I read the following statement recently:
CGM technology has reached a point where it’s now the standard for glucose measurement.
Just in case you have been living in a luxury oasis somewhere, you probably know that a CGM is a Continuous Glucose Monitor.  A device worn that checks an individual’s blood glucose constantly (different timing depending on the device).

Now whether you agree with this statement or not, it’s more important to understand the statement in relation to where we are now, as oppose to a time gone by.  CGM is a new term, and new device, in the relative diabetes timeline of events.  Kaitlyn was diagnosed on September 26, 1992, about 30 years ago.  The FDA approved the use of a CGM in 1999.  Without editorial, you now have a choice of devices to be used by a few different companies.  It’s a fabulous management tool for each person’s diabetes tool box.

As the devices in the guise of insulin pumps and CGMs battle for the larger market share by getting smaller, faster, more accurate, less painful, and just about doing everything but serve you coffee in the morning, I keep noticing something that is getting less and less attention.  Do we not want to get rid of this disease anymore?  Have we made it so ‘easy’ to live with diabetes that people just don’t care or do not believe in the “C” word anymore?  Is a cure no longer necessary?

Have people had enough of hearing about a cure and when it will be here that all the discussions surrounding a cure have just fallen into the background and have become nothing more than white noise?

Is the absolute better management tools the accepted buzz on what is important these days.  Sorry, not for me.

I think we need to stop grumbling about the “I was told a cure will be here in 5 years for the last 20 years…….” syndrome, and make sure that cure related research stays on the forefront in the minds of everyone and anyone who have the means to add financial resources to diabetes research. Privately and through the government

The world is an exciting place with so many scientific findings that are slowly being worked into the mainstream of having diabetes.  These tools are fabulous, needed, and more is always wanted.

I made a promise to my daughter, and then to my son as well, that I would stay at the search until a cure arrives….whenever that may be.  It may not be a popular belief, it may even seem like an unreachable star.  But it’s why I continue on my quest to march into hell for that heavenly cause.  You?

I am a diabetes dad.
Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.  Tagged diabetes dad,  diabetes inspiration

Someone recently asked me If I had seen The Human Trial, and if I had any thoughts about it?  I told them that I did see it and had no real earth-shattering thoughts to be discussed.  Truth be known, I saw it a few times and my thoughts have been constant and with a single-focus.  They have been on Maren and Greg, the two subjects highlighted in the film.

You see I have lived out this film a few times in my life.

Some things, perhaps, differed slightly but the story was the same.  In 2013 I wrote, Diabetes Jeopardy Answer #29 for D-Month: Without them, We Would have No Idea what Would Work to Help Those with Diabetes.  In that article almost ten years ago, I highlight the story of my late and dear friend Kenny, along with Gary, and Rita.  All had undergone islet cell transplants.  Going where no one had gone before.  There was no movie on their lives.  There was no tugging at your heart as you watched them undergo a scientific procedure that was unproven.  No sharing how they entered a dark black hole with absolutely no guarantees what would await them on the other side. No viewing audiences to cheer them on.  It was just them. Science. Unknowns. Dreams, and that was it.

As I watched The Human Trial, my heart went out to Maren and Greg.  They are 2022 heroes and both should be treated as nothing less.  To take one’s body as a whole, and say; “…..take it.  Use it. Learn from it.”  The entire movie was one I have seen before.  What Vertex (now the owners of Viacyte) is looking to achieve is what those who have gone before have worked toward, a means to have a person with diabetes off of insulin with insulin producing cells working full time, or for a length of time, where blood sugars are normal again.  Whether in a pouch, in a device, a new line of cells, a new derivative of stem cells, but some means of insulin being produced again.

All were with some sort of immunosuppression, most ended up back where they started.  Most involved where the project failed and they ended up back on insulin.  If you’re nodding your head as you are reading that the project failed, it’s here where I want; rather; where I need to stop you.  The projects have most certainly NOT FAILED.  As I watched the film and saw Maren and Greg with the frustration as if they somehow let us down.  The pain of why “did I bother doing all of this in the first place”?  Back they went, to the worlds they knew before undergoing such a trial.  As we watched, did we just think, “Wow, too bad for them?”

When it was decided we would go to the moon and back, it was understood that we were going where no one had gone before; failure was not an option.

