[Diabetes-talk] Braille reading ability after diagnosis

[Julie Kline]

Good evening,

I mentioned in my intro that I had quite a few questions, so here's the
first one out of the plethora of them.  It figures I'd pick the one that has
been weighing on me the most.  My doctor nor the person doing the diabetes
education can't seem to answer this, so here goes.

I've been totally blind all my life.  I was born that way and as a result I
grew up reading Braille, which I do very well.  Now that I have diabetes, am
I going to lose that ability?  I know of a few people who are blind and have
diabetes who say that they can't read Braille, and that prospect kind of
scares me.  Is the reason they can't read it because of neuropathy in their
fingers and you just can't feel the dots?  Or is the issue more that when
you stick your finger for testing, that the calluses from this build up so
much that you can't feel the dots anymore.  So far I have avoided sticking
my fingers where I use them to feel the dots, but I recognize this approach
limits where I can do my testing from, and I'm nervous about repeatedly
sticking myself and not giving the area a chance to heal because I used it
too frequently.

I'd be interested in feedback from other people who are Braille readers or
anyone who has insight on this.
Thanks.
Julie