Catherine Lawrence celebrates 50 years of living with type 1 on Divabetic’s 9th Year Anniversary podcast with music from P!nk.

Below, Catherine shares her successes as well as a few stumbles from living life with type 1 diabetes to the fullest! Tune in to hear her full interview .

Catherine Lawrence’s 5 Decades of Diabetes

1^st Decade – Age 9-19

I was 9 years old when I was diagnosed [with type 1 diabetes] and it was very traumatic, not just for me but for my mother as well.  I remembered that it took two aides at the hospital to hold me down for my very first blood test. You can just imagine a 9-year-old seeing a huge needle coming at her.

I remember asking the nurse why I had to get up so early in the morning and go down the hall to do my urine test when the young boy, around my age, across the hall just had to put his urine in a container and the test was done for him.  The nurse explained that he had had diabetes longer than I had and already knew how.  BUMMER! I ended up spending 1 month in the hospital learning everything.

Speaking of testing, way back then, 1969, we were using test tubes, drops of urine and water and then put a Clinitest tablet into the tube to get a certain color.  Blue (negative for sugar) was the best and brown (very positive for sugar) was the worst.  And, that is how I had to do ALL my urine tests for the next well over 10 years or so. This was not something I could carry in my purse.  But, being so young, thankfully I was not going out many places except for school and to play.  These urine tests always put quite a bit of stress on me as I tended to get the “brown” color a lot.  Blue would please me to no end!  My endocrinologist called me “brittle.”

In the early years, it was so hard NOT to want to eat the things I liked so much, such as candy, cookies and esp. birthday cake.  I wanted to be just like all the other kids and eat the same things they did.  There were no sugar free items available on the grocery shelves that I could eat.  Fresca, Tab and then sugar free Shasta was available to drink which made me very happy!  It was also hard for my mother because I had a twin sister and brother who were not diabetic, and she had to try to keep their sweets from me.

Sometimes I filled my syringe in the morning with insulin then went to my room and just squeezed it all out onto the rug because I had a very hard time with giving myself injections.  The doctor did not want my mother to do it for me cause I needed to learn to take care of myself.  Most times I would sit for what seemed like an eternity, and just stare at the pinched skin of my thigh in my left hand and the syringe in my right and wait for the courage to plunge it into myself.  I struggled quite a bit with all of it in that 1^st decade and I was in a state of denial for quite some time.

There was so much to learn, and it was all so overwhelming at such a young age, but I am grateful I had such an awesome endocrinologist, and even though my family was learning along the way with me, they were supportive and helpful.  I guess we all learned together that 1^st decade.

2^nd Decade – Age 19-29

Getting older led to working and getting out more socially, such as dating, going to a movie or out dancing, etc. and this created a new set of problems.  I believe by then they had test strips that you could carry in your purse and urinate on in the bathroom and compare it to a color chart on the bottle.  That was a big improvement as it provided the freedom to go out, be with my friends and do more things, but it still didn’t provide a precise picture of my blood sugar levels.  It was hard being in my 20’s, working, partying and constantly wondering what my blood sugars were.  I was still learning how to “listen” to my body and differentiate between the low and high blood sugars and dealing with the frequency of the swings between the two.  Many times when my body was trying to e me something was wrong, I would either ignore my symptoms and avoid doing a blood test or I didn’t trust the symptoms and would tell myself I was just sleepy or that the anger I felt was due to some external pressure.  It took a noticeable change in my behavior or and obvious physical change to take place to provide a clue to those around me that I needed help.  Not knowing exactly ALL the time what my blood sugar was and feeling either sleepy or angry was extremely frustrating.  Then the very first blood glucose meter was on the market I was thrilled!  It was quite large, about as big as a small purse and I had to carry it over my shoulder!  However, I was so grateful for this as it provided a clear picture of what was going on with my blood sugars and was making my life less stressful.  I still had the swings in my blood sugar levels but at least now I knew exactly where the levels were and could attend to them immediately and properly.

I learned the hard way about one of the many complications of diabetes when I was studying to be a surgical tech in my early 20’s.  I was having a good deal of trouble reading the board and taking notes.  I went to an ophthalmologist, thinking I would just need a prescription for glasses, but he instead diagnosed me with diabetic retinopathy.  He told me I would need laser therapy in order to try to save my vision.  I was so frightened about the actual laser treatment and whether this would save my sight or not.  I had to drop out of school due to treatment and recovery time.  The laser treatment consisted of 4500 laser burns in one eye and 1500 in the other one.  I was so blessed to have an excellent doctor who saved my vision!  I have not had one bleeding vessel in either eye since then.

I met a young man in my mid 20’s whom I taught about the disease, its complications and daily proper care.  He learned quickly how to give me a test, what physical signs to look for and their meanings and even how to give an injection.  He helped me a great deal.  At age 28 we married and have been now for 30 years.

3^rd Decade – Age 29-39

Life was getting better with my diabetes.  I was more in tune with what was going on with my body and blood testing had gotten SO MUCH better.  I was able to know, in real time, what my blood sugars were and that was an immense step forward for me, and ALL diabetics.  I was learning more and more about the complications and the various ways I could prevent some of them.