What The Human Trial film’s writer, Ms. Lisa Hepner, did is she pulled the curtain away on the glamor perception of research and allowed us to see just two lives that have agreed to go where no one has gone before.  To be involved with research, the very word meaning, again, ‘re’—to search.  To search again and also,  as many times as it takes to get it right.   To jump off a cliff with no means of climbing back once the leap is made.  But fail?  Oh no dear friends, I can share with you from first-hand experience that this project was by no means a failure.   Well, it does not have to be.  But that is not on Maren or Greg; just like it was not on Gary, Rita, Kenny, and so many others back over ten years ago—you see, that’s all on us.

Here’s what I know.  Back over ten years ago, no one fully appreciated that we could actually take an insulin-producing cell that did not actually belong to them and implant it in their body, and it would work.  It would create insulin.  Too much screaming and fighting about being on immunosuppression drugs as if that made the accomplishment anything less than it was, a huge success.  If the Diabetes Research Institute along with others had not done that work well over ten years ago, I can assure you that the chances of Vertex doing what they are doing today would stand little chance of moving forward.

So please join me in asking, okay, what next?  How do we make it better?  How do we make it work better and longer?  We know it works, but it needs fixing, dare I say tweaking.  Give those who need it, the money to go to the next step.  Let’s not wait another ten years.  Let’s sink every cent we can in making this all work the way it should.  Why do we give a ticker-tape parade for walking on the moon but to Maren and Greg, who gave their entire self to journey into the darkest hole imaginable, jeopardizing family, work, and possibly even their own lives………….with barely saying thank you. And if the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences (their name alone says it all joining art and sciences) does not see Ms. Hepner’s Picture as the truest example of Documentary with a nomination, that will truly be their loss.

Kenny Bernstein is a man I can never talk about without tears coming to my eyes.  I remind you all that when I asked how it felt to be able to eat whatever he wanted without the fear of diabetes after his islet cell transplant, he gave me his huge smile and he said; “It feels great, Tom.  But I didn’t do this for me. I did it for your Kaitlyn.”

Indeed he did.  Now is the time to turn on everything we can to advance what Kenny and others did over ten years ago, and Maren and Greg did more recently.  It works. The rocket takes off.  Now we have to get it to the moon and back safely.  Do THAT for my Kaitlyn, my Rob, your loved ones, and the millions like them.

I am a DiabetesDad.

With special apologies to Clement Moore.   I present a tradition……an updated, ‘Twas the Night Before D-Christmas for 2022

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The meters, CGMs, and supplies were put away with such care,
In hopes that Santa would bring the cure with him this year.

The children were nestled from head to their feeties,
While thoughts in their head were no more diabetes.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, she prayed for the cure too,
A dad still wonders what else could he do.

Remembering this year; and things we did see,
Like advancements and such were coming to be;
Away to the D-Community to see the latest big bomb,
Although in Europe it was great to see a brand new Dexcom.

As costs continue to rise and wallets get thin,
The fight continues for lower costs of insulin.
The community raised voices loud and concise,
At least our seniors will see a lowering of price.

It was great to see new warriors come to the government halls in mass,
Like Chicago’s 45^th, that bought in Jennifer Ladisch Douglass.
It was a hugely tight race, it was exciting, and fun,
Now a new representative, and yes, she has type one.

Others will take the lead and we will all see
Better products, more work, and good advocacy.
Better pumps, insulin, and CGMS by the score,
There’s plenty coming and we’re screaming for more.

Could it be that this COVID mess is finally fading out,
Our cries for change will get loud cuz that’s what’s it about.
But onward we go staying positive all the way,
There’s so much to do, and it all starts today.

Fighting for many and trying to be fair,
Coverage for one, coverage for all, even with Medicare.
Human trials, products, not just for our self,
Diabetes tattoos, even CGM for an Elf on a Shelf.

The war against the cost of healthcare being so high,
Will get louder still and the masses will cry.
Something will get done we’ll come near and go far,
Our voices will be heard, our actions on par.

New science will show with new trials to start,
Provention Bio may bullseye with their new dart.
If anything stalls it, it will become a crime,
The proof will come, come it will also take time.

Many stepped up to help and grabbed at the ball,
Helping some was no good, it had to be all.
Helping others and giving so very deep,
Hours and days they all went and went without sleep.

When you look outside at the fresh fallen snow,
so many are doing and so many you don’t know,
Think of those who inspire and soon you’ll see,
Things will move forward and continue to be.

