Do we have any 50 yr medalists out there?

luv2spin

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That is MY goal. I will be 107 when it happens.

There is a guy whom I have met during my routine frequent controls in the local teaching hospital (outside UK), that has type one. He’s had it for 72 years.

My absolute superhero of a person with diabetes he is! 73 years with the old T1D and still going strong with no complications !!!!!!


Would be great to hear if there are any members of the community with any types of diabetes condition to share their positive experiences with us...

not necessarily 50 years with diabetes but, 20 and more years also please.
 

Diakat

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I think we've had threads on this before somewhere...
 

Grant_Vicat

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That is MY goal. I will be 107 when it happens.

There is a guy whom I have met during my routine frequent controls in the local teaching hospital (outside UK), that has type one. He’s had it for 72 years.

My absolute superhero of a person with diabetes he is! 73 years with the old T1D and still going strong with no complications !!!!!!


Would be great to hear if there are any members of the community with any types of diabetes condition to share their positive experiences with us...

not necessarily 50 years with diabetes but, 20 and more years also please.
Hi @luv2spin I got my Nabarro Medal for 50 years in August 2009. The following is lifted out of the book in my avatar:
On 4th September 2009, the first Friday of the new School Year, the children took part, together with the Staff, as usual, in what is known as Living Together Day, which enables them to work in teams on timed challenges and as a result find out characteristics of others which may not be apparent in the classroom. The local press were present, but not for the children. On 9th July I had achieved fifty years of diabetes (Malfunction) and as such was eligible for the Nabarro (not Sir Gerald!) Medal which is issued by Diabetes UK in memory of Alan Nabarro, who presented it. The “ceremony” took place in the Diabetic Clinic at The West Suffolk Hospital in the late half of August. I was told to be there at 08.30 and report to the Receptionist. As usual the waiting area was filled with faces that looked stony, resentful, anxious or blank. There wasn't a medic to be seen.
I sat there with Helen, Stephanie and Neil (who were to marry on 29th August) dressed as though I was going to the beach. After a while a gang appeared, spearheaded by Dr Clark:
“Mr Vicat, would you like to stand up please?”
(Er not really)
“Here we have a remarkably fit patient who has lived with diabetes for just over fifty years and is an example to us all.”
(Stony or alarmed expressions abound)
“Can I just say that I would not be here but for the geniuses who work at King's College Hospital, The West Suffolk Hospital and the first hospital to treat me?”
“That may be so, but it is your attitude to your condition that has played a vital role in your survival.”
And so I was presented a medal in a little blue velveteen box.
I felt curiously deflated.
As I walked through Bury St Edmunds with my family, I happened to bump into Dr Ruth Lister(see page 13)who was gratifyingly celebratory. It was then that I started to think how I might celebrate the event. It occurred to me that the reason I was able to exist was due to (eventually) obeying instructions from professionals like E.W.G. Davies, the late Dr David Pyke, Dr Peter Watkins, Dr Amanda Adler, and the entire Nephrology and Pancreatic specialist teams at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. I began to think how I might encourage children and teenagers, treading a similar path to mine, to not shut the door on medical advice.

That is what inspired me to write. Four years later, on August 13-14th 2013 I underwent a kidney pancreas transplant at Addenbrooke's Hospital, thus ending 54 years and 14 days of injections. It is amazing to hear of people living for over 70 years with Type1, when you think how primitive treatment has been up to the late 1970's. As technology advances at an unimaginable rate, I am sure these achievement medals will start to dwindle. If I'm proved wrong, I hope patients have a smoother ride to "stardom" than some of us from the Pleistocene era! All the best
 

Grant_Vicat

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I think we've had threads on this before somewhere...
So far I haven't managed to track them down. My 1952 Remington must need a service!
 

luv2spin

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@Grant_Vicat

Mr. Vicat,

It is a privilege for me to be acquainted with your real life story.

I am living thousands of miles away from you, totally in a different part of the world but, my eyes are full of eye drops and I, as a human being, stand up and sincerely salute you and your achievements.

Thank You for being an inspiration for me and for us, whoever may be reading of your kind reply to the thread.

Thank You for your still fulfillment of the social responsibility of being an example and inspiring us.

“That may be so, but it is your attitude to your condition that has played a vital role in your survival.”

"your diabetes healthcare over the years and being grateful to those doctors who spoke clearly and plainly"

The above two sentences are exactly what I believe in as well too...

I believe you won the biggest medal. It is not metal but, it is the medal of inspiration for the fellow human beings and thank you.

My kindness regards and wishes...


p.s. before I posted the thread, I have checked it and couldn't find any similar one's myself too.
 

Grant_Vicat

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@Grant_Vicat

Mr. Vicat,

It is a privilege for me to be acquainted with your real life story.

I am living thousands of miles away from you, totally in an different part of the world but, my eyes are full of eye drops and I, as a human being, stand up and sincerely salute you and your achievements.

Thank You for being an inspiration for me and for us, whoever may be reading of your kind reply to the thread.

Thank You for your still fulfillment of the social responsibility of being an example and inspiring us.

“That may be so, but it is your attitude to your condition that has played a vital role in your survival.”

"your diabetes healthcare over the years and being grateful to those doctors who spoke clearly and plainly"

The above two sentences are exactly what I believe in as well too...

I believe you won the biggest medal. It is not metal but, it is the medal of inspiration for the fellow human beings and thank you.

My kindness regards and wishes...


p.s. before I posted the thread, I have checked it and couldn't find any similar one's myself too.
Dear @luv2spin
Thank you for your lovely message!
 

luv2spin

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@Diakat That's it :) You have made my day. I was so depressed and puzzled why there are no more members, so there they are... Somehow, I couldn't find that one. You are so kind. Thank you a lot and I must say that I always read your creative "Update your status..." with joy :)
 

CearaRed1073

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onions, cheeseburgers, diabetes, colors of red, yellow, and orange, houston (too big and WAY too much traffic, not nearly enough public transportation)
yes, 40 years last October. a few days later, on Halloween, i fell in the parking lot, fractured my skull in three places, and still have no clue as to why it happened (not low glucose, i didn't slip nor misplace my foot)...just fell
31 October 2018.JPG
 

Ray B

Active Member
Messages
41
Type of diabetes
Type 1
That is MY goal. I will be 107 when it happens.

There is a guy whom I have met during my routine frequent controls in the local teaching hospital (outside UK), that has type one. He’s had it for 72 years.

My absolute superhero of a person with diabetes he is! 73 years with the old T1D and still going strong with no complications !!!!!!


Would be great to hear if there are any members of the community with any types of diabetes condition to share their positive experiences with us...

not necessarily 50 years with diabetes but, 20 and more years also please.

I have never been offered any medals (although I am not someone who would want the fuss of that) but I have had Type 1 for 74 years.
There are many of us out there who are long time people with diabetes so it is becoming a lot less of a surprise.
Ray B
 
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Ray B

Active Member
Messages
41
Type of diabetes
Type 1
I have never been offered any medals (although I am not someone who would want the fuss of that) but I have had Type 1 for 74 years.
There are many of us out there who are long time people with diabetes so it is becoming a lot less of a surprise.
Ray B

P.S. Although something to be very proud of
 

mike@work

Well-Known Member
Messages
296
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
I have never been offered any medals (although I am not someone who would want the fuss of that) but I have had Type 1 for 74 years.
There are many of us out there who are long time people with diabetes so it is becoming a lot less of a surprise.
Ray B


Impressing!

I'm only up at 54 yet, but I'm also trying to get, a lot of active years more, behind me ...