It all started innocently enough. The hospital nurses gave me a model car to put together, probably to keep me in my bed rather than romping through the hospital hallways with the other kids on the children’s floor. This was back in 1971, and hospitals were not yet in the practice of moving patients out as soon as possible. I had…
June 25, 2014
1972 was a big year for me–the year of the Olympic Games, and I was participating. I was 12 years old and won 27 gold medals. At least I should have. The other competitors, Tim Ward, age 11, and Jeff Ward, age 10, competed too. The events all took place in my backyard, garage, basement, and around our neighborhood on…
June 23, 2014
Relying on your mom to give you your insulin injections has its disadvantages, especially when she’s mad at you and hasn’t taken (what she called) her “nerve pills.” Like the time when I was 13 and I got mud on her freshly cleaned kitchen floor, and later when she gave me my shot, she wiggled and twisted the needle around…
June 20, 2014
I could give a shot to an orange, a grapefruit, and a nurse, but I couldn’t inject myself. I was 11 years old and had just been diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes. I spent the next three weeks in the hospital, where the nurses schemed to teach me to give my own shot. After three weeks of trickery, deceit, and blackmail,…
June 19, 2014
When I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 11, Doctor Stagaman told my mom I probably wouldn’t live past 40 and definitely not past 50. He also told her there was a good chance I wouldn’t be able to have children. I don’t know what it is about me, but I really, really enjoy proving doctors wrong! I have had…