The life is not the greatest fighting this disease.
Continue to ask as you drop to your knees
That things will get better and rightfully quick,
Good things to come, and not all from St. Nick.

So listen carefully as you think what needs to be done,
If you have an idea, take it and run.
Don’t leave it to others; it’ll be just a few,
“Don’t do nothing” is what you really must do.

And if you think you’re done, tired, and feeling sort of sore,
Think of your loved one with diabetes, it’ll make you do more.
And if not for you, it will be for their sake,
We won’t stop at all till they get a break.

And then, in a twinkling, one day we’ll hear on the roof,
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
And the only thing needed in Santa’s bag for sure,
Is when diabetes is gone because of a cure.

So we will all continue to work, the ‘where’ is up to you,
But you have to make the decision on something you’ll do.
And one day we’ll scream and exclaim, “diabetes is gone from sight,”
The Happiest Christmas ever, and to all a good-night!

I am a DiabetesDad.
Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’

Jean Kuczka was a teacher in St. Louis who died at the hands of a very troubled youth. She gave her life as a teacher. She knew what it was like to give back to our youth. She was protecting what she valued most, her students, and it cost her, her life.

In an instant her life was snuffed out while she was doing what she loved, teaching. She once wrote, I cannot imagine myself in any other career but teaching. Many of her former students are stating how much she meant to them as they try to come to grips with this horrendous tragedy. Jean loved to teach.

Jean was active in so many things and when her son was diagnosed she took to the roads to make a difference in JDRF’s Ride. In fact she was preparing to participate in ride #15 at the Amelia Island Ride to Cure Diabetes. Now as many people know, I have two kids with T1D and have been with the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation for a long time, and on this day, I made a donation to Jean’s Ride to benefit the JDRF. BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT JEAN WOULD WANT. Join with me.

I did this because Jean had a dream. A world without T1D for her child and the millions who wait for a cure. Her upcoming ride was a huge part of that dream and how she intended to make a difference. Her dream was cut short because of an assassins bullet. This is not about organizations. This is not about anything else but helping Jean keep her dream alive. So click this link. Join me and make a donation to Jean’s page supporting the great work at the JDRF. Wouldn’t it be great if it becomes the most amount ever raised by a rider in JDRF history! I have always said, just don’t do nothing, well…….in this case please don’t do nothing. Please just give a few bucks in honor of a woman who had, as her highest priority, our youth.

Her life meant something. Let’s show the world that the diabetes community cares. One of our own has fallen. Let’s hold her life up as an example of all that is good. Please give a few bucks to her cause. Let’s Jean’s wish of a successful ride……..be the best one ever. Thank you for caring.

I am a diabetes dad.
Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.  Tagged diabetes dad,  diabetes inspiration, JDRF

It is now in year 13 that my dear friend and wife of my Little Brother (from another mother but just as close as a real brother) Mark, has left this world.  Lisa was a one-of-a-kind woman who proved to the world that one person, just one, is all it takes to change the world; the Power of One.  In memory of that voice that changed the world, I made a promise that I would give Lisa Awards each year to deserving individuals that understand the Power of One.

It’s given to people who, in their own way, change the world just like Lisa did.  This is a VERY BIG deal to me because these awards are not given lightly.  They are given in honor of a woman who was not satisfied to just feel sorry for herself, she changed many lives and I miss her to this day.  My friend Lisa passed away in 2009, at the young age of 36. She battled cancer longer than any doctor thought she would, or even could. Through her life, I learned a hugely powerful phrase that will live inside me forever, along with Lisa’s memory: The power of one person.

Here is a quick summary of Lisa’s story, before we get to the awards. She was diagnosed with cancer.  Lisa and Mark shared their writings of her journey, in real-time, with a hundred or so friends and family members, all of whom were inspired by each word. People learned, shared, and were in awe of their strength and dedication.

And then something happened.

People who were not part of the inner circle started reading the blog posts, and those people became inspired. The hundred readers became five hundred. In no time, the number of readers rose to 1,000, then 1,500. Soon 3,500 people were following Lisa’s story at every turn, both the good and the bad.   Lisa and Mark were so brave in the face of incredible hardship and they inspired others to do the same with grace and dignity, sprinkled with humor.

And then something else happened.

