Live Chronically

T1 Diabetic for 17 years, Gastroparesis 5 years, historian, optimist, museum lover Main blog is @earnest-potato

[diane-nguyen-watches-cartoons-d]

[traveling-madness]

based firemen

[the-real-seebs]

you sign up for the job because you want to save lives, and sometimes you get a chance to just be really, really, clear about "yes it is my job to save lives, there is an obstacle, and i am paid to use an axe to solve this problem"

[sweetlygigixo]

I feel like getting diagnosed with type 1 is the biggest cram session you will ever face. What do you mean I have a couple of hours to gain the insights that scientists took decades to discover just to live. It’s the world’s worst exam.

[sierraveree-art]

[goopymess]

"yeah you might be ""disabled"" cuz of diabetes but you're not disabled enough."

yeah I'm not disabled enough but i depend on machines and injections to keep myself alive.

I'm not disabled enough but i need to make multiple decisions a day that will affect my whole day, and sometimes even multiple days.

I'm not disabled enough but i cannot be too happy, or too sad, or too excited, or too annoyed. that's also a bad turn for my health.

I'm not disabled enough, but i need to check myself constantly— i might be dying and don't even know it

but no

not disabled enough.

[softlydiabetic]

if youre ever going low but think "hmm i'm too lazy to go eat something maybe it'll go away in a couple minutes" dont listen. thats the devil talking

[secretlyafrog]

not hungry not full but a secret third thing (gastroparesis)

[chronic-gastro-illness-culture]

hows the tummy hurty fandom doing

[penelopepitstopp]

Ed Gamble: Blood Sugar (2019)

[deafstarrr]

I just got a car and started driving again so I was thinking about some safety things for D/deaf/HoH drivers. One huge concern is the possibility of being pulled over and encountering the police.

I have a magnet similar to this on my car in case of that situation

I also keep a notepad and pen in my glove box with my insurance card and registration. I keep everything is in one place so I won’t have to reach around and look like i’m searching for “something”

—-

I also found this article with more information—

https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2016/deaf-driver-safety-police-kb.html

Deaf Driver Safety: How to Deal With the Police - Health

Drivers with hearing loss should be extra cautious when pulled over by the police, as a recent tragedy in North Carolina reminds us. We have

Too many deaf folks have been killed by police, already. Stay safe!

(Hearing people are encouraged to reblog)

[death-deafying-stuntman]

I also have a Deaf Driver card

mine is from Gallaudet, so all the information is for DC but its still effective to let an officer know you’re d/Deaf no matter where you are. It goes in the visor of whatever car I’m driving. 

[sephezade]

Spread this like butter on cornbread.

[thepastisaroadmap]

[Image description: a banner and two photos of a pamphlet.

The banner is bright yellow and says in large text: Driver is Deaf. In smaller text it says “Failure to comply with verbal commands means driver can’t hear you.”

The front of the pamphlet says in large text “I am a Deaf Driver,” followed by bullet points.

Failure to cooperate with your verbal commands means [all caps] I am not [end caps] hearing you.

I [caps] do not [end caps] read lips.

Using a flashlight at night in my face will prevent me from seeing any gestures.

Qualified Interpreter(s) must be provided upon request to ensure effective communication. (Sec. 504 Rehab. Act/Title II of ADA)

Smaller text says “Video Relay Systems at Police Districts: The Metropolitan Police Department has technology for individuals in the deaf and hard of hearing community to communicate with its members. Each police district station offers a video relay service which enables those who rely on American Sign Language to access a live interpreter via a computer and video camera at the station desk. Station personnel are trained in the use and operation of the technology and can assist members of the community to establish a connection. The service is available at all seven of the police district stations and three sub-stations. Find out more about the police districts and locate your Police Service Area by visiting www.mpdc.dc.gov/districts or citizenatlas.dc.gov/atlasapps/reporthometab.aspx.”

The back of the card is titled “Tips for Using Your Visor Card” and says

Keep this card in your car’s visor in the event you are pulled over by a law enforcement officer.

When you are pulled over, immediately place the card in your window so the office can see it.

Keep your hands on the steering wheel until the officer gives you instructions.

Wait for the officer to approach the vehicle and read the card. Do not attempt to move in any manner that would make the officer think you are looking for a weapon.

If you are not able to understand what is being said through written notes, request an interpreter or another effective means of communication.

It is followed by a list of Police Districts and Substations in the DC area.

First District: 101 M. Street, SW. [phone]. TTY: [phone].

First District Substation: 500 E. Street, SE. [phone]. TTY: [phone].

Second District: 3320 Idaho Avenue, NW. [phone]. TTY: [phone].

Third District: 1620 V Street, NW. [phone]. TTY: [phone].

Fourth District: 6001 Georgia Avenue, NW. [phone]. TTY: [phone].

Fourth District Substation: 750 Park Road, NW. [phone]. TTY: [phone].

Fifth District: 1805 Bladensburg Road, NE. [phone]. TTY: [phone].

Sixth District: 100 42nd Street, NE. [phone]. TTY: [phone].

Sixth District Substation: 2701 Pennsylvania Ave, SE. [phone]. TTY: [phone].

Seventh District: 2455 Alabama Avenue, SE. [phone]. TTY: [phone].

End image description]

[unbfacts]

[2spirit-1spoon]

Disabled people get in free. He offers a free wheelchair valet so ppl who can't get their own wheelchair wet can still play in the water park.

The entire park is accessible, including the carousel which is designed for wheelchair users. There's a sensory village and playground as well.

