Before.
Heavens; what did we do ‘before’?
When I was at dLife, Richard found his way into our forums and chats and once I became a regular in the online community Richard would always ‘pop in’ here and there adding his golden nuggets of incredible information. You see Richard has been living with diabetes for 67 years. That’s right, 67!
This week, while at the Children with DIabetes Friends for Life Conference he had a ‘first timers’ ribbon on. Now being in his seventies, the man still looks to educate himself and be part of the diabetes community; doing something for the first time after having diabetes for 67 years. If that doesn’t humble you, nothing will.
After meeting Richard, I was thinking on the plane ride home from Orlando; what it must have been like living with diabetes when Richard was a young boy.
I know all of the changes that have occurred since Kaitlyn was diagnosed 21 years ago and there have been so many more since Richard was diagnosed during the 1940s. It makes me wonder what in heaven’s name we all did before……..before……..SO MUCH!
Imagine our world without devices like pumps, fast-reading glucometers, small needles, CGMs; Imagine our world without CWD, JDRF, DRI, The Diabetes Advocates, The Diabetes Hands Foundation, and so many other areas; Imagine our world without Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest; Imagine our world not connected and not being able to be with each other in the many ways available to us.
Imagine.
We now live in an instantaneous world which readily is available to supply and share information. Our meters are the fastest they have ever been, and there is even discussions of things like the Bionic Pancreas and the BioHub; words that did not even exist 5 years ago, much less sixty-seven.
The world is forever changing and changing at a pace that on one hand does not seem fast enough but in another; faster than anyone could ever imagine.
When people like Richard were testing urine in a test tube 40 years ago, what would they have said when told that someday you will have something that will dispense insulin automatically?
We are now living in the fastest world of ‘now’ becoming ‘before’ than any other time in our history. Just a shame that it is all not fast enough……isn’t it?
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5 replies on “There Was a ‘Back Then’, Before……..Who Would Live Like That????????”
I can remember a world without all those things: pumps, fast-reading glucometers, small needles, CGMs; CWD, JDRF, DRI, The Diabetes Advocates, The Diabetes Hands Foundation, and so many other areas; No Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest; not connected and not being able to be with each other in the many ways available to us. I was diagnosed in 1972 and all we had was in-home urine testing and animal-derived insulin. No home blood testing, no pumps, no support systems. It was tough, and its a wonder I’m still alive, doing well with zero complications after 41 years. I admire Richard, and all of us who manage this disease.
People like Richard give me hope I’ll be around that long too. 30 years and no complications here, and I remember “before” very well :-\
So true. Mind-boggling to think where we were and where we are, and yet … we are so close to ‘safety’ – a world without night-time hypoglycaemia, which, let’s face it, is Public Enemy Number One in the T1D community. We want it so bad, and it’s so close! Hats off to the DRI, Ed Diamano and his amazing team, JDRF et al, for pushing as hard as they can, as hard as they dare. For us.
Humbling.
I’ve never met Richard but I like him 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
It was such a highlight to be able to meet and chat with Richard for a bit at FFL, and of course to see so many in the D-Community. Think we can all use a dose of perspective every now and then, and make sure we’re keeping it real – because we’ve come a very long way. Thanks for writing this, Tom – and of course, for making my first time at FFL so special.