Diabetes Journey Award
Lilly Diabetes has a wonderful recognition program for people living with diabetes called the ' Lilly Diabetes Journey Award'. This award is (well was) given to people who reached the milestones of 25, 50 and 75 years or more of living with diabetes.
I said "well was" because just recently the award has been expanded to include a 10 year celebration.
from Lilly's Website:
“At Lilly Diabetes, we recognize that every person with type 1 diabetes is on a unique and challenging lifelong journey. But they’re not alone—Lilly Diabetes works hard to not only help patients overcome the daily challenges of managing diabetes, but also celebrate their milestones along the way.
That’s why the Lilly Diabetes Journey Awards program recognizes and honors individuals who have successfully managed their type 1 diabetes over a long period of time. By honoring people who have long been successful, these awards not only help them to keep moving ahead, but also help to inspire others to believe that they can do it, too.
The Lilly Diabetes Journey Awards program, formerly known as LillyforLife, recognizes diabetes patients in the United States who have successfully managed their disease with the help of insulin for 10, 25, 50, or 75 years or more. As of 2014, the 10-year award, which honors patients who have successfully managed type 1 diabetes for 10 years, is being introduced to the program. We know that a type 1 diabetes diagnosis is a life-changing event, whether it happens at age 5 or 25. And successfully managing it for the first 10 years can help establish success for a lifetime—which we look forward to celebrating again at 25-, 50-, and 75-year milestones along the way.
Since 1975, Lilly has presented thousands of medals to people with diabetes who have continued to use insulin, and with the addition of the 10-year award, we look forward to presenting even more.
Those selected for the Lilly Diabetes Journey Awards program serve as an inspiration to all people with diabetes for learning how to manage their disease and adapting to the ever-changing technology of diabetes care throughout their diabetes journey.”
I find it difficult to believe but Arden will have type I diabetes for ten years in 2016 and I am definitely going to apply for her ten year medal when that day arrives.
More about the award from Lilly
“Medals are presented to patients in the United States throughout the year. Each recipient receives an elegant award, beautifully engraved with their name.
The 75-year award winners are also invited to have their names engraved on a special monument on the Lilly Campus. This serves as a testament to a life with type 1 diabetes well-lived for recipients and how the heritage of Eli Lilly and Company continues to connect with people living with type 1 diabetes today.
Today, applying for or nominating a patient for this award is easier than ever. Healthcare professionals, caregivers, and patients managing diabetes in the United States can complete and submit the Lilly Diabetes Journey Awards application by clicking the appropriate links below.”
Those links can be found here.
Learning to Live with Diabetes
I didn't expect to be so deeply effected when I spoke to a group of D Parents.
Way back in January I received an email from a lovely woman named Carla who is a D Mom, an advocate and a volunteer for a charity called Learning to Live that helps children with diabetes. Thing is where Carla lives, they call the charity Aprendiendo a Vivir because it's in the Dominican Republic.
Carla's email asks if I would come and give a speech at an event they were having that concludes with a 10k. My short answer was, "I'd be honored, but don't speak a word of Spanish and I don't run".
Carla didn't care, she said they would find me a translator and I could walk the 10k. I found apprehensive about traveling to a place where I would mostly be mute, invited by a stranger who found me through my book and blog – but something told me that I should go, so that's just what I did.
I thought that I was prepared to meet children who have limited access to diabetes care and supplies. But when I arrived on the island and began to talk to the people who run the charity, I quickly realized that I didn't - though I thought that I did - have an appreciation for what having diabetes outside of America meant.
Dominicans who do not have private insurance or the means to provide for themselves rely on local hospitals for their supplies. It is not uncommon for a person to receive thirty test strips per month – one a day. That concept overtook me and I struggled to imagine how I would best utilize one test strip a day, keeping Arden healthy with only one strip seemed impossible.
I heard stories about children dying very young from completely ignored diabetes, families that weren't educated about the diseases but trying and others who were culturally predisposed to accept that life with diabetes meant that it would be greatly shortened. After seeing first-hand what having diabetes in the Dominican Republic was truly like and hearing about families, some who existed on the equivalent of one thousand dollars annually; I returned to my room on the first evening of my visit and threw away my speech. I'm still not sure if anything I said the next day was helpful, but I tried my best to relate our experiences in a way that would make sense to the parents listening.
Aprendiendo a Vivir was founded by a young man named José who happened to be studying in America when he diagnosed with type I, when he returned home and saw the difference between the education, tools and understanding that he was given in the U.S. and what was available to his fellow countryman; he sprung into action and created a network that supports children with diabetes in a way that left me awe inspired.
I was so concerned when I stepped onto the stage that what I was about to say wouldn't translate both in language and spirit but when I finished speaking a young mother brought her little girl to me so she could show me her insulin pump. She was very proud of her daughter's pump because their aren't many people living on D.R. that can afford one. I sat down on the edge of the stage and found a picture of Arden with her pump to share, when I showed the little girl Arden's picture she just smiled and hugged me.
A moment later as I walked through the crowd a mother stopped me to say thank you for mentioning that diabetes doesn't make you a broken person. She confided in me that her grown son's father is not accepting of his diabetes because he see's him as damaged. She added that it made her happy to see a father supporting his child with diabetes. I didn't quite know how to respond, so I hugged her just as the little girl had hugged me. We both cried.
As it turns out, it didn't matter that I don't speak any Spanish.
More images from the event can be found in my Image Gallery here.
*I misspoke during the address, Kris Freeman is a 4 time Olympian, not a 4 time gold medalist.
