Health committee  When we're having to not give our medication and then suffer the consequences of the pain of being in ketoacidosis and the pain of living with neuropathy.... If it were that easy, and we had everything up front and didn't have to put ourselves in those positions, I think everyone

Health committee  We qualify, but I still had issues. It's not—

Health committee  We qualify.

Health committee  That is a great point.

Health committee  No, and we're already there. If you look at it, Karen and I.... She wasn't here when I made the statement about my husband's.... We said the exact same thing. I don't know if any of you realized that.

Health committee  Right. Also, we both looked at it not as a blessing. We're still paying 20%. Charlene doesn't have that luxury. We're already at the point where we can't afford to live on what the pharmaceuticals are giving us now. What's the difference? I don't want us to be in a situation like

Health committee  I think everyone should be tested, exactly, regardless of family history or whatever. Things are changing, and we need to change with them. To go back to what was said, free insulin would be amazing. I mentioned diabetic ketoacidosis and Karen just covered it, but the people wh

Health committee  It would be amazing.

Health committee  Charlene's story is not solely hers. I think most of us have been in that position at one time or another. We have scrounged and not done what we needed to do because we knew we could not afford the amount of insulin we needed to get by.

Health committee  It's sad, and the drain on society is that we end up with these complications. It's not right at that time either. It's years down the road, because that relationship I was in for those four years was well before my daughter. Those issues are compiled and get worse. Every bit lik

Health committee  I remember that my teacher called my parents and basically—excuse my language—said I was being a pain in the ass and disrupting the class. One of the signs of diabetes with high blood sugar is frequent thirst and urination. Every five minutes I had to go to the bathroom. I would

Health committee  It's the blame. The doctor that I fought with over my mom was like, “You're fat and lazy. It's your fault. I'm not going to change it. You have to change.”

Health committee  It's where it starts.

Health committee  It's hard because it's not only advertising. You look at some of the TV shows that portray diabetes and half of them...it's just like, “Are you for real?”

Health committee  It's the hoops and the procedure to get it, right?