Written by CBD Combatting The Rising Cost of Insulin:
“A mom is one of the hardest jobs by far this goes for you single dad’s out there too. I’m sure you have heard this over and over but did anyone ever tell you that being a grandma is even harder? I always thought being a grandma was going to be nothing short of a “fairy godmother” Your wish is my command” “How can I spoil you today” But 10 years ago I learned something very different about being Mawmaw.
My daughter called one evening to tell me she wasn’t bringing the girls over to visit because Graci wasn’t feeling good and she thought she might be getting the flu. I told her to keep her home and to watch her fever because it seems like it spikes at night. The flu bug was going around and I knew they would all end up catching it.”Give her plenty of fluids” I said she will be back to normal in a couple of days. I called my daughter the following day to find out if Makenzi had caught it yet, I remembered how it was, having the whole family sick at the same time and mother has to work long exhausting hours when this happens even if she too is sick.
“A mom is one of the hardest jobs by far this goes for you single dad’s out there too. I’m sure you have heard this over and over but did anyone ever tell you that being a grandma is even harder? I always thought being a grandma was going to be nothing short of a “fairy godmother” Your wish is my command” “How can I spoil you today” But 10 years ago I learned something very different about being Mawmaw.
My daughter called one evening to tell me she wasn’t bringing the girls over to visit because Graci wasn’t feeling good and she thought she might be getting the flu. I told her to keep her home and to watch her fever because it seems like it spikes at night. The flu bug was going around and I knew they would all end up catching it.”Give her plenty of fluids” I said she will be back to normal in a couple of days. I called my daughter the following day to find out if Makenzi had caught it yet, I remembered how it was, having the whole family sick at the same time and mother has to work long exhausting hours when this happens even if she too is sick.
No one else had the symptoms yet and Graci was getting worse. “Maybe you better go ahead and take her to the doctor she might need some antibiotics”, there were kids being sent home from every school in the area, the flu bug was making its nasty presence all over town. I told her to call me when she got home and let me know what the Doctor had to say. A few hours passed as I was waiting impatiently by the phone. ” Mom he said she has the flu and it will have to run its course and he was treating people all week with it. Well, I figured that was going to be the diagnosis. “Make sure you give her plenty of liquids. It’s been almost been 24 hours she should be feeling better by tomorrow” I assured her. When she called the next day I could hear the panic in her voice ” Mom she is still not trying to play and all she wants is to be held. I try to let my daughter make her own decisions when it comes to the girls but my years of parenting and wisdom kicked in and I had to express my opinion better off known as telling her what to do “Take her back to the doctor right now and tell him she needs medicine and your not leaving without some answers.” Again he sent her home “Dear your worrying too much it’s going to take a few days before she is feeling better” the doctor said. It’s bad enough being a parent when your child is sick and there is nothing you can do for them but when you are a grandma it’s 100x worse. I could see that my daughter was feeling that same horrible gut-wrenching feeling you get when you can’t help your baby.
Now I was feeling it for my daughter and my grandbaby and the feeling rushed over me like a tsunami. I was feeling the pain for both of them and wished I could trade places. As the day progressed we noticed she wasn’t acting like someone who has the flu. She was pale and lethargic. That was when we decided to take her to the emergency room. Something was wrong and we weren’t leaving until we found out! They started doing normal tests and decided to check her blood, “We need to get her over to Children’s Hospital right away” the emergency room doctor said” her blood sugar is well over 600″. My heartfelt like it stopped.I got a putrid, sickening feeling in my stomach that I have never experienced before. I had to keep it together for my daughter but I must have been in shock because I don’t even remember the drive there. When I snapped out of it the first thing I did remember was the look on my daughter’s face. A look of loss and despair.Thats when it hit me and I couldn’t hold the tears back any longer.
- “She’s only 3 years old and hasn’t been sick at all until now
- Why is this happening to my little angel?”
- They took her right in and started doing tests and administrating medicine immediately. After what seemed like an eternity the doctor finally came in and gave us an answer I never expected or wanted to hear ” I’m sorry but I’m afraid Graci’s pancreas isn’t producing any insulin, she has type 1 diabetes.
- What do you mean? This can’t be true, no one in our family has diabetes! I had always heard about diabetes but really knew nothing about it, since no one close to me was stricken with it.
- The first thing out of my mouth was ” Well what can we do to make it go away?. “I’m afraid that’s not going to happen, ma’am, type 1 is irreversible she will have it the rest of her life and will need insulin injections several times each day.
- It felt like someone took away my soul. “She’s just a baby”
- How could my daughter handle this? None of us knew anything about caring for someone with diabetes”
- Come to find out approximately 15,000 children are diagnosed with diabetes every year according to the” Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation” and about 15% of Americans with type 1 are children. Now, this ugly demon found its way into my family and there was nothing I could do about it.
