Deborah Pine

I was married April 30, 1977, at the age of 23. We were planning to start a family the following year, but I was experiencing weight loss. My sister was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes in 1962 at the age of 10. She was married and lived around the corner from me and at that time she was testing her urine in a test tube with a Clinitest tablet. The results measured the “spilling of sugar” which showed blue for negative (no sugar) and graduated in colors (1+, 2+, 3+ or 4+) to a bright yellow (4+). When testing my urine, it revealed 4+ which prompted my sister to call her physician who directed me to go to the ER. With a BG of 684, I started my journey in March of 1978 with juvenile diabetes. I was eight years old when my sister was diagnosed and was witness to my parents boiling her glass syringes and needles. My father would sharpen her needles on a sharpening block. I feel very fortunate to have been diagnosed 15 years after her diagnosis and had the advantage of the advances in treatments for people with diabetes. My sister lost her life on Jan 13, 1992, after a kidney transplant at the age of 40. She was legally blind because her ophthalmologist failed to dilate her eyes to check for bleeding. It saddens me to think my sister did not have the advantages of treatment I had just because I was diagnosed 15 years after her. I remember every March my life with diabetes and remember my sister who was not as fortunate. I think of my three children we’ve raised and eight grandchildren that I have the privilege of watching grow. 47 years and counting.