When I was 39, I discovered the insulin pump.  It WAS A LIFE SAVER.  I still wear it today.  No more injections, except to change my site, and having ready access to giving myself insulin when my blood sugar is high and to be able to cover the carbohydrates that I eat at meals, WITHOUT HAVING TO INJECT insulin is amazing.  Just the fact that I did NOT need to carry insulin and syringes around with me was such a relief.  Just because someone has an insulin pump DOES NOT mean your diabetes is out of control, it is just the opposite – helping to keep it more under control.

TESTING, TESTING, TESTING of one’s blood sugar is of upmost importance to any diabetic, but especially to one that wears an insulin pump.  And I did at least 8-10 blood sticks a day to keep track.  Someone on an insulin pump needs to be able to do at least 8 tests a day to keep track of the fast-acting insulin that is being given to the body throughout a 24-hour period.  I was, and am, very fortunate to have an excellent Certified Diabetes Educator to help me.

4^th Decade – Age 39-49

Some years later more complications began to surface.  I began to have stomach issues which led to ER visits.  Gastroparesis was thought to be the culprit, but luckily for me testing confirmed it was not.  Through trial and error my Gastroenterologist finally found a medicine that has seemed to help with symptoms.  I had cataracts in both eyes removed which was caused by the diabetes.  I have stage 1 kidney disease but am doing very well with that.  It has stayed at that stage for quite some time now due to not only a medicine but by also drinking a ton of water every day.  My heart is okay for now, but, as the doctor says, “I have some rust in my pipes” and that is also due to the diabetes.  

5^th Decade – Age 49-59

Well, after still dealing with the swings of blood sugar levels, I finally decided it was time to try a CGM, continuous glucose monitor.  I have recently begun to use this tool and it has proven to be extremely useful for me, especially at night.  It has an alarm which will sound when it reaches the parameters I have set for high and low blood sugar numbers.  This provides a much tighter control throughout the day and MOST IMPORTANTLY the alarm wakes me at night so I don’t have the fear of dangerous levels that may go unchecked.  It is not “real” time, but it comes very close to the actual number and it also shows me whether my level is stable or headed up or down.  Now, this was initially stressful for me as I was seeing what my numbers are constantly throughout the day.  I would get so upset to see it going either high or low.  It was hard in the beginning to see all those numbers and that just added stress which just sent my levels even higher!  Argh!  It has been a learning curve and my endocrinologist told me I have always HAD these number, I just never saw them.  My CDE said that your blood sugar can change as fast as your blood pressure.  Always learning something new about diabetes!

Living for 50 years with diabetes is just amazing to me, considering I was not always the best diabetic I could have been.  I fought it constantly, and still do to certain degree.  Diabetes can be CONTROLLED, but you must learn all you can about proper diet, consisting especially of portion controls of your food, exercise and stay aware of what is going on with your body.  That is why I always tell other diabetics about the importance of testing blood sugars.  Doctors also need to be able to let their patients do more than 4 blood tests a day!  That simply is not enough.  I am a volunteer at my local hospital, in the Diabetes Management Center, and we see a lot of Type II diabetics.  I have to say that I’m grateful I am a Type I diabetic, as I grew up with it and became used to the diabetic way of life.  I believe it is much more difficult to be diagnosed later in life and then be forced to abruptly make all the necessary changes to diet, lifestyle, etc.  I see all the time how hard it is for some Type II’s to handle.  Continued research is so important for advances in care and control and, at the very least, I hope research continues with implantable insulin pumps as I know technology can and should do this!  Check out the non-profit called the Implantable Insulin Pump Foundation.  The diabetic community needs to push for this research!  

Nevertheless, living with diabetes has been, and continues to be and “adventure”.  I continue to read all I can to keep up to date with all the latest information, ideas, advances, etc. and my endocrinologist and the Center where I volunteer are excellent sources of help and formation.  Every diabetic needs to be their own advocate at every doctor’s visit and ask as many questions as possible.  There are NO stupid questions.  AND, ABOVE ALL, DO YOUR BLOOD TESTS!!!!  They can save your life.  The future ahead looks very promising for a diabetic, and so long as a diabetic follows ALLL his or her doctor’s orders, and stays as active as possible, it CAN work.  There will always be complications, but so many of them can be prevented with good care of your disease.  There is so much promise out there and I’m looking forward to living to see all the changes!

GLAM MORE FEAR LESS! Share your experiences of living with diabetes and mark a milestone with us on Diabetes Late Nite. To be a guest on Divabetic’s podcast e-mail Mr. Divabetic at: mrdivabetic@gmail.com

Listen to Divabetic’s 9th Year Anniversary podcast with musical inspiration from P!nk. Guests include Beyond Type 2’s T’ara Smith, Catherine Lawrence , Dr. Sara (Mandy) Reece PHARMD, CDE, BC-ADM, BCACP, FAADE, Poet Lorraine Brooks, Glamazon Beauty owner Kim Baker, and the Charlie’s Angels of Outreach. Hosted by the happiest health care “MC,” Max “Mr. Divabetic” Szadek.