- They kept her in the E.R. and after the insulin started working. You could see her lifeless little body responding to it. By this time it was starting to sink in on my daughter it was her turn to step out and release some of the pain that she now carries with her every day.”Don’t worry,” I said trying to be supportive “we will get through this” I could feel the anger she felt ” No mother we are not going to “get through this” She has diabetes, there is no cure. Deep in my heart I knew this but didn’t know what to say. I knew she was now going to endure that horrible sickening feeling in her stomach for the rest of her life. That feeling of not being able to do anything about your baby being sick.
- We had to prepare for big changes in our everyday life now.
- They kept Graci in the hospital until my daughter went through the learning process of how to take care of a child with type 1 diabetes. She would have to know how to check her blood sugar, this would be performed several times a day, she would have to know how to read her meter and what the numbers meant. She would have to know how to draw her insulin in a syringe and give her the shots as well as her injection each night of Lantus which is a man-made form of the hormone insulin that is normally produced in the body. She would have to know how much insulin she should get according to her diet. She would have to know the signs of her blood sugar being too high or too low. She would have to learn about ketoacidosis which is a very dangerous complication of diabetes. It is when your body runs out of insulin and if it’s not treated quickly it could lead to a coma or even death. She would have to learn of the possible long-term effects on her body, including heart disease, heart attack, stroke, it affects your eyes, your kidneys, nervous system, and even your skin.
- She was given a crash course on all of this vital information and they sent her home with a crazy amount of books and pamphlets.
- I remember the phone calls after she would get the girls asleep how she said the hardest part was having to hold her down while she was screaming and crying to give her her shots and check her blood sugar. The only thing a 3-year-old could be thinking is why does mommy keep hurting me with that needle.
- I too had to learn all these things, the one thing that brings the most joy in my life is having my grandbabies come over to have a sleepover. I had to hold back the tears every time a had to poke her tiny fingers to check her blood sugar. I would worry the whole time she was sleeping about it being too high or too low.
- Should I check it again? And I did, eventually, she didn’t even wake up for these acts of torture, and her little fingers that should have been finger painting unrecognizable pictures of people and animals had developed hard calluses.
- My daughter has exhibited an overabundance of knowledge, strength, and self-control in the last 10 years. Sure she has had emotional breakdowns, sleepless nights, and of course that sickening feeling that doesn’t go away but what parent wouldn’t?
- This has been an experience I would never wish on any parent and I have a tremendous amount of respect for those who have had to endure this never-ending road of worry and fright.
- Even though there is no cure for type 1 diabetes it doesn’t stop me from looking for one which led me to an article from the Researchers at the University of “Jerusalem” led by
- Doctor Raphael Mechoulam, gave me a sense of hope immediately since there were so many miracles performed in this holy City by our Lord Jesus Christ. I didn’t think it would hurt to ask for one more! The findings suggested that the therapeutic effects of CBD (cannabidiol ) could be modified to fit different receptors in our system to treat type 1 diabetes. They are hoping CBD may actually suppress, reverse and possibly cure the disease. Further testing and studies are currently being done.
I pray each and every day that it is successful.
The Pharmaceutical Companies know that these children and adults have to have insulin to survive yet they continue to
grossly raise the cost of insulin and have done so year after year.
The horrible truth is you can go to Canada or Mexico and get a vial of insulin for $35.00. If my daughter had to pay out of pocket for Graci’s medicine that she needs to survive her cost would be over $2,500.00 a month. These Pharmaceutical Companies are playing on American families knowing they need this for their loved ones. That to me is the most inhumane and heartless act known to mankind. Luckily my daughter gets assistance from the state or the financial burden would be overwhelming.
I’m asking all of you to contact Congress so that they will look into this act of price gouging by the Pharmaceutical Companies
In conclusion, My AMAZING GRACE will soon be a teenager, She has the biggest heart of anyone I know, she administers her own medicines. She makes Honor Roll every school year since she started. She is active in school activities and on the softball team.
She won 1st place in the young author’s competition. She is respectful, has excellent manners and she never complains about having diabetes. She is full of love and compassion and I’m very lucky to be her Grandma. She has a long hard road ahead of her but I know she will succeed in whatever she chooses to do.
I hope they continue these studies on CBD it has a plethora of medicinal benefits and it’s literally right at our fingertips.
Graci’s great-grandpa ( my daddy) always said why be a follower when you can be a leader? I think it’s time to lead people away from pharmaceuticals and examine other healthier choices that have been buried by them. If you have an ailment you think can be treated with CBD talk to your doctor or other health professionals to see if it’s right for you.
For me, I am a believer that cannabis was put on this earth as well as many other Herb’s to be used for its healing properties.
There has been too much evidence brought forward to tell me anything different. I urge you to do your own research and open your mind it might save your life.”
Thank you for reading my story, Jean Everson – Free All The Herb’s.
Thank you, Jean!! We love reading these stories and presenting them to the public about what the amazing plant can do. Every day is a learning experience or should be, even after years involved in the Cannabis as medicine movement. How many people do you know with Diabetes? Quite a few would be the answer most would give – now there’s a natural option with Cannabis for treatment!
Mike Robinson, Medicinal Cannabis Patient
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