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Melinda Read has a clear memory of the last time diabetes landed her in the hospital: She tore through the hallways on a tricycle.
In February, Read — host of “Talk of the Desert” on Time Warner Cable — marked 50 years of living with Type 1 diabetes. Sitting in her La Quinta home, she laughed gently about the immediate effect that first and only hospital stay had on her health.
“I had energy,” she said, “and I hadn’t had it because I hadn’t felt good.”
Read’s parents noticed their exuberant 3
After being diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, the little girl spent two weeks in a Seattle hospital to get regulated and receive daily insulin injections. Her mother, a pharmacist, took over after that.
“She would put her arms around me and hug me and do the injection in the arm then,” Read recalled. “I always liked those morning hugs.”
Read does her own insulin injections now — four every day. Her body does not produce insulin, which helps convert food into energy.
The American Diabetes Association estimates 25.8 million people in the United States have the disease. That’s about eight of every 100 Americans.
Diabetes increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, blindness, kidney disease and nervous system complications. More than 60 percent of nontraumatic, lower-limb amputations occur in patients with diabetes, the association states.
“Considering where we’ve come in this disease from 1961 to 2011, I mean the difference is night and day,” Read said.
She remembers sterilizing syringes and needles in boiling water. Insulin has become more refined, and patients have at-home testing options for monitoring blood-sugar levels.
Advancements continue to forge on, which is a reason why Read volunteers with the Desert Diabetes Club.
The group and Eisenhower Medical Center are gearing up for their annual event showcasing the latest in technology and treatment later this month. Read will emcee the event and will likely share her own stories of what she calls “a balancing act like you wouldn’t believe.”
She tests her blood-sugar as many as eight times a day. She fastidiously tracks what she eats and how much she exercises.
While she looks healthy, Read’s had complications along the way. She suffered retinopathy in her left eye, poor kidney function and numbness in her face, or neuropathy.
“I’ve had a little forewarning that there can be complications, but thank you, Lord, I’m doing as well as could be expected,” she said. “I don’t know what a person with diabetes for 50 years is supposed to look like.”
Monica Torline is a features reporter for The Desert Sun. Reach her at (760) 778-4620 or monica.torline@thedesertsun.com.