A TV station found out about Lisa and they ran the story on the evening news of her incredible efforts to teach others. Millions heard her story and were inspired by the magic she possessed — the determination to live life and taste every last drop was shared with millions.  So many others now facing trials hit those trial ‘head on’, inspired by this young couple.

Eventually, what Lisa and Mark shared so openly, became a reality and she succumbed to the physical-ness of what cancer can do.  Her spirit, though, was never defeated.  The war would go on with Lisa and Mark’s teaching. Her “power of one” changes lives to this day.

This column, surrounding Lisa’s birthday month, pays tribute to those who understand Lisa’s philosophy of the power of one person. Because I’m more versed with the happenings inside the diabetes community, my Lisa Awards are given to those people who live Lisa’s determination to make a difference with the “power of one” in the diabetes community. These people don’t do it — whatever ‘it’ is — for only themselves, they do it because they think it will make a difference in the lives of those with diabetes. Lisa’s words live in these special people — they know and understand the power of one.

Also, just over two years ago, I lost one of the most influential people in not only my world, but the diabetes world as well, and a dear, dear friend.  Paula Ford-Martin is the reason I have the mantra Diabetes-Dad.  She was a writer, editor, and all-around genius-with-the-word whether in print or broadcast media.  She was a book author, a blogger, and to me; is the main reason the dLife TV show on CNBC was as good as it was.  Paula passed just over two years ago in the same battle Lisa had, and she also is the only one who I bestowed the Lisa Award to twice because she not only understood the meaning of the Power of One, she lived it as an open book right to her less breath to teach others, not only in her own illness, (www.livingwithstageIV.com), but in the real life of her own children’s transition, she became a voice to be heard in the LGBTQIA community as well.  This year, each recipient of the Lisa Award-Power of One is awarded to those who used the written (or/and spoken) word in making a difference; in honor of Paula as well.

My first Lisa Award this year is given to a young woman (pictured above) who when you see her ‘do her thing’, is as breathtaking as the Top Gun/Maverick movie I just saw very recently.  Katie Bone is 16 and has T1D.  Katie Bone is 5’2″ and 110 lbs. This week on American Ninja Warrior, it was just Katie, by herself and the Power of One, against the terror of the course in front of her.  The Albuquerque, New Mexico native not only beat it; she mastered it and she now moves on in the competition.  I gasped, I screamed, I yelled, and when she was done…….I cried.  An insulin pump attached to one arm, a CGM to her other arm and her absolutely uncompromised strength and determination.  She had a message for young people (which I find so wonderful coming from a sixteen-year-old) both with and without diabetes, “do what I do, I don’t need easy, I just need possible.”
Power of One, indeed, dear Katie, my new hero…..and many others too.

Like most people who make this list, the next recipient will tell you that it was much more than his Power of One that made any difference whatsoever.  He would be modest and he would also be wrong.   Because way back, when, before anyone else thought that stem cells would be as earth shattering and changing as they have become, it was Bernie Siegel, an attorney from Florida who felt that this powerful research tool, stem cells, would change the world.  They would need nurturing.  They would need protocols, They would need looking after.  As Founder and Chair of the World Stem Cell Summit Bernie and his colleagues have pioneered and promoted policy and advocacy in the field of stem cell and regenerative medicine from its earliest phases of research to present day potential.  All to drive their efforts to bring safe, effective, and healthy treatments and cures to patients worldwide.  The world is on board now, but before that, it was the Power of One person, and that person is Bernie Siegel.

Susan Fong immediately took to the climate and creative mastery of Pixar Studios.  Starting as a software developer, Susan was the type of person who loves art and math, which also came easy to her.  She came to the point where she crossed over to taking her loves and adding them to movie making.  In the past she has worked on Finding Nemo, The Good Dinosaur and Coco, but it was a little addition she added to the movie Turning Red that caught the attention of the diabetes world.  When Susan approached the artistic team to add an insulin pump to the arm of one of the characters, it was met with an out loud and definitive, ‘yes’.  But as is Pixar’s style, if it is in the film, it’s going to be correct.  This attention to detail allowed Susan to explain what it is like being a person with diabetes as she was diagnosed at age four.  They went through every step what it should look like on the characters, and why.  It did not take long for the diabetes community to see and react to the Pixar character.  For Susan, it was all in a day’s work but to us, it was the Power of One person to get the largest and most successful animation studio of all time to say, “why not?”  Nice job Susan……and thank you.

