Hello…my name is Denise.
I am married to Dan. We have one daughter. Her name is Heather. She
is 13. We are stationed at Minot AFB in ND. We moved here in June
of this year. Before that we were at Seymour Johnson AFB in
Goldsboro NC. We’d been there forever…it was my husband’s first
base of assignment. Heather was born there.
I have diabetes (type one since the age of 15 months) and so does
Heather (type one since the age of 5). Because of my diabetes…Dan
joined the AirForce for the insurance (champus back then). This came
about by his asking how my parents managed to pay for my diabetes. I
am a military brat as well. My father was also in the AirForce.
Anyhow the rest is history and Dan is now a pharmacy tech. Which is
also helpful since I am on so many medications including insulin.
That way he can keep me informed of side effects etc. I used to do
nursing myself (LPN) until side effects and complications from
diabetes set in (just after my pregnancy). So I became a SAHM. Which
is just as well since Heather has diabetes too and somebody needs to
be here in case of a problem!
I can’t wait to get to know all of you. 
Sincerely,
Denise
January 19th, 2003 at 9:04 am
Hey Denise! Welcome to the group! ND huh? Bet your in the snow now!
We are from northeast NE, now in KC. So you’ve had diabetes
practically all your life. I have said many times I can’t imagine
having a baby and having to tell them ‘You can only eat this much at
these times’! I was a stay at home mom also for the first 2 years
after Damion was diagnosed- before we moved here there were no school
nurses where we were, so I had to be there to take care of him. I
just recently went back to college to pick up my last 2 classes for
pre-med (considering ped. endocrine, but not sure) and I have gotten
a job in a local ICU. I know what you mean with having to have good
insurance- this disease definatly is not for the uninsured! Anyway-
glad to meet you, and post anytime!
Melissa
— In type1_diabetes@y…, “Denise Radcliffe” <dradcliffe@n…
January 23rd, 2003 at 10:30 pm
Denise,
Do I take it that you have to pay for your medication in the USA?
We get it all paid for by the govt. here in the UK.
We can’t join the army or air force here.
I believe the navy has some desk based jobs we can do.
B. Kellas - diagnosed in 1966 & still going strong!
— In type1_diabetes@y…, “Denise Radcliffe” <dradcliffe@n…
January 26th, 2003 at 11:10 am
Hey B! Glad you joined us! I’m (obviously) not Denise, but am in the
US. Yes, we have to pay for all our meds here. If you have insurance,
then you only have to pay your copay, but you’re still paying for it.
I’ll give you some numbers on our situation, which I think is pretty
typical here. We pay $600 a month for our insurance. Then we pay $15
everytime we go to the doctor,$500 for every time in the hospital.
Meds are anywhere from $15 to $45 each, depending how much insurance
will pay for each thing. Our insurance doesn’t cover insulin (go
figure!) so we pay $22 per bottle. Kind of scary, isn’t it?
Melissa