thoma@reed.UUCP (Ann Muir Thomas) (03/23/85)
*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** Hello, I have a new subject which I'm hoping you may have time to respond to: I have type I (juvenile) diabetes, under moderately good control, and am currently in my 3rd year at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. A lot of people(non-medically trained, non-diabetics) here have called me "crazy" for having an educational/career goal (B.A. and, if things work out, grad. school in chemistry) since I am technically handicapped. Others admire my determination to buck the odds and pursue my goal anyway. Their opinions aside, I'm determined to get that degree, and get employed. Do any of you have any suggestions to improve my chances? I'm especially interested in how one deals with telling professors, potential employers, etc. that one is NOT what is considered "normally healthy" and yes, that it CAN interfere with ability to perform, but that *I* think I'm worth the risk. Replies? Respectfully yours, Ann Muir-Thomas
gary@rochester.UUCP (Gary Cottrell) (03/26/85)
In article <1151@reed.UUCP> thoma@reed.UUCP (Ann Muir Thomas) writes: >*** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR MESSAGE *** >Hello, I have a new subject which I'm hoping you may have time to respond >to: >I have type I (juvenile) diabetes, under moderately good control, and am >currently in my 3rd year at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. A lot of >people(non-medically trained, non-diabetics) here have called me "crazy" >for having an educational/career goal (B.A. and, if things work out, grad. >school in chemistry) since I am technically handicapped. .... >how one deals with telling professors, potential employers, etc. that one >is NOT what is considered "normally healthy" and yes, that it CAN interfere >with ability to perform, but that *I* think I'm worth the risk. > > Ann Muir-Thomas I'm not sure why you think you are handicapped, and why you think diabetes will affect your performance. Is juvenile diabetes worse than other types? My uncle was the first male diabetic in the US to receive insulin. My grandfather was a doctor in Auburn, NY, and my uncle was about 14 when he got diabetes. In those days you died from it, but my grandfather took him up to Toronto where they were experimenting with insulin, had them "experiment" on my uncle (his son) and it saved his life. He just died last year at the age of 72 after a lifetime as a chemist. He graduated first in his class from Syracuse University, and although a cranky SOB, he was always smart as a whip. Again, I don't know what type of diabetes he had and what type you have, but it is unclear to me that it should even come up in conversation with professors, et al., unless you are, in fact, debilitated by it. gary cottrell (allegra or seismo)!rochester!gary (UUCP) gary@rochester (ARPA)
lindley@ut-ngp.UUCP (John L. Templer) (03/27/85)
In article <1151@reed.UUCP> thoma@reed.UUCP (Ann Muir Thomas) writes: > > Hello, I have a new subject which I'm hoping you may have time to > > respond to: I have type I diabetes, under moderately good control, and > > am currently in my 3rd year at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. A lot > > of people here have called me "crazy" for having an educational/career > > goal since I am technically handicapped. > > .... > > how one deals with telling professors, potential employers, etc. that > > one is NOT what is considered "normally healthy" and yes, that it CAN > > interfere with ability to perform, but that *I* think I'm worth the > > risk. In article <7598@rochester.UUCP> gary@rochester.UUCP (Gary Cottrell) writes: > I'm not sure why you think you are handicapped, and why you think > diabetes will affect your performance. Is juvenile diabetes worse than > other types? > .... > Again, I don't know what type of diabetes he had and what type you > have, but it is unclear to me that it should even come up in > conversation with professors, et al., unless you are, in fact, > debilitated by it. Sorry, but I just couldn't let this one pass. Yes, it should make no difference to your employer or proffesor, but it often does. My sister and brother both have juvenile diabetes, and they often find that people don't know how to treat them. People think that they have to treat them as if they were somehow "fragile", always asking them "do you think you should be doing that?", or what's worse, suggesting some activity, and *then* remarking "Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot you're diabetic." Another reaction comes from professors who refuse to believe that Lacinda is not "shirking off" when she has to miss class because her blood sugar has gone high. One idiot of a vice-principal at a high school we went to kept insisting on turning her in as truant unless she brought a signed note from the doctor each time she was absent. And of course there are the fun facts that diabetics face a much higher risk of going blind, that they are overly sensitive to infectious diseases, and that when their blood-sugar goes up too high, they become very grouchy. Sorry Gary, if I sounded a little irittated. I am, but it wasn't directed at you. And Ann, good luck on your degree. Maybe you can convince some of those who doubt you should be in college by doing better than them! -- John L. Templer University of Texas at Austin {allegra,gatech,seismo!ut-sally,vortex}!ut-ngp!lindley "Freedom's just another word for nothin' left to lose."
werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) (03/28/85)
> I have type I (juvenile) diabetes, under moderately good control, and am
A tangentially related but hopefully enlightening story:
(These are both adult onset diabetes, but I hope the moral is there)
(If the descriptions seem short, its because I really shouldn't be
discussing patient histories, but I think the cause is good)
I recently took a medical history of an elderly man with complications
related to diabetes of long standing. It was diagnosed in 1965.
He is currently living at home, with his three sons, all in high
school, the oldest being 17.
[OK, now do the arithmetic. He's had diabetes three years longer
than sons.]
Anecdote 2: I recently sat in on a checkup of a 81 yr. old woman who had
been diagnosed as being diabetic in 1944 (40 years ago), and had been insulin
dependent for 15 years. Her complaint on that day was stiffness of the hip.
My message: Keep up hope. If its under control, you most likely will
have a long life ahead of you. Also, with Medical Science going at breakneck
pace, better ways of treating Diabetes might arise.
--
Craig Werner
!philabs!aecom!werner
What do you expect? Watermelons are out of season!mef@wucs.UUCP (Mark Frisse) (03/28/85)
> Hello, I have a new subject which I'm hoping you may have time to respond > to: > I have type I (juvenile) diabetes, under moderately good control, and am > currently in my 3rd year at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. A lot of > people(non-medically trained, non-diabetics) here have called me "crazy" > for having an educational/career goal (B.A. and, if things work out, grad. > school in chemistry) since I am technically handicapped. Others admire my > determination to buck the odds and pursue my goal anyway. Their opinions > aside, I'm determined to get that degree, and get employed. Do any of you > have any suggestions to improve my chances? Try by example, at Washington University, I know of several associate professors with type I DM (some with proliferative retinopathy) and also know of full professors who take insulin injections regularly. I am sure your local American Diabetic Assoc. Chapter can give you some help on this. By the way, I'd strongly recommend controlling your diabetes as "tightly" as is possible given your hectic schedule. There is a lot of circumstantial evidence to suggest that tight control forstalls or prevents many of the complications of your disease. I'd recommend a book by Skyler, Schade, and Santiago called "Intensive Insulin Therapy". I think the odds are in your favor, good luck. Mark Frisse M.D.