A healthy, happy baby shows me how far we've come
Last week, my husband, John, and I had a beautiful baby named Lola. The experience has reminded me of how challenging diabetes is, but also how fortunate I am to have a great health care team and a supportive husband. We all know that diabetes is a family affair, but that is never truer than during pregnancy. Years ago, women with diabetes were discouraged from having children. Those days, thank goodness, are long gone. But while successful pregnancies are now fairly routine, I can attest that they are not necessarily easy. Maintaining normal blood sugars this time around took a lot of adjustments. And I would be lying if I wrote that we’ve had no uncertainties about the baby’s health. But the point is: we’ve come a long way. Fittingly, this issue’s loose theme is about just that.
Pump therapy is considered by many experts as much better than its alternatives, and yet it’s underused. It is really just our sort of topic. A great Learning Curve describes how pumps have improved over the years and what they offer today, namely continuous insulin delivery that is much closer to the way a pancreas works than multiple daily injections. In a very personal Test Drive, I share with you not only my experiences on the fabulous OmniPod, but also the way I stumbled upon pumps years ago and how they changed my life.
The first thing to look at in this issue may be the incredible Profile on Gladys Dull, who has been on insulin therapy longer than any other person in history. Where better to start than the early days of diabetes treatment? No pumps here – she spent most of her life using glass syringes and measuring her blood sugar by boiling her urine. Almost miraculously, she is now 90 and for the most part independent. Gladys, thank you, for inspiring us.
Danish company Novo Nordisk is now the largest insulin maker. We are very impressed with this company, which has taken a leading role in urging the world to recognize diabetes as an epidemic and to curb it. Our discussion with the CEO of Novo Nordisk, Lars Rebien Sorensen, was quite revealing, about how governments must recognize that health care is not about treating diseases but about investing in the future, about Novo’s next generation of insulins, and more.
Finally, I just want to say thanks again to all of you on our Patient Advisory Board. Just as we pride ourselves in having an excellent expert advisory board with the top educators, doctors, and other players in the diabetes community, we also pride ourselves in having a terrific Patient Advisory Board who keeps us on our toes. As always, we invite you to let us know how diaTribe can better serve you (contact@diaTribe.org).
We are, after all, one big family… plus one!
Kelly L. Close