And that rounds out this incredible year of Lisa Award Recipients. Hard to believe that it’s 13 years since Lisa left us, and just over two years since Paula did. If there is one thing I have learned doing these awards each year, it’s just how magnificent people can be.  The Power of One, is Power enough………to change the world…….even if it’s just one person at a time.

I am a diabetes dad.
Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.

Tagged Dad, dDad. dMom, Diabetes

Years and years ago, when the insulin pumps fist came on the market, is the first time I heard the initials, or phrase, DIY. Do It Yourself. Many people with certain skill sets have taken it upon themselves to work at problems facing their loved one utilizing diabetes management tools. CGMs, Insulin Pumps, Fitness watches, and even medications are being experimented with to better manage a loved one’s diabetes, in most cases type 1 diabetes.

Sone of these DIY attempts have turned into full fledged companies trying to solve a problem. Many of these attempts come with disclosures that what is being proposed has not passed the litmus of the FDA for approval of the technique, the attempt, or the medication. So the user assumes all risks that the DIY world offers.

Now I am 100% fine with people hacking into system to connect devices and people for the benefit of obtaining the up-to-the-minute issue being needed by a patient…….but as more and more of these type ideas make their way to the mainstream, the cautions that need to go with it are becoming less and less. This is most evident in the medications being taken. Some medications are not intended for people with type 1 diabetes and many have that fact printed all over the packaging. But still, because the meds are able to help with the body as it deals with insulin etc., some have figured ‘short cuts’ to help manage their T1D.

At the onset of these projects, the users self-medicates and monitors themselves as they become their own lab-rat to see how the medication can hold optimum impact. And sometimes it works. HERE IS THE CAUTIONARY TALE: The more it gets used and meets with some success, the less the ‘warnings’ accompanies the treatment. This is bad. Very Bad.

DIY can be very useful, my only purpose for today’s article is to remind everyone that no matter what you are doing or trying ‘off-label’ PLEASE make sure you know all the details and risks. Do your homework and ask a million questions. I have heard, in recent times, that going off label with meds that many seem to be doing more and more, almost cost 2 people their lives. There may be a thousand reasons why this happened and many excuses as to why anyone would even try this. If, and that is one big IF, you choose to DIY on things diabetes related—–PLEASE do your homework.

Then do your homework again before engaging. There should be no scenario you have not heard, or are not aware, so you know how to react should tings begin to go sideways.

Be careful, we need you around.
I am a diabetes dad.
Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.  Tagged diabetes dad,  diabetes inspiration

As so much seems to be happening in our diabetes world from management tools, to biological advances, to even hints of that ‘C’ word again occurring within the hope (and perhaps, some hype) throughout the diabetes community, it is always important to remember that the world we live in has been built upon the shoulders of so many who have come before us. They, with usually just a small alike thinking group, always believed in one thing……diabetes will just not do.

Change needed to happen.

Long before the world looked at those celebs with T1D to help get the word out, the wonderfully talented late Mary Tyler Moore and her beloved JDF/JDRF led an army of parents, children, and professionals storming Washington’s Capitol Hill to tell their personal stories of living with T1D. A major A-Plus celebrity took the time and effort to join alike individuals to raise their voices to be heard.

Before new, improved, and modern management tools were fully utilized and/or even understood, the beloved late Dr. Andy Drexler taught that using these tools for intensive insulin management was needed not only for everyday use, but also for successful pregnancies. He was among the most prominent practitioners of his time. Originally in New York, he and his trusted colleague Carolyn Robertson APRN, MSN, CDE took their practice to the West Coast until his death. He was an icon.

The late Dr. Richard Rubin, with a son and sister battling T1D, became an associate professor of medicine and pediatrics for The Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Rubin spent his career helping people with diabetes and their families manage the emotional and psychological challenges at a time when the psyche of living with diabetes was not much more than merely a phrase. And few had as much courage to ‘blog’ or write about these psyche issues than Scott Strange, who we lost in 2021. Scott and Richard set both the bar and the groundwork to sharing information regarding the psyche of diabetes.

There has been a huge long list of those who have been trailblazers with information, treatment, advocacy, philanthropy, and advancements in a world where each had the same single belief that the world around them could, and would, benefit with just not doing nothing. They did not stand idly by and they were certainly not content with the status quo in a diabetes world.

