We Were Promised a Cure…and…Yeah, Now What?

We all heard it. We may have even said it based on what we were told by those ‘in the know.’ The cure for diabetes will be here in 5 years. I asked a top scientist once about this phrase, and his answer was enlightening, “There was a time that so much was happening in the world of diabetes that many in the scientific world truly believed; how could it NOT be here in 5 years?” I was even told that this would be the case, to my own peril, as I shared it with others, and worst yet, I believed it. 

And it didn’t happen.

Organizations even got behind beliefs like the Decade for a Cure.  Now is the time.  In your lifetime, and the ever-famous, already mentioned: The cure will be here in 5 years.  

Endocrinologists shared the same. Organizations shared the same. Diabetes publications shared the same. And we, for the most part, believed in it too.

Then it was frustrating to realize that it was not occurring in the time frame we were ‘promised.’ But time moved on. People looked for substitutes. Other devices entered the realm of possibilities. The CGM spoke to the insulin pump, and the device listened. Smart insulins.  A trial by Vertex. A new pump called iSlet. Tidepool’s idea wasn’t so crazy after all…was it? DIY became an acronym for what’s new and exciting and not just some crazy idea not to pay attention to Do It Yourself.  Much was, is, and will continue to happen.

What we cannot do is think that just because it (whatever it was supposed to be) did not occur in 5 years is no reason to give up hope and just go home. No reason to think that something new and exciting won’t happen. The first rocket didn’t land on the moon on the first try.  A few even blew up. People even died while we figured out how to reach into the heavens, and it would be at a cost, but it would be worth it. Our kids deserve better, do they not?

A cure for diabetes is not going to be here tomorrow.  But if we just throw up our hands because it did not occur in the time frame we wanted, well, why bother? One cannot be on ‘the outside looking in’ and think that a voice will resonate enough with anyone on the inside to change things.  No, you cannot be on the outside looking in.  You have to be on the inside, and you have to be prepared to make a difference.  No matter how long it will take or how many obstacles, it is the dedication to stay with it until the job is done. We owe that to Dr. Dan Mintz, Mary Tyler Moore, Carol Lurie, Drs. Banting and Best, Debbie Singer, Stacy Joy Goodman, and everyone else who was in this fight to beat diabetes and did not live long enough to see that job completed.  We owe ‘not giving up’ to our loved ones.

We. Owe. It. To. Them. To. Finish, What. Was. Started.

Are you in?  Just don’t do nothing.

I’m a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like.’