Karen Perkins

When my then husband returned from his tour of duty in Viet Nam, we decided to begin thinking seriously about starting our family. I began by locating an OBGYN in Indianapolis where we were living and working in order to get established. At my first appointment the customary urine test revealed my blood sugar was very high. I decided to see my family doctor back home and ended up getting my glucose tolerance during my 18 day stay in the hospital. It took that long for my doctor to determine my insulin dosage. It was a shock to my parents and me!

So many improvements have evolved since those first days of my type 1 diabetes journey. No one in my immediate family had diabetes and no one since excepting my dad when he was in his late eighties.
Finding a diabetes specialist was my first hurdle and treatment was a challenge – boiling glass syringes and needles, testing with urine strips, and experiencing atrophy from pork based insulin were just a few adjustments.

Now I’m on a wonderful Tandem pump and CGM that are keeping my A1C (another wonderful advancement in testing) in the low 7 range.

I’ve said many times that “I am blessed” that I have lived this long without severe side effects. It’s so true!