So remember that every single thing, EVERY SINGLE THING, that you notice in your diabetes world, did not just happen. Those who took on the challenge never knew that their actions would resonate throughout the world. They were just an individual, just like you, but decided that the world needed change; let’s remember ALL of them. As Margaret Mead was quoted years ago, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.

Amen!

I am a diabetes dad.
Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.  Tagged diabetes dad,  diabetes inspiration, Mary Tyler Moore, JDRF

My sister passed away this week, she was seventy-one (the picture above is how I will always remember her). She was the oldest of six kids and I, the youngest, but only seven-and-a-half years separated us. When a baby, she would feed me and marveled as I skillfully added bread, spaghetti, and meatballs into my milk only to drink it (sorry, yeech). She was my Santa Clause and I, her Little Elf (later she would call me L.E. as not to embarrass me). Now at age 63 it made my day when we would speak on the phone and before hanging up I would say, “I love you”, to which she would reply “I love you more L.E”, every time. Under most definitions, we are all a close-knit family. JoAnne was a mom to six kids of her own and grandmother to thirteen. My sister was not perfect and for the rest of this story, kindly recognize this fact we all know to be true. Let me also say that I cannot begin to thank the so many people who reached out to our entire family since we shared this news, it is so greatly appreciated.

My sister, passed away suddenly.

Why this is an odd statement to say is because for at least the last third of her life, my sister was paralyzed completely below her neck, a victim of multiple sclerosis, commonly called MS. She had many ups and downs, but always came through. Even when admitted to the hospital, coming back out was usually not that far away. This most recent stay in the hospital would be different and a decline started, would quickly get worse. As she was being prepared for some scans, she passed away as they got the equipment ready. My niece, Meaghan her daughter, was with her and in this world of COVID, not dying alone is a welcomed gift. The final end would be listed as cardiac-arrest, in essence, JoAnne’s earthly body had just had enough.

In the story from the bible of Job (pronounced Joe-b), Job is tested beyond human comprehension; death of loved ones, pain inflicted, disease inflicted, problems, trouble, and more. And yet, Job remains faithful to God and never once complained. If ever there was a modern day story of Job, my sister would be cast in the lead.

MS comes in so many degrees of severity and as JoAnne stated to me once more factually than complaining, “THIS is the lottery I win”; to be given the worst form of MS. You see my sister never, not once, ever complained of her situation. Many, many people she dealt with, turned their backs on her, both personally and professionally and they will now live with that burden. Because she proved naysayers wrong, time and time again.

Living by herself, service providers who said she could never live outside a facility alone were proved wrong as she was granted her independence and lived in her apartment, with her trusted service cat, Selene. A black cat with such a heart and positive force that one would swear she alone would break the stigma of black cats every. Caretakers would come and go but never once would JoAnne grant the permission to give up her independence. Her son, a wiz on anything that runs through the walls of a building, created practically everything to be voice activated because JoAnne’s mind and voice, despite a completely compromised body, remained sharp as a tack.

Traveling by plane, attending family events, attending milestones in both her own children’s lives and her nieces’ and nephews’ lives, seeing her beloved Barry Manilow in concert, meeting her idol “C.C.” Sabathia on the field of Yankees Stadium; JoAnne was going to let MS stop her from nothing……that attitude would guide her life. When my mom and dad passed it was not even a thought that she wouldn’t, or couldn’t attend their funerals. As the services ended at the cemetery, the order to wheel her closer was given, and she would pay her respects and thank them for all they meant to her. “God gave me the strength and mom and dad showed me how to use it”.

Many medical professionals would offer a course of action, and if she disagreed, she would fight them until one was convinced on the correct course to undertake, many times, hers. “I know this disease and I know my body”. Many family members would advocate on her behalf, and most times, it was the right path to take. I have many stories how people tried to take advantage of her, her position in life, her needs, her position, and those stories would be accompanied on how they were dismissed, each and every time. But on those whose actions could have, and might have, devastated those not as strong; JoAnne refused to say one thing negative. Not most times. Every time. She would defer the comment and say something positive about the person without fail. She would also remind all how God knew what he was doing, and so many had it worse than she. Being negative was not allowed and ‘no’ was nothing more than a word.

Her children wrote such beautiful stories as they remembered their mom this week. Each one emphasizing just how strong she was and how, each one, had a specific trait/attribute in their life they now hold due to their mom, well, being their mom.

