{"id":35685,"date":"2014-04-06T12:14:24","date_gmt":"2014-04-06T16:14:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35685"},"modified":"2015-12-27T15:43:07","modified_gmt":"2015-12-27T20:43:07","slug":"time-for-your-type-1-diabetes-medal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=35685","title":{"rendered":"Time for Your Type 1 Diabetes Medal?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Joslin<\/a>
Joslin Diabetes Center’s 50-year medal.
Photo credit \u00a9Joslin Diabetes Center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In my last post,\u00a0“Type 1 Diabetes Finally Explained,”<\/a>\u00a0I talked about the challenges and intense management one endures living with, and managing, Type 1 diabetes.<\/p>\n

Thousands of people shared the post and hundreds wrote telling me that I had perfectly described their lives — how hard we work at every day, “staying between the lines.”<\/p>\n

Joslin Diabetes Center, one of the world’s renowned diabetes clinics, knows how hard we work. They award people medals for living with Type 1 diabetes 50, 75, and as of last year, 80 years! The 25-year medal became a certificate as so many people are, as once unheard of, living with diabetes beyond 25 years.<\/p>\n

\"Joslin<\/a>The 80-year medal<\/em><\/p>\n

Dr. Elliott Joslin, founder of the Joslin center, believed that good self-management was key to reducing long-term complications.<\/p>\n

Also, that recognizing patients for the care and attention they pay to their diabetes management would serve as motivation. It does.<\/p>\n

“This is no less true today than when the first 25-year medal was awarded in 1948,” Stephanie Hastings, coordinator of the medals study, told me. “One of our 80-year recipients said he is now working toward his 100-year medal!”<\/p>\n

Giving a medal for living with diabetes is remarkable in so many ways. Too often people with diabetes are scolded by their health professionals for “bad” blood sugar numbers or not working hard enough — as if managing diabetes was a perfect science.<\/p>\n

Too often people with diabetes see themselves as failing for not being perfect in their care — which is all but impossible.<\/p>\n

\"Joslin<\/a>The 75-year medal<\/em><\/p>\n

The prescience of Joslin is very forward-thinking. While we recognize those who’ve lived through cancer as “survivors,” with the intention to honor them for their accomplishment, the word “survivor” actually focuses on the past and reminds one of the hardship.<\/p>\n

Yet a Joslin medal is nothing but thunderous applause.<\/p>\n

Joslin’s medals program is also more than merely motivation. Over 900 medalists are currently participating in Joslin’s medalist study launched in 2005.<\/p>\n

Noticing that medalists were not just surviving, but thriving, Joslin is researching what genetic, environmental and physiological factors contribute to living long and well with Type 1 diabetes, with an aim to improve quality of life and move us closer to a cure.<\/p>\n

Research Results To Date<\/strong><\/p>\n

These results were given to me by Ms. Hastings.<\/p>\n