As opposed to us, who just need to go to the chemist!</p><p></p><p>I've had spells when I've deeply resented T1, but I think of it now as my immune system having done a bit of accidental friendly fire on my beta cells, mistake forgiven, so I just need to pick up the slack, and do the work myself instead. Instead of looking at it as an enemy, it's something I <em>co-operate </em>with, even if it can be a bit unruly at times. Sure, it's a coping mechanism, but we all need those at times. I just find it gives me a lot of peace of mind to think about it that way, instead of the idea that I'm in a constant war.</p><p></p><p>Best of luck, you'll figure it out.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Scott-C, post: 1446631, member: 374531"] Hi [USER=394996]@HLC2017[/USER] , it takes time to get used to it. You'll go through a riot of emotions, but after a while, you'll learn the rules, what works, what doesn't, and it eventually becomes just a bit of a nuisance which you can handle. I see you're an historian of science. There's a book which is maybe a bit too pop-science for your level but read it anyway: Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, the discovery of insulin, and the making of a medical miracle, by Thea Cooper and Arthur Gainsberg. Their editors should really have shortened the title a bit (!), but I took a few points from it: First, this is a savage disease which killed pre-discovery of insulin. T1s before 1922 would be overjoyed to have the facilities we have now, so I'm never going to complain about the odd hypo/hyper here and there when I know that the pre-1922 alternative was death. You only need to look at some before and after pics to appreciate that, all things considered, we're remarkably lucky: [ATTACH=full]22684[/ATTACH] Second, the girl in the title, Elizabeth Hughes was one of the first people in America to get insulin. The authors found a letter she wrote to her parents when she was 14. She'd been looked after constantly by her nurse on a starvation diet, but decides she is going to do it herself. She writes about doing her first injection. She says she is going to be, "the captain of her own ship". It's a bit cheesy and 14 yr old pretentious, but she then goes on to describe how she has decided to "manage the target practice", "boiled the gun", "fired the first shot heard around the world (my world that is)". That kid stepped up to the plate in days when needles had to be manually sharpened, syringes boiled, glucose measuring was more or less guesswork, as was the potency of insulin. She called hypos, "the feels", and sorted them with molasses, "a kiss". She died in her seventies, unrelated to diabetes. Also, google Eva Saxl. Bit more history for you. Made her own insulin from water buffalo pancreases in a make shift lab in a Shanghai basement [I]during a war[/I]. As opposed to us, who just need to go to the chemist! I've had spells when I've deeply resented T1, but I think of it now as my immune system having done a bit of accidental friendly fire on my beta cells, mistake forgiven, so I just need to pick up the slack, and do the work myself instead. Instead of looking at it as an enemy, it's something I [I]co-operate [/I]with, even if it can be a bit unruly at times. Sure, it's a coping mechanism, but we all need those at times. I just find it gives me a lot of peace of mind to think about it that way, instead of the idea that I'm in a constant war. Best of luck, you'll figure it out. [/QUOTE]
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