Flashback Friday: Diabetes And Doing Your Best
If you are searching around for an inspirational book, look no further. Diabetes and Doing Your Best is a personal account of a young teen’s early experience with diabetes.
During the summer of 1987, ten year old Nick Walters began to complain to his parents of feeling generally lousy. Initially nobody, including Nick’s doctor, suspected diabetes. But after his condition deteriorated, nearly to the point of death, no one doubted that Nick was suffering from uncontrolled high blood sugar.
After his recovery, Nick realized how important it was to find a cure for diabetes. For this reason, he wrote this wonderfully warm and informative book. All profits from the sales are donated to a variety of diabetes research and support groups.
Nick began his research for the book while still recuperating in the hospital. In order to keep his mind active, Nick compiled a list of famous people who have diabetes. Mary Tyler Moore and Catfish Hunter, the former All-Star pitcher, are just two of the approximately 100 famous diabetics listed in his book. In addition, he compiled an impressive amount of general information on diabetes.
Later chapters are geared towards motivating both children and adults to take care of their health through proper blood glucose control.
Diabetes and Doing Your Best is written in a style simple enough for the young reader. However, it carries a powerful message that should be read by anyone affected by diabetes. Nick’s message can be summed up in the words of a song that his mother used to sing. “Doing the best I can, doing the best I can. I can’t do no more, and I can’t do no less, I’m doing the best I can.”
Nick Walter’s List of Famous People with Diabetes
Athletes
Billy Talbert, tennis
Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Phillies
Sugar Ray Robinson, boxing
Ron Santos, Chicago Cubs
Bill Gullickson, Cincinnati Reds
Curt Fraser, Chicago Black Hawks
Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn Dodges
Hamilton Richardson, tennis
Bill Nicholson, Chicago Cubs
Arthur Ashe, tennis
Ed Kranepool, N.Y. Mets
Ty Cobb, Detroit Tigers
JoAnne Waham, pro golfer
Vance Heffner, pro golfer
Chuck Heidenreich, skier
Wade Wilson, Minnesota Vikings
Corbin Mills, bike racing
Mike Pile, Chicago Bears
Ned Edwards, squash champion
Jonathan Hayes, Kansas City Chiefs
World Leaders
Mikhail Gorbachev
Tito
Nikita Kruschev
Gamal Nasser
Menachem Begin
Yuri Andropov
Francois Duvalier
Anwar Sadat
Inventors
Thomas Edison
Authors
Ernest Hemingway
H. G. Wells
Mario Puzo
Entertainers
Elvis Presley, singer
George Lucas, producer
Mary Tyler Moore, actress
Totie Fields, comedienne
Jack Benny, comedian
Dan Rowan, comedian
Gary Owens, comedian
Andy Devine, comedian
Tom Parks, comedian
Jackie Gleason, actor
Minnie Pearl, comedienne
Jean Smart, actress
Spencer Tracy, actor
James Cagney, actor
Johnny Cash, singer
Jane Wyman, actress
Peggy Lee, actress/singer
Ella Fitzgerald, singer
Ethel Waters, singer
Jerry Garcia, musician
Stanley Kramer, producer
Otto Preminger, producer
Giacomo Puccini, composer
Kate Smith, singer
Mahalia Jackson, singer
Others
Paul Cezanne
Howard Hughes
Martha Jefferson
Ray Kroc, founder of McDonalds
