Educating insulin

A couple of weeks ago, I attending an annual meeting for my local JDRF chapter (my “local” chapter – the one that includes the county in which I live – happens to be farther away from home than some of the neighboring chapters, but… whatever). The featured keynote speaker was chief smart-guy-and-really-nice-guy Aaron Kowalski (official title: “Vice President of Treatment Therapies”). He’s also Type 1 and hails from New Jersey, so that’s reason enough for me to like him.

I won’t go into rehashing the bullet points of his talk. Although I did take some notes along the way for the purpose of this blog, I know that I can’t do justice in reproducing his words, delivery, and enthusiasm. That would be like me sharing my karaoke performance of “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction” – even though I don’t have the voice, can’t keep a rhythm, and haven’t got the moves like Jagger.  And who wants to see an attempt at a copycat performance? So I won’t even try.

If you lived here, you’d be cured by now

Jerry mouse, of Tom and Jerry fame, in “The Night Before Christmas,” way back in 1941

Is it just me, or have you seen a dramatic uptick in the amount of mice being “cured” of Type 1 diabetes lately? It makes a PWD wonder, would I be better off if I were a mouse with diabetes? (also known as an MWD.) Sometimes we wonder why the outlook for an MWD is so promising, while PWD’s have grown to expect disappointment and unfulfilled promises on the cure-front every five years.

These mice get all the perks.  They get the latest cures, they get all the cheese they can eat, and in Jerry’s case, candy-canes that are twice his size. Of course, mice also have to constantly deal with predators.   Do you think Itchy has even five seconds to check his blood glucose levels before delicately carving Scratchy with a chainsaw?  Not bloody likely.  Would Jerry have ever escaped Tom’s relentless pursuit if he was carrying an insulin pump?  Doubtful.  Can you imagine Little Bunny Foo-foo scooping up hypoglycemic field-mice and bopping them on the head?  It brings callousness to a whole new level.