She always and in all ways took a huge interest in her Goddaughter’s type 1 diabetes. When we spoke she wanted to know the latest and greatest in research for my two kids as well as trying always to hear about the advancement of science discoveries. Her MS and T1D being autoimmune diseases, she would share that helping medical research in one disease would surely help the other. “Autoimmune is autoimmune. Although different in their autoimmune properties, there are parallels, and there is cross over”. And of course, she was 100% correct.

Recently, she would be taken to SUNY Stony Brook Hospital one last time. And as I spoke to her daughter this week she informed me that mom was not leaving Stony Brook as she had donated her body to the worldwide education facility known for research with instructions to study her, study her MS, learn from what she lived with, lived with indeed, and use it to help others with MS and beyond.

So my sister’s last act on this earth was a gift so huge, herself. Organ donations are so needed and to actually say ‘here, take me, and use me’ is one huge final gift of love. Not surprising coming from one who lived her life the same way………a gift of love. Thank you Santa Clause, I will love you more forever. Love your L.E.
I am a DiabetesDad

As we end this 2021 and begin 2022 I sit staring at the sky with amazing clouds cutting through like huge cotton balls on a jet-blue background.  I’m trying to find the right words.  My normal final two columns each year are usually a take on ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and a Goodbye column to the end of the year welcoming the next, all with a diabetes ‘flavoring’; but to be quite honest it’s just not there.  My heart aches, my heart pains.  Earlier this month we in the diabetes community suffered a major gut-punch and I just feel the need to address it.

Like everyone who knows Thom Scher (the CEO to Beyond Type 1, for those who do not) I was beyond devastated at hearing about his death while he was in New York City on business.  He was too young.  He was too bright.  He was too good. He was everything one would say that now results in the complete loss that he is gone.  Many, many, deserving accolades have been stated, written, and spoken by so many.

 But Thom deserved more from us.  Thom would expect more from us.

In his very short time, not only on this earth but as part of our diabetes community if Thom taught us anything, he taught us that; YES! There is a way to do that, makes anything possible. When I read that Beyond Type 1 and the JDRF had come to an agreement to form an alliance it was a trumpet call to the world……..find the ways to work together, not the way to say no.  Then, again, with ADA.  And many others as well. That is how Thom worked.

Thom was not just a believer of the whole entity being larger/better than the sum of the parts, he believed that ALL the parts make up the whole.  When you see that organizations such as Tu Diabetes, Diabetes Scholars, Jesse was Here, JDRF Alliance, ADA X BT1 Partnership; and programs such as expanded sites into different countries/languages, advocacy initiatives, type 2 community, and more, all now fall under BT1’s banner, it truly is a testament to how Thom worked.  The way Thom and I really came to know each other was with the programs on the missed diagnosis of T1D.  Since before Reegan’s Rule and other initiatives, we worked closely to see the stage set for BT1’s efforts.  In one of our conversations Thom looked me square in the eye and he said, THIS will be in all 50 states, I promise you that. And it very well will happen.

A while ago when we met at a conference, someone came over to us and I introduced Thom and he immediately honed-in to find out who this person was, and what he could learn.  When asked the question he was asked many times, did he have anyone in his family, he began to answer and I cut him off, “You no longer can say you have no one in your family, in fact you have one of the largest families I know.”  He assured me that moving forward his answer would be amended.  My family, your family, the BT1 employees’ families, his friends and their families, the Diabetes Community, Thom most assuredly now had much family who lived with diabetes.

But now Thom has left this world.  His visions need to carry on, must carry on.  And THAT my dear friends, is on us.  In his short time did we learn that working together on……….well……anything is possible if we only have the desire to do so?  Did we learn that, yes, we all have objectives but the Venn diagrams of all our existences have enough overlap of commonality to build GREAT things.  Did we learn that, I surely hope so?  But what will we do about it?

How my heart goes out to Thom’s Family and all who knew him and loved him.  My heart so aches since the day I received the call.  As we go into 2022, my pain must be turned into action.  There is no way on this living earth that Thom Scher would want anyone to be looking/walking around in circles asking what is next?  He would challenge us to get off our butts and get moving in the right direction forward.  I pledge that to you Thom, I owe you that.  And so, don’t we all?

Thoughts?

I am a diabetes dad.
Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.  Tagged diabetes dad,  Thom Sc.her, diabetes inspiration, just don’t do nothing