type I diabetes during the Great Depression
It's 1939, in Baltimore, Maryland, and my character has Type I diabetes. He's in his early 20s, athletic, and manages his diet as well as he can. He works as an exercise rider at Pimlico, so he's also making money. Not outstanding money, but he's not starving either, which is good because, well, he has to eat right!
I've Googled for various permutations of "great depression" +/- heath care +/- diabetes treatment with various levels of success, so I have a general idea of what diabetes treatment was like back then. I've also read up on George Woolf, but he was a moneymaking jockey and could afford treatments!
Is it possible that he can afford insulin? I can't find anything on how much insulin cost back then, but I assume it was expensive, since it was a relatively new medical breakthrough.
If he can't afford insulin, is there any way he can keep from, uh, dying? Thanks for the rapid responses; obv. I should have read more carefully. Obviously he's dead meat unless he can get insulin. I'm working on a rough estimate of how much money he makes per day; how rich would he have to be to afford insulin? Or are there other ways he could come by the stuff?
I hope that's enough info. Please let me know if you need anything else!
ETA: Edited for clarity, since I realized that I specified his diabetes only in the subject.
I've Googled for various permutations of "great depression" +/- heath care +/- diabetes treatment with various levels of success, so I have a general idea of what diabetes treatment was like back then. I've also read up on George Woolf, but he was a moneymaking jockey and could afford treatments!
Is it possible that he can afford insulin? I can't find anything on how much insulin cost back then, but I assume it was expensive, since it was a relatively new medical breakthrough.
If he can't afford insulin, is there any way he can keep from, uh, dying? Thanks for the rapid responses; obv. I should have read more carefully. Obviously he's dead meat unless he can get insulin. I'm working on a rough estimate of how much money he makes per day; how rich would he have to be to afford insulin? Or are there other ways he could come by the stuff?
I hope that's enough info. Please let me know if you need anything else!
ETA: Edited for clarity, since I realized that I specified his diabetes only in the subject.