Growing up Again: Life, Loves, and Oh Yeah, Diabetes by Mary Tyler Moore

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For many women growing up in the '70s, The Mary Tyler Moore Show's Mary Richards was the picture of unsinkable perfection. In fact, the sitcom's star had great difficulty convincing fans and associates that she wasn't quite as flawless as the character she portrayed. When Moore was diagnosed with diabetes before the show began, she responded with denial, frustration, and continued bad habits. It took a 1984 trip to Betty Ford Clinic to stop her drinking, and a physician's help to douse her three-pack-a-day smoking habit. In Growing Up Again, Moore accompanies readers on a candid tour through her many mistakes and pratfalls, without sacrificing the buoyancy and goodwill that make her so lovable.

From the Publisher

Excerpt from Growing Up Again:

Each person who has diabetes struggles to come to terms with it and experiences the basic challenges of the disease in a uniquely personal way. For me, it has been a trip through rebellion and denial to finally arriving at acknowledgment and commitment to solutions. It took years. And I still rankle at the restrictions, the have-tos, the may-nots, and the never-endingness of it. But the illness is what it is, and I thank God for the genius of medical researchers who have done so much to make diabetes a less cruel imposition while propelling us toward a cure.

I don’t think the story of my life with diabetes is a model for anyone else. There’s no template to follow that will determine the course of the disease and how it affects a person’s life; no one right way to manage diabetes. What I have put on paper is simply the tale of how, in the course of everyday living—dealing with the losses, the dead ends, and the triumphs that come in often seemingly random order—I’ve dodged, faced, and sometimes conquered the challenges of diabetes. I’m sharing my story because it is what I have to give, shedding some light on the follies and achievements that I’ve racked up in my daily confrontation with the disease.

But my journey is just a part of the picture. So I’ve talked with other people who have diabetes to give voice to their experiences, to provide a varied view of how to live and thrive. And I’ve sought out some of the wisest and most capable doctors and scientists who are waging war in the laboratory and conducting bench-to-bedside experiments that are producing new and excitingtreatments to help the millions of people with diabetes manage—and ultimately vanquish—the disease.

Publishers Weekly

Her TV alter ego, Mary Richards, may have been perfect, but it's Moore's imperfections that make her the ideal author of this surprisingly frank memoir about living with diabetes. Diagnosed with Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes at age 33 in 1969, Moore rebelled with anger and frustration at the restrictions of moderation the disease imposed and she ignored. Belatedly, she stopped drinking (after a trip to the Betty Ford Clinic in 1984) and quit her three-pack-a-day smoking habit in 1988, but she admits that she's no poster child for diabetes. With admirable honesty and sardonic humor, Moore exposes her failings with technology and inability to always stay on top of her disease, and reveals how diabetes has permanently affected her vision, balance and stamina. This helpful and illuminating guide is a winning mixture of personal stories with occasional visits to experts who take her step-by-step through surgical procedures or offer more detailed explanations of new technology and stem cell research. It's a credit to the book's bouncy tone that even the detailed appendix is readable. Since 1984, Moore has been the international chair of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which raises more than $200 million every year. (Apr.)

Karen McNally Bensing - Library Journal

While working on The Dick Van Dyke Show, award-winning actress Moore (After All) was diagnosed with juvenile (Type 1) diabetes and quickly discovered that managing the disease is a full-time job. With the help of a diabetes specialist, Moore learned to control her blood sugar with a rigorous routine of diet, exercise, insulin injections, and frequent blood glucose monitoring-a regimen that made it possible for her to maintain her demanding personal and professional lives. After 32 years of living with diabetes, Moore, now 72, developed retinopathy and poor circulation in her legs-common complications of long-standing diabetes. Moore details the daily challenges she faces to maintain healthy blood sugar levels. She emphasizes the importance of building a good support system composed of health-care professionals, friends, and family members. Her book also includes a "short course on the world of diabetes" for the newly diagnosed and a list of useful web sites. Moore's humor, authoritative information, and honest evaluation of her own experiences with diabetes make this work essential for diabetes and consumer health collections. Highly recommended.

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Table of Contents

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Growing Up Again

St. Martin's Press

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Excerpted from Growing Up Again by Moore, Mary Tyler Copyright © 2009 by Moore, Mary Tyler. Excerpted by permission.
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