Meatless Monday is a non-profit initiative of The Monday Campaigns, in association with the Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health. Our goal is to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.Going meatless once a week may reduce your risk of chronic preventable conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. It can also help reduce your carbon footprint and save precious resources like fresh water and fossil fuel.
Sheila Morton
Juvenile Diabetic
Birmingham, AL
At age 12, Sheila entered junior high school with rapid weight loss (45 pounds in 4 weeks), extreme thirst, and frequent urination. Slipping into a diabetic coma, she entered the hospital with veins that had collapsed and a poor prognosis. With the insistence of a worried and loving father to do everything necessary and the attention of a conscientious pediatrician, Sheila came out of the diabetic coma a week later, unconsciously aware of her diagnosis: juvenile diabetes mellitus.
Over forty years and many milestones later, Sheila has experienced several of the chronic health problems associated with juvenile diabetes: blindness (temporary), gastroparesis, renal failure, and, most recently, heart disease. She underwent a kidney transplant in 1991 and is currently participating in the UAB research program for years of survival post-kidney transplant.
Surviving the challenges of a chronic illness is a daily struggle. Taking care of herself is a necessity; there is no vacation. Despite the health issues, she recently retired from her job after 24 years and is now volunteering at the UAB Cardiac Rehab. She lives in Birmingham with her husband of 28 years and pets, Libby and Looloo.
Before the availability of disposable syringes and needles, I had to boil my syringes and needles. At that time, I was checking my sugar via urine collection rather than blood. Once I was able to test my blood, I knew what my sugar was immediately; urine collection only told me what my sugar was from hours earlier.
Eating a diabetic diet was more strict because there was no (insulin) sliding scale. You took insulin then tried to eat enough to cover how much you took; now, the insulin you take matches what you eat, resulting in better control.
However, the technology has been the biggest change. I now have an insulin pump, which provides insulin continuously to cover me between meals and overnight. I can then bolus insulin to cover the carbohydrates I eat at mealtimes.
1) Checking my blood sugar frequently.
2) Consuming a healthy diet: I eat in moderation with plenty of fruits and vegetables. I minimize the amount of meat I eat mainly because I feel better when I eat less meat. Plus, there were the complications from diabetes: eating less meat reduced the symptoms of gastroparesis and delayed the development of heart disease, one of the complications of having diabetes.
3) Daily exercise
4) Education
5) Finding a doctor who listens! It is something I look for in a doctor. Nobody knows my diabetes better than I do and a good doctor will understand that.
Low fat; more vegetables and fruits; I may eat salmon one day and scallops one day then vegetarian the other five days per week.
Protein sources: peanut butter; fat free cottage cheese; tofu; commercial products, such as Boca Burgers (soy), etc.
Snacks: Mini rice cakes with peanut butter; fat free yogurt; almonds
1) Be vigilant about checking your blood sugar.
2) Eat as healthy as possible.
3) Exercise daily; my experience is that exercise lowers blood sugars as effectively as insulin.
4) If you're going to eat sweets, do so infrequently.
5) Diabetes can be frustrating. Sometimes, no matter what you do, things go wrong and you may want to beat yourself up. Counseling can be a good tool, but no one can understand diabetes if they don't have it. Diabetes sucks, but as frustrating as it is, I can think of a lot of things that could be worse.
Healthy Eating!
Juvenile Diabetic
Birmingham, AL
At age 12, Sheila entered junior high school with rapid weight loss (45 pounds in 4 weeks), extreme thirst, and frequent urination. Slipping into a diabetic coma, she entered the hospital with veins that had collapsed and a poor prognosis. With the insistence of a worried and loving father to do everything necessary and the attention of a conscientious pediatrician, Sheila came out of the diabetic coma a week later, unconsciously aware of her diagnosis: juvenile diabetes mellitus.
Over forty years and many milestones later, Sheila has experienced several of the chronic health problems associated with juvenile diabetes: blindness (temporary), gastroparesis, renal failure, and, most recently, heart disease. She underwent a kidney transplant in 1991 and is currently participating in the UAB research program for years of survival post-kidney transplant.
Surviving the challenges of a chronic illness is a daily struggle. Taking care of herself is a necessity; there is no vacation. Despite the health issues, she recently retired from her job after 24 years and is now volunteering at the UAB Cardiac Rehab. She lives in Birmingham with her husband of 28 years and pets, Libby and Looloo.
How has living with diabetes changed since your diagnosis?
Before the availability of disposable syringes and needles, I had to boil my syringes and needles. At that time, I was checking my sugar via urine collection rather than blood. Once I was able to test my blood, I knew what my sugar was immediately; urine collection only told me what my sugar was from hours earlier.
Eating a diabetic diet was more strict because there was no (insulin) sliding scale. You took insulin then tried to eat enough to cover how much you took; now, the insulin you take matches what you eat, resulting in better control.
However, the technology has been the biggest change. I now have an insulin pump, which provides insulin continuously to cover me between meals and overnight. I can then bolus insulin to cover the carbohydrates I eat at mealtimes.
What daily habits do you feel contributed to your success in living with and managing your diabetes?
1) Checking my blood sugar frequently.
2) Consuming a healthy diet: I eat in moderation with plenty of fruits and vegetables. I minimize the amount of meat I eat mainly because I feel better when I eat less meat. Plus, there were the complications from diabetes: eating less meat reduced the symptoms of gastroparesis and delayed the development of heart disease, one of the complications of having diabetes.
3) Daily exercise
4) Education
5) Finding a doctor who listens! It is something I look for in a doctor. Nobody knows my diabetes better than I do and a good doctor will understand that.
Do you follow a specific diet and, if so, what kind of diet do you follow?
Low fat; more vegetables and fruits; I may eat salmon one day and scallops one day then vegetarian the other five days per week.
Protein sources: peanut butter; fat free cottage cheese; tofu; commercial products, such as Boca Burgers (soy), etc.
Snacks: Mini rice cakes with peanut butter; fat free yogurt; almonds
What advice would you give others who may be confronting a juvenile diabetes diagnosis?
1) Be vigilant about checking your blood sugar.
2) Eat as healthy as possible.
3) Exercise daily; my experience is that exercise lowers blood sugars as effectively as insulin.
4) If you're going to eat sweets, do so infrequently.
5) Diabetes can be frustrating. Sometimes, no matter what you do, things go wrong and you may want to beat yourself up. Counseling can be a good tool, but no one can understand diabetes if they don't have it. Diabetes sucks, but as frustrating as it is, I can think of a lot of things that could be worse.
Thanks to Sheila for sharing her story with us for Meatless Monday.
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