UAE | Heritage and Culture
The triumph of spirit
Fasting can be tough, but what makes Iphigenia Von Moock-Tsipas' fasting a little different from the average person is that she is diabetic.
- By Mohammad Jihad, Community Web Journalist
- Published: 00:18 September 19, 2008
- Image Credit: Megan Hirons/Gulf News
- Iphigenia Von Moock-Tsipas displays her blood sugar reading. She feels 145 is a good reading for a diabetic.
Fasting can be tough, but what makes Iphigenia Von Moock-Tsipas' fasting a little different from the average person is that she is diabetic.
Moock-Tsipas, a 31-year-old business development manager, converted to Islam more than a year ago.
Moock-Tsipas said: "It was a very hard Ramadan for me, last year, as I had been diagnosed with Type One - the most lethal kind of diabetes. I need insulin several times a day to keep my sugar level moderate."
For the first few days of Ramadan, Moock-Tsipas, a Greek-German expatriate, could barely last the day because her sugar level decreased critically.
Moock-Tsipas said: "I had to drink water and have sugar, otherwise I would have collapsed. After a week, I started to control myself better and ended up fasting till the end of Ramadan."
Moock-Tsipas knows that in Islam, it is not compulsory to fast if one is sick, but she wanted to experience Islam and the things it offered, as she was still new to it.
The worst experience Moock-Tsipas went through during Ramadan was when she was in a meeting at work and started to feel as if she would faint.
"I could feel my body getting weaker and since it was an important meeting, I did not feel it was appropriate to leave. I tried to control myself as much as I could," she said.
When Moock-Tsipas felt that her vision and hearing were getting weaker, she decided to go to the kitchen for a glass of water and some sugar.
Moock-Tsipas said: "My boss came to ask what was wrong and I had to explain my condition."
Extra precautions
This Ramadan, Moock-Tsipas is taking extra precautions. She was on a diet, six weeks before Ramadan, to prepare herself.
"I started gradually getting myself used to the habit of not eating too much during the day so that I could manage Ramadan better. Last year, I did not know what to expect and ended up recuperating for weeks afterwards."
Moock-Tsipas does not think she will fast the next Ramadan, as doctors said it was not good for her health.
"Instead of fasting, I will focus more on educating the young and the poor about diabetes to help them cope with it better."
More from UAE Heritage & Culture
More from UAE
Latest news
- Tracks to be laid on recycled material
- Golden Hour crucial to a patient's survival
- Opening show worthy of UAE
- Sun is shining on prospects for solar power
- Artists focus on craftsmanship
- World leaders committed to supporting civilians
- Schools open a new page in teaching English
- Special parking to help disabled tourists
- Helping hand surgeons have long sought
- Blind woman lights up corridors of power
- In Mind
- At times, I think of committing suicide
- Designer of a creative haven
- Fund to help Dubai taxi drivers' families
- New life-saving fleet of vehicles
Community Reports
-
Warming up to ‘Mobilise the Earth' theme
Dubai school dedicates a whole week to celebrating Earth Day with can-collection drives, sapling plantation and painting competition among others
-
Drivers using mobiles put others' lives at risk
Speeding is dangerous for the driver and other motorists
-
Supporting the needy with food supplies
Group of families engaged in serving isolated labour community hopes to motivate more people to help underprivileged and hungry
-
Leukaemia boy granted wish to meet footballer
Emirati meets hero Al Qahtani, Al Ain team
