# Diabetic Days of Yore



## Northerner (Feb 7, 2022)

I won’t forget those wise old words my Daddy said to me
As he sat down in his chair one night and perched me on his knee.
He said, ‘Son, diabetes wasn’t always so much fun,
So let me tell you how it was in 1951!’

Twice a day we’d drive to town, down to the abattoir,
Pick out a porcine pancreas and stow it in the car,
And when we got home Mum and Dad would mash that organ up,
And strain it through a muslin bag into a paper cup…

Then Dad would get some chemicals and boil them in a pan,
Adding bits of this and that with flourish and élan!
And meanwhile I would drink and drink until I had to pee,
And Mum would take a jar away, as swiftly as could be!

She’d add it to the chemicals, and if it turned bright red
Then I would have no supper and be sent off straight to bed.
But if it just turned yellowish, I’d have something to eat
Like carrots mashed in gravy, with sweet pickles for a treat!

I didn’t like the needles though, at least six inches long!
So Mum would jig around the room, distracting me with song!
And when he’d scraped the rust off, Dad would stick it in my butt,
I’d bite down on a leather strap to keep my mouth tight shut!

So, should you whinge and moan about how finger pricking’s bad,
Then pause to contemplate about the progress we have had.
We’ve gone from times when prospects for our future might seem poor,
To looking forward to the day that they announce the cure!  <3


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## trophywench (Feb 8, 2022)

There was a question on Uni Challenge tonight, that the students thought might be Benedict's Test - I forget what it was for, but certainly nob all to do with glucose or urine.  ISTR reading that when Adam was a lad, before  they invented the Clinitest tablets and test kit,  you used Benedict's solution to test for glucose in wee?


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## C&E Guy (Feb 8, 2022)

When I was diagnosed in 1964, the nurse told my parents, "Don't worry. They'll have a cure in a couple of years."


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## Northerner (Feb 8, 2022)

C&E Guy said:


> When I was diagnosed in 1964, the nurse told my parents, "Don't worry. They'll have a cure in a couple of years."


Wonder when they decided to change that 'reassurance' and extend it to 10 years?   Maybe when the pharma companies realised they could make a bucketload more money from selling treatments and paraphernalia than they would from a cure?  Cynical? Moi?


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## trophywench (Feb 8, 2022)

It was 10 years by 1972 - and considering our local hospital's D consultant was a teaching professor at Bham Medical School, his word was - obviously! - Gospel !  

Er, Prof Malin, good job I never held my breath, ain't it!


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## mikeyB (Feb 11, 2022)

All the pig pancreas isn't just for insulin. My, and every other Creonista's need for digestive enzymes is met by pig pancreas for our Creon. Vegetarians get some kind of dispensation, as do Jews and Muslims who don't eat pigs.


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## nonethewiser (Feb 12, 2022)

mikeyB said:


> All the pig pancreas isn't just for insulin. My, and every other Creonista's need for digestive enzymes is met by pig pancreas for our Creon. Vegetarians get some kind of dispensation, as do Jews and Muslims who don't eat pigs.



Why only pigs pancreas & not sheep cows Mike, just curious as a Creon user.


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## mikeyB (Feb 15, 2022)

Pigs are omnivores, so the ratio  of digestive enzymes in Creon are closely similar to ours. Cows and sheep are herbivores so don’t have to digest protein. The bacteria in their weird guts do that for them.


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## nonethewiser (Feb 15, 2022)

mikeyB said:


> Pigs are omnivores, so the ratio  of digestive enzymes in Creon are closely similar to ours. Cows and sheep are herbivores so don’t have to digest protein. The bacteria in their weird guts do that for them.



Makes sense Mike, thanks for reply.


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