Posted on 02/22/2009 11:34:58 PM PST by Marie
I'm sure most of us are thinking along the lines of survival lately and doing our best to prepare for the worst (while praying that the worst doesn't happen).
Along those lines, I have a serious problem to face if our western civilization ceases to be civilized.
My son is a Type 1 diabetic. He needs insulin to survive. Period. It cannot be controlled with herbs, exercise or diet. It's an autoimmune disease which has killed off his insulin-producing cells. Even if he ate nothing, his blood sugar would scream out of the normal range.
There's a story called "Cheating Destiny" about a diabetic woman who survived a Japanese internment camp by her husband making home-made insulin. For two years he made insulin and ended up saving many more lives than just that of his wife.
Does ANYONE here know how he did it? Don't get me wrong: I don't want to know the complicated, requiring-specialized-equipment way to make insulin. I want to know the details of how Banting and Best did it with nothing but animal pancreases, a meat grinder, alcohol and ice.
This is NEVER something I would do if there were another option. I would never even whip up a batch and test it on my son "just to see". (Although a bunny may end up having a really bad day.)
But I'm never going to feel secure until I know how to do this. And I know we're not the only ones in this boat.
Contact your doctor Marie and talk it over with him.
Ping!
I’ve been a few third world counries and isulin was always availible, for a price.
My advice would be discuss it with your doctor and lay in a 6 to 8 week supply, and rotate it.
Good luck.
I know you have probably been told this but a high protien diet wouldn’t hurt. God bless.
What about Canada or Mexico for sources? Perfectly legal with Rx.
I’ve been thinking the same thing Marie. I’ve been wondering what will happen if we stop having access to any of our meds. I know I take many for many illnesses, but as a mom, I know how frightening it feels not to be able to meet our children’s needs. I hope you find what you are looking for.
My doctor voted for O. :(
Even if she were sympathetic, it wouldn’t help us much. The problem is that insulin can’t be stockpiled. It won’t last more than 6 months or so if the fridge doesn’t go out. One month without refrigeration. Less than a week if we have no A/C and it’s 95’.
It hits so close to home because we almost lost him three and a half years ago when we moved here in August. Even though we kept his insulin in the cooler, it wasn’t cold enough and it went bad - fast. It took too long to figure out what the problem was (he’s on a pump, so troubleshooting can sometimes be difficult). Only 6 hours after he started rising we had to rush him to the ER. At that time he was already over 800.
I think that if we fed him a steady diet of only rabbit meat, a vitamin/mineral supplement and *lots* of water, that would by him some time. (no carbs or fat) But it wouldn’t be pretty and he’s starve to death eventually.
The only solution is to make it.
Type 1 diabetics in third world countries don’t live - ever.
Oh, Jim, I pray and pray that you're right.
Sorry, hon. That’s the wrong book.
“Beckman’s Internal Medicine” is the one I’m looking for. It explains in detail how Banting and Best made the first working insulin.
OPINION:
Get another doctor and ask him.
There are so many type 1 diabetics locally and they would all need their medicine. Ask your doctor what can be done in an emergency.
See if you can get your local library to obtain “Beckman’s Internal Medicine” through inter-library loan.
You're smart to plan ahead, but the hard truth is that a good number of us -- those who need insulin or heart drugs or blood pressure drugs, etc -- are simply not going to survive if western civilization collapses.
I've made my peace with it. It's the culling of the herd. I'm no longer young enough or healthy enough to survive such a calamity. So be it.
That being said, stop listening to people like Glenn Beck when he gets freaky about the end of the world. You don't see him canceling his talk show contracts and building and provisioning a bunker somewhere in the mountains. In fact, he seems to hang around the absolute worst places to be when the end of western civilization arrives....
My recommendation:
Contact Jerry Pournelle ( http://www.jerrypournelle.com/ )
He hinted in his book ‘Lucifer’s Hammer’ that he knew how to do this, back in 1985 (for the same reason - the fall of civilization). He also appears to have common political leanings with us.
Offer to subscribe to his website if he can help you. It’s cheap.
"Beckman internal medicine" is not even turning up in the Library of Congress e-catalog (http://catalog.loc.gov/).
That piece describes Victor as a gifted linguist. Perhaps “Beckman’s Internal Medicine” is not an English-language text.
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