din
09-21-2010, 02:57 AM
September 20, 2010, 1:52 pm An Idol’s Struggle With Type 1 Diabetes
By TARA PARKER-POPE (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/author/tara-parker-pope/) Chris Pizzello/Associated Press Crystal Bowersox
The “American Idol” finalist Crystal Bowersox almost left the show because of complications related to Type 1 diabetes. Now she has opened up about her lifelong struggle with the illness, particularly the challenges of paying for supplies when she didn’t have health insurance, according to a new interview posted on DiabetesMine.com (http://www.diabetesmine.com/2010/09/crystal-bowersox-her-first-interview-on-diabetes.html)
I have been in the position of begging for insulin. I was 21, 22 — playing in subways all day. I had no insurance and that’s what it came to. No one should have to go through that. My mom has Type 2 diabetes, but for a long time she didn’t check her sugar or take the meds because she couldn’t afford the strips or pills. That’s just wrong….
Good care shouldn’t be a privilege to the wealthy. I want to bring awareness to the need. That’s what I want to do with this thing we call “celebrity.”
Ms. Bowersox, an early Idol favorite who placed second in the national singing competition, missed a show because she was hospitalized with complications from her Type 1 diabetes. (The male contestants agreed to change their performance date so Ms. Bowersox was allowed to stay in the competition.)
She also tells something of a harrowing tale about traveling to the “American Idol” tryout in Chicago. On the trip she realized she had forgotten to bring an infusion set that was essential for her insulin pump. She posted a panicked request on the social network TuDiabetes and was helped by a stranger in Rockford, Ill.
I sang him a song in his living room as a thank you. And I said, “I’m going to be famous someday.” I wonder what he’s thinking now.
To read the full interview, go to the Diabetes Mine Web site (http://www.diabetesmine.com/2010/09/crystal-bowersox-her-first-interview-on-diabetes.html), then please join the discussion below.
By TARA PARKER-POPE (http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/author/tara-parker-pope/) Chris Pizzello/Associated Press Crystal Bowersox
The “American Idol” finalist Crystal Bowersox almost left the show because of complications related to Type 1 diabetes. Now she has opened up about her lifelong struggle with the illness, particularly the challenges of paying for supplies when she didn’t have health insurance, according to a new interview posted on DiabetesMine.com (http://www.diabetesmine.com/2010/09/crystal-bowersox-her-first-interview-on-diabetes.html)
I have been in the position of begging for insulin. I was 21, 22 — playing in subways all day. I had no insurance and that’s what it came to. No one should have to go through that. My mom has Type 2 diabetes, but for a long time she didn’t check her sugar or take the meds because she couldn’t afford the strips or pills. That’s just wrong….
Good care shouldn’t be a privilege to the wealthy. I want to bring awareness to the need. That’s what I want to do with this thing we call “celebrity.”
Ms. Bowersox, an early Idol favorite who placed second in the national singing competition, missed a show because she was hospitalized with complications from her Type 1 diabetes. (The male contestants agreed to change their performance date so Ms. Bowersox was allowed to stay in the competition.)
She also tells something of a harrowing tale about traveling to the “American Idol” tryout in Chicago. On the trip she realized she had forgotten to bring an infusion set that was essential for her insulin pump. She posted a panicked request on the social network TuDiabetes and was helped by a stranger in Rockford, Ill.
I sang him a song in his living room as a thank you. And I said, “I’m going to be famous someday.” I wonder what he’s thinking now.
To read the full interview, go to the Diabetes Mine Web site (http://www.diabetesmine.com/2010/09/crystal-bowersox-her-first-interview-on-diabetes.html), then please join the discussion below.