I Pray, the police finds him soon and safe

Do we, as humans have no compassion and empathy towards other humans? A man is missing after he was kicked of a train, Amtrak personnel mistook his hypoglycaemia (diabetic shock) for drunkenness kicking him of the train in a middle off an 800,00 acre national forest.

Even if the guy was drunk why will anyone in his or her right mind think it is OK to leave a human in a middle of nowhere?

This is inhumane!

My heart goes out to his family and friends

I am saddened; tears are streaming down my eyes thinking of what can happen to him all along out there.

I Pray, the police finds him soon and safe


Below is CBS 5 in Phoenix reporting of the story -

Police: Diabetic Man Missing After Being Kicked Off Train

PHOENIX -- A 65-year-old St. Louis man is missing after Amtrak personnel, mistaking his diabetic shock for drunk and disorderly behavior, kicked him off a train in the middle of a national forest, according to police in Williams, Ariz.


Police said Roosevelt Sims was headed to Los Angeles but was asked to leave the train shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday at a railroad crossing five miles outside Williams.


"He was let off in the middle of a national forest, which is about 800,000 acres of beautiful pine trees," Lt. Mike Graham said.
Police said there is no train station or running water at the crossing, which is about two miles from the nearest road, at an elevation of about 8,000 feet.

Amtrak personnel told police dispatchers that Sims was drunk and unruly.

The Sims family said Sims is diabetic and was going into shock.
Sims' brother, Brian Mason, said his family tried to call Sims on his cell phone that night, but Sims was incoherent.
When officers arrived at the crossing, police said, Sims ran into the woods, leaving his luggage and medication behind.

Cell phone records show that Sims' phone was last used in Litchfield Park, Ariz., 180 miles from Williams.

Williams police told CBS 5 that Amtrak has used the abandoned crossing as a drop-off site in the past. Graham said that whether drunk or not, no one should be dropped off there.

"You don't put anyone off in an area like that," Graham said.
Amtrak said the company is looking into the matter.

"I just want to find him," Mason said. "I'm not mad at anybody."

"I want to find a way to make sure he's OK," Mason added.
"Our thoughts and prayers are that there's no way he's out there in those woods," Graham said.
Copyright 2007 by KPHO.com. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

It’s time for a real cure

Spring is in the air which means its the season to Walk for a Cure which brings with it news paper articles about Type 1 diabetes. The article below sums up how I feel especially during the JDRF Walk for a Cure season.


By Katie RobinsonMay 05 2007 It’s time for a real cure. Twenty years ago – Aug. 23, 1987 – I was diagnosed with juvenile Type 1 diabetes. I didn’t fully understand the disease; I was only nine years old after all. But what I did understand was that my life and my parents lives and my siblings lives from that day forward would never be the same again.


I was forced to omit favoured foods like five-cent candies and chocolate from my diet. I was forced to take needles, sharp scary-looking needles, every single day. And I was forced to endure the constant curiosity and sometimes even disgust at what I was doing.
I did not accept my fate. Every opportunity I had, I rebelled against this disease. I threw my lunches out; “Why should I have to eat carrots when my friends are eating cookies?” I thought. I gave my mom’s plants and couches my insulin injections; “What am I? A pin cushion?” I would say. I used to pass out and go into convulsions. A lot.


I passed out in ditches. I convulsed in my bed during the wee hours of the morning. One time, I even gave myself a concussion after passing out with my head smashing into the corner of a coffee table.


Thankfully, I have come to terms with my disease. I am active. I eat properly. I take my injections. And I can often be heard saying: “It’s better than cancer.”
But is it? This past week I had the opportunity to hang out with 10-year-old Eric Gray, who was diagnosed with juvenile Type one diabetes last year. The memories came flooding back.
On the surface, Eric appears to be a typical 10-year-old kid. He likes to play basketball. He likes to hang out with his friends. He likes to put on the charm with his freckled nose squinching up and his wide-expanding smile showing the deep divids of his dimples.


