meme wrote:
Tom. 67 years with type1--When I read that it just makes me feel good inside. I want my daughter to do this well in life. It also makes me want to know how you have lived with d during this time. What are you doing that we can do too? Do you watch your diet-exercise-stay on top of your d care-Are you a positive thinker-?? If you have ever gotten off track-how did you turn that around? Can we hear the stories anywhere from you and others who have done so well for many years? I know I go on and on but I do stress and worry at times, then I read something like 67 years with type1 and I settle back down and think ok-we can do this too! Thank you Tom for being on Juvenation!
and
Thanks Tom-My wordings off-I do truly believe we are going to see a
cure. I also believe before it gets here we are going to see some sharp high
tech. things come about. These things will lead to better control with which
will = better health. My concern is how to keep health at it's best till the
cure gets here. How did you and others do so well for many years? How do you
keep in the positive everyday...? Maybe it is best to just do and not think so
much---that is where I get in trouble. :)
I
appreciate the opportunity to try and answer your questions. Probably
the only thing I have been doing, that a lot of T1 people may not be doing, is
exercise. About 30 years ago, I got interested in bicycle riding, and, except
for one period of about four years, I have stayed with it. Being an engineer, I
also started keeping track of my mileage. It ranged from 1,000 miles in 2005 to
10,000 miles in 1991. I don’t ride every day, although I guess I did ride
almost every day in 1991. Since I had kept track of my annual mileages since
1978, it was easy to add them up, and in 2008 my total bicycle miles surpassed
100,000 miles. Unfortunately, one difficulty with not riding every day is that
my insulin requirement differs between ride days and non-ride days, so every
day is different. So, I just take each day as it comes. Another
thing I have been doing for the last 14.5 years is the insulin pump. In that
space of time I have used three pumps, MM506, MM508, and Cozmo. The warranty on
the Cozmo has run out, but Medicare won’t replace it for another year. I keep
pointing out to people that in the 52.5 years I was on injections I lost track
of how many times I had to be taken to the ER for severe hypoglycemia. But in
14.5 years using insulin pumps, my control has been so much better, and I
haven’t been to the ER for severe hypoglycemia in the 14.5 years I have been
using insulin pumps. I’m
pretty sure that some of us have better genes than others, and this can make a
big difference in how long we survive, with or without diabetes. Of course,
with 67 years of T1 behind me, I have received a Joslin 50-Year Medal, and of
course, I’m very proud of it. The Joslin Diabetes Center, in Boston, is doing a
study of the 50-Year Medalists, to identify the factors that have made it
possible for some people with T1 to survive in spite of the T1, and I have been
actively supporting this study, both with my blood and my dollars. On Nov 18,
2009 they took ten tubes of my blood! So it’s a serious study. There
really isn’t anything I do every day, except to treat each day on the basis of
the BGs that I measure for that day. I accept that every day is going to be
different, so I just take it as it comes.