I have heard so much of it lately, and thought about it today, there is just no way I could possibly avoid talking to you about illness,and the quality of life a person can be expected to have, when you know they are going to be sick all their lives.August 25, 1913, the day my father was born, medical wisdom said that a person who was diabetic couldn't hope to hold down a good job enough to have a family, or if they did, they wouldn't be able to have children.The outlook was not good, and they told my father that when he was diagnosed with the condition when he was very young. The understanding of the disease was slim,and the use of insulin to control blood sugar was in it's infancy.In fact, so little was really at the doctor's and the patients fingertips to see the signs of an insulin or sugar reaction, or to administer the unstable,variable strength of the insulin, from batch to batch, that many who even had the medication knew enough to keep it refrigerated, or how to teach a teen to test his high blood sugar, or administer his own shots.My dad was a farm boy, and mechanic. He had to walk to town to get a shot from the hospital or doctor until they understood that he would have to be trusted to test himself or take his own shots. He came close to death many times, until a wonderful doctor....Lockheart was his name....put him on a diet, gave him a test kit,and a hypodermic needle kit. But even with all that, since the insulin wasn't synthetic, but actual swine insulin, the strength and efficacy of those shots were iffy at best,and many times this fact caused him and my mother no end of problems...(later in his life)...because the insulin level in the blood can and does seriously cause drastic mood swings. Too much, or too little, according to the original level of sugar in the blood at any given time, can cause a person to be irritable, irrational, belligerent, and downright unpleasant to be around. Or, delightfully expansive, generous,completely understanding and totally logical,and kind of sleepy and easy going." Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" was probably based on a diabetic. In my wallet I carry a card. It says, symptoms: sudden onset,staggering, poor coordination, Anger, bad temper, pale color, confusion, disorientation,sudden hunger, excessive sweating, trembling, eventual stupor or unconsciousness. These are all signs of an insulin reaction.Low blood sugar. Administer sugar,candy, honey, fruit juice,or soda...do not use diet drinks! and if there is no improvement in 15 minutes, take them to the hospital. the flip side of the card says this: symptoms: gradual onset, drowsiness, extreme thirst, very frequent urination,flushed skin, vomiting, fruity or wine-like breath odor, heavy breathing, Eventual stupor or unconsciousness. This is high blood sugar, and the card instructs to administer insulin or oral diabetic drug. But how many people do you know who would approach a person whom they thought was drunk and start rummaging through their wallet to see if they are diabetic? In either case, an onlooker could believe this person is drunk.In the past, often times a diabetic would be arrested and put in jail for being drunk and disorderly, only to die in a diabetic coma, while "sleeping it off!"
Now, I said all that to say this. Considering the problems involved with just this one condition, had the medical community had the ability to pre-determine the possible existence of this terrible disease in an unborn baby, and they lived in the social climate we have today of being willing and able to abort that baby unless it has a chance at a life with "quality,"my father might never have been brought into this world,and neither would I! And yet, in just one life span, look how far we have come! No, Dad was no world traveler, or statesman or a war hero. He was just a good and Godly man who taught his children that there is more to life than getting enough money to get drunk, driving fast cars and chasing women and the next ball game. By his very being alive, he taught us every day, that life is precious, to work hard, even if it isn't the most high paying job in the world, whatever you do, be the best, be honest, and pay your bills,and you will thrive! He was amazing, with the most astonishing work ethic you ever heard. Ready? Here it is. Be glad you've got a job! If you can get there, go there, do your job, and be grateful you're strong enough to do it!
What is amazing about that? I followed his example, and somehow, by osmosis maybe, Yon son, who is his namesake, is exactly the same way! It's a choice. Go to work, or go to the doctor or the hospital. Yeah. You gotta be that sick. Calling in just because you're not in the mood to work, or you have a headache just isn't good enough. No, Dad never said those words, he just lived them...and accomplished everything those doctors who first told him what was wrong with him said he would never do. They told him to stay out of school and just have fun, because he wouldn't live to see twenty. He would never be able to have a responsible position, own land, get married, or father children. Not only did he not drop out of school, but he got a job there, as a janitor, and was considered the best dang janitor they ever had...he worked before and after school,and carried an "A" all the way through. He graduated, and went to work in a converted blacksmith shop, making car parts. Far from being a pale, skinny, sickly looking man, he was 6-4, and tanned and brawny, with huge hands and very muscular frame,and when he and mother met, she had no idea that he was ill. They got married, bought a gas station, and built a garage, and finally got a new car dealership. Though he fathered five children, two did not make it to term,yet still, he had three children. When all was said and done, they had bought two houses,and gone through two businesses. And, he lived to see all but one of his children graduate from high school. He lived to be 50 years old....and five days. So much for doctors predictions. So much for the "Quality of life" argument.
If a child can be born and live, it should be allowed to do so. Regardless of what any doctor says or thinks. If a person who is ill is alive, with whatever is wrong with them, or whatever means it takes to keep them that way, it should not be taken away from them. Even if the outlook is bleak, one more day of breathing and being on this earth is not any persons right to take away from any other person, whose only crime is, they are sick,and costing money to stay alive. God gives us life, and only God should be the one to take away that innocent life, no matter what it costs.
Unless, of course, Money is your God. But the almighty dollar didn't give you life,did it?
So, on this anniversary of my father's 93rd birthday, I offer up this nugget of wisdom, from the man who lived his life to the fullest, knowing as well as any man can, the joy of proving the doctor's wrong, time after time after time.
A Doctor is not God. If he was, he would never die!
OUI?
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