But when his blood sugars are low, he’s not smiling. When his blood sugars are high, he’s not smiling. When he has to take his breakfast and dinnertime injections, he’s not smiling.
“It sucks,” he said matter of factly. It does. In 12 months, Eric endures over 3,600 finger pokes and 1,000 injections. In 20 years, I have endured over 72,000 finger pokes and 21,000 injections.


I don’t watch movies like Steel Magnolias for fear of nightmares. I constantly worry that my kidneys will one day fail me; my eyesight will one day fade to black; my feet will one day succumb to gangrene.


At 29, I should not be having these fears. And at 10, Eric should not be having to ask his mom: “Will I die?” because diabetes has the word “di” in it.
Over 200,000 Canadians have Type 1 diabetes. Canada has the third highest occurrence rate of Type 1 diabetes in children 14 years or younger in the world. And that rate is consistently rising by three to five per cent every year.


It’s time for a cure, a real cure, because insulin is not a cure. If enough people participate in the June 10 JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) Walk – a walk to cure diabetes – maybe, just maybe, future kids will have that cure.
Katie Robinson is a reporter with the Chilliwack Progress.

Flying High

I finally came down from the high blood glucose scurry I have been on the past few weeks it mysteriously dropped that very same day I got my period. I wish I could tell when my hormones decide to go crazy as it did the past three weeks.


Last night was an adventure Tuesday evenings are site change evenings at the House O Adjoa, Saturday Mornings is site and cartridge change. After an evening run, I ripped out my old site enjoyed a long hot shower and inserted a new site. I settled down to once again try to get Windows Mobile Device center to communicate with my pocket PC phone, this problem is getting old and on my last nerves. Just when I thought I had figured out the issue my laptop battery dies, I will tackle this issue at another time.


I tested my blood glucose which was in a good range and proceeded to watch Gilmore girls I cried when Rory graduated from Yale. You will think my emotional state will have clued me in, I watched Veronica Mars, teased my sister for surfing the net via her pocket PC phone because her laptop also died and was charging.


I drifted off to sleep, woke up after about two hours to pee, drink water and turn off the TV noting to myself to have a greener day tomorrow before getting back into bed.

I struggled to tell the time I think its 8am but it’s still dark out, it must be 3am. I need to pee and my mouth is sticky and dry I need water I get out of bed. The water is making me nauseous, maybe it’s too warm my blood glucose rings in at 15mmol/l (270) I take a correction insulin dose and go back to sleep. I wake up at 6am with blood glucose of 18mmol/l (324), feeling like I have been run over by a trucker trailer.


My insulin pump site was completed detached from my body! WHAT? I have no idea how or when it happened. I have been pretty lucky and had only had one bad site prior to this I re-inserted a new site and went to work.
I went through the day angry, angry at diabetes.

But! You Look Really Healthy

I am sure we have all heard this before, someone new finds out you have diabetes; they look you up and down questioningly then say...

But! You look really healthy.

A friend once said that most people do not and will not take diabetes seriously because I make managing it look so easy plus I look healthy.

I was not amused when I heard those words on Sunday not after the Saturday I had just had.
This past Saturday we set out for a run, it seemed like all the stars were aligned. It was cool but nice out, my blood glucose starting out was at 5.7mmol/l (103mg/l). About 30mins into the run the muscles in my legs ached, I slowed but kept running. 45mins later I checked my blood glucose it read 10.1mmol/l (182mg/l), it explained why? - I muscles were aching for insulin. I pressed on for another 30mins hoping to burn some of this high glucose off, nausea set in and I was feeling downright sick, I checked my blood glucose again this time a reading of 12.8mmol/l (230mg/l).


I took a correction bolus and we opted for a long walk back home instead, my blood glucose took it sweet time coming down ever so slowly.


The rest of the weekend and today has been spent on the high side. How I wish it is as easy as people seem to think.