Hi,

I know I haven't been posting deviations for a while except for my new ID. I hope to change that. I really appreciate all the comments and features and faves and watches! I have a lot of comments to answer and I wont be able to ge to them all. A big THANK YOU to all of you!! The snow is FINALLY gone although it flurried yesterday! We actually have flowers and because of the higher than normal temperatures we had a couple weeks back, there are leaves on the trees already! Usually, we don't get those until the first couple of weeks of May! Dusty's recovered from his incident and Nugget actually had his own. But more on that later. Below is actually a repost of my most recent myspace blog.

Most people don't know this but I'm a juvenile delinguent. No just kidding. Actually, I'm a juvenile diabetic. It's also known as type 1 diabetes or insulin dependent. I've had this condition for about 14 years now (developed when I was 10 years old, I'm now 24). That's a long time. Some have diabetic related health issues by now. These include glaucoma, heart disease (both are in my family), kidney disease, amputations (poor circulation), chronic wounds and infections as well as other organ damage. I hadn't realized that someone my age could have these problems already but they do. My diabetes is also known as "brittle" meaning it is hard to control. I have an insulin pump which helps a lot but still.

Quite by accident, I stumbled upon pancreatic transplant for diabetics (type 1 only as type 2 is totally different). I looked up the website for Dartmouth Hitchcock and discovered that they specialize in kidney and pancreatic transplants for diabetics! I see the endocrinology department and diabetes center there already and asked about it. I'm healthy right now but being diabetic so long, it's only a matter of time. The doctor was reluctant as I can still sense low blood sugars (although, I've had times when that's not been the case but I've never lost conciousness). Still, she referred me.

Two weeks later, I got info in the mail from the transplant department! They are going to see me on May 12th, maybe do some tests and see if they can get me on a DONOR RECIPIENT LIST! The wait time is some of the shortest in New England and from the impression I got from the doctor and the department, it's only months. I was imagining it to be like two years!

But, I have to remember, that I haven't been approved yet. They may say I'm not brittle enough or because I don't have any complications yet I don't meet the qualifications. But then again, it almost sounded like from the telephone call that I may only need to pass the medical tests to be put on the list. I don't know. I hope I do get on the list. No diabetes? WOW! That would be a HUGE relief. So, we'll see. Nothing is set in stone yet and nothing has been confirmed. I'm going to be evaluated. As well as attend the pancreas transplant class where they will explain more about this really quite fascinating procedure.. thing (like did you know my original pancreas won't be removed? I'll actually be walking around with two of them).

Basically, it is all up to God. If He wants me to have a new pancreas it WILL happen. If not, well, He's got other plans. He will either keep my organs going and keep away the damage I really should have already (that in itself is a miracle). Or maybe, Jesus will come and I won't need one anyways! Or I'll get one later on. Who knows? He does and that's all that matters. Why did I get diabetes in the first place? I don't really know. But He does. I'll leave it up to Him.

Well, bye for now.

~Susan

~*If you keep your eyes on Jesus you'll never get lost.*~

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