🥹🥹🥹

[urlocalllama]

Diabetes isnt the 'ate too many sweets disease'. It just fucking is not. It's your body slowly losing an integral function needed to nuture and energize it. Its your pancreas shutting down, its your blood cells rejecting your attempts to feed itself, its not enough insulin to go around. Its you slowly getting colder and weaker, gorging yourself with healthy food and getting next to no benefit, its being so exhausted you cant sleep. Diabetes used to kill, straight-up KILL. So no, I don't think I will be laughing at your diabetes joke.

[chronic-harmonic]

Turning 26 in the US: 😷😰🤮

[2amcheese]

Hi yes let's play a game for the rest of your life it's called guess your blood sugar hope you get it right and figure out the best thing to do to fix it. Do that all while having a medical emergency. Do it for the rest of your life.

[chronic-harmonic]

My favorite brand of diabetic tumblr is when someone is posting low blood sugar memes while they’re clearly fighting for their life

[escapero0m]

“Ernest Sterzer, born in Vienna, Austria, was three-years-old when diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1928. He began insulin injections immediately following his diagnosis.

When World War II began, Adolf Hitler and the Nazis instigated the Holocaust, a genocide in which approximately six million Jews were killed.

During this time, Hitler’s “Final solution to the Jewish question” saw concentration camps hold millions of prisoners, including Sterzer.

This is the story of how Sterzer survived the Holocaust and what he endured in order to procure the insulin necessary to survive.

Trading bread for insulin

Sterzer arrived at the concentration camp in Theresienstadt, Czechoslovakia on October 1, 1942. He had to sleep on cold bare floors, with most of the elderly people around him dying due to the terrible conditions and starvation.

Sterzer was able to obtain insulin through stealing bread in his work at the bakery, which he then gave to a woman found by his mother in exchange for insulin. This woman had to become the mistress of a Czechoslovakian policeman who guarded the ghetto to obtain the insulin.

Departing Theresienstadt on October 15, 1944, Sterzer lost a small camera case holding a syringe, needles and six bottles of insulin while travelling to Birkenau, the Jewish camp of Auschwitz. They arrived on October 17, 1944.

Arriving at Auschwitz

Following two days without insulin, Sterzer fell into a coma overnight and awoke another two days later in a hospital. The doctor in charge, a Russian Jew, had insulin available and despite the use of a rusty needle, Sterzer managed to avoid blood poisoning.

Roughly two weeks later, news spread that Russian troops were advancing on Auschwitz and prisoners would have to be transferred.

Sterzer’s doctor saved him from inevitable death at the hands of SS guards by claiming his illness was due to a “swollen leg” and that he was well enough to be evacuated from Birkenau.

Sterzer also managed to receive a small package of medication from the doctor. This was stolen before the prisoners moved camps, however, and Sterzer again faced travelling without any insulin.

Heinkel Werke

After boarding a cattle train, Sterzer found himself at Heinkel Werke, one of Germany’s largest aeroplane factories. It had been three days since he had injected insulin.

Having arrived at 01:00, prisoner doctors turned up at 07:00 and Sterzer, barely able to stand up, managed to inform one of the doctors about his type 1 diabetes.

He was injected with insulin hours before he would have likely died, and given a bowl of warm soup – the first food he had consumed in three days.

This doctor visited Sterzer every three days to deliver insulin, but his physical condition was declining, and after 10 days at Heinkel, his right leg had swollen to the point where he could not walk.

Sterzer was given a temporary reprieve when he was admitted to a hospital for Jews, but after one week, he was informed the supply of insulin had run out.

Subsequently, Sterzer was told he would again be transferred, this time to Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen.

Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen

Oranienburg had a well-equipped hospital as it was built in 1933, primarily for political and criminal prisoners.

Sterzer had his urine checked twice a day, and his blood sugar once a day. At one point he received a dose of 110 units to bring down his dangerously high blood sugar levels.

After three weeks at Oranienburg, Sterzer’s ear had a constant flow of puss – he was told he had developed a mastoid. The next day, he developed paralysis of the soft palate, in the roof of the mouth and credits his constant prayers as the reason he was still able to talk.

After being pulled from a transport to Bergen-Bergen, where Sterzer would likely have been gassed, he secured a role working in the hospital, handing food to prisoners and washing dishes.

This was abruptly ended when a SS guard discovered a Jew was working in the hospital. This led to Sterzer receiving a beating he referred to as “one of the worst I have ever experienced.”

Oranienburg evacuation

After being given a syringe and some insulin by a male nurse, Sterzer and the rest of the prisoners were evacuated from Oranienburg.

Sterzer was made to walk 16 hours a day on what became known as a “death march”, with any prisoner shot if they were unable to keep up the pace.

On the morning of May 2, 1945, the last SS guard had left Sterzer’s group, with American and Germany troops fighting in Schwerin, a town roughly two miles north of their location.

Sterzer took the chance to escape and found two American soldiers who took him in and provided medical treatment.

Arriving back in Vienna

Upon arriving back in Vienna three weeks later, Sterzer discovered his father had been gassed at Auschwitz. His mother also died in the concentration camps, while his brother was able to return to Vienna.

In Vienna’s leading hospitals, no insulin was available, with the concentration camps among the only places that Sterzer would have been able to get insulin.

Sterzer went blind in 1953 due to haemorrhages suffered at the hands of SS guards and complications due to his lack of ability to inject insulin daily.

He went on to set up the Superior Addressing & Mailing Service in New York City with the help of his seeing-dog, Sheila.

Ernest Sterzer died on May 1, 1973.

The information in this blog was adapted from Ernest Sterzer’s memoirs published here.

Picture credit: http://www.dlife.com “

[diabetic-living]

worth the read - SO interesting!

[liv-abetic]

I figured I better hop on the bandwagon.

[softlydiabetic]

if youre ever going low but think "hmm i'm too lazy to go eat something maybe it'll go away in a couple minutes" dont listen. thats the devil talking