type 1 diabetic for 79 years

March 11, 2011

1 Diabetes Since 1931

von Wartburg

Mar 10, 2011

son developed type 1

<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/community/type-1-issues/> diabetes

<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/> 79 years ago, in 1931, only a decade after

the discovery of insulin

<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/medications/insulin/> . 's wife

of 67 years, Dorothy, recalls, " In the spring of 1930, when was ten,

his teacher told his mother that he ought to be checked by a doctor because

something seemed to be wrong. His mother got on the streetcar with

and they went down to see the doctor, who said, 'There's nothing wrong with

him. He's just slow.' So they went home. In the fall of the same year, his

new teacher said, 'Something's wrong with --he ought to be checked out

by a doctor.' So they went back, and that doctor diagnosed him with

diabetes. They kept him in the hospital for a month because the doctors then

didn't know that much about diabetes 1. "

was started out with U20 regular insulin and then went to U40, which

used for years. Now, he uses three shots of U100 regular and one shot of

Lantus.

When got diabetes, blood sugar

<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/monitoring/blood-sugar/> was checked

by urine tests. His daughter, Marcia, says, " I remember the little test

tubes that he would have the urine in, and he'd put these little tablets in

to see what color it would turn. I was always fascinated by that when I was

a small child. " adds, " When it was blue, we were glad. "

uses a meter now, of course, a Contour, but he has not switched from

multiple daily injections to a pump. Dorothy says, " The pump didn't appear

until late in his life, and the doctor wondered whether it would be smart to

do that. Now that he's lived so much longer, I think it would have been

smart to have the pump, but we didn't know he was going to live so long. "

notes that people didn't talk about diabetes much back when he got

diabetes. " We tried to keep it quiet, " he says. " I wasn't exactly proud of

it. " He adds, " I never was very outgoing. I was always quiet. " Dorothy says,

" I think that's because your mother never let you go many places. " She adds,

" He went to the state fair with a cousin, and he had a reaction. She was

protective and wouldn't let him go off too much. "

says, " My mother was a great and wonderful supervisor. I'd have

reactions out on the street somewhere, and she'd rescue me. I'd collapse on

the street, and they'd have to haul me home with an ambulance or to the

hospital. " Dorothy says, " It happened enough that his mother and father had

quite a time to get him back on track. "

adds, " She kept pretty close tabs on me. I was off to a good start

thanks to my mother and dad. She was on top of the situation for a long

time, and now my wife has taken over real well too. "

Dorothy recalls, " He had a little neighbor boy who played with him, and once

when Ed collapsed, this little boy came running to his mother and said,

''s had a rear-action.' You had to laugh a little bit about it, but it

was still serious. "

Marcia adds, " We as children were trained too that if he was acting a little

strange, we usually had a candy bar or something not too far away. The whole

family kind of supported him. As a kid, being able to eat candy bars like

that seemed lucky to me. "

Dorothy reports that the family believes 's growth may have been

stunted by diabetes because " when he was 15, he could stand under his

mother's arm straight out. Maybe he didn't grow as tall as he otherwise

would have. He's five feet, seven inches now, and his sister is taller than

he is. "

When left home, he recalls, " I went to Pittsburgh Des Moines Steel

one day in 1941, applied for a job, and got it. I was there for 42 years,

retired from there. They knew I had diabetes, certainly. That was in the

war, World War II, and I guess they hired me because I was diabetic

<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/> , and they didn't think I'd get drafted.

The war got me into the job. I enjoyed working there for forty some years. "

led a very active life until very recently. He recalls, " I used to

play softball for a long time. " He played volleyball as he got older too,

probably into his sixties, and went pheasant hunting for many years up in

South Dakota. " It certainly was a lot of fun, " he says. " I enjoyed it,

tramping around the countryside. Exercise

<http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/fitness/exercise/> helps, I know

that. I used to walk a lot. " Dorothy adds, " Even when he was in his late

sixties into his seventies, he had a paper route in our neighborhood, so he

got lots of exercise from that. "

's activity level slowed down about ten years ago when both feet were

amputated as a result of diabetes. His wife says, " I remember him talking

to the doctor when one foot had to come off, and he said, 'Here I thought I

had taken good care of myself.' The doctor replied, 'You have been taking

good care of yourself. The fact that you've lived this long without any

problems tells me that you did take good care of yourself.' "

reports that his kidneys and eyes are " doing pretty well, I think. I

was always kind of proud of myself because I was able to drive a car so

long. My eyesight is still fairly good. " Dorothy adds, " The doctor says he's

doing fine, and he goes to the doctor every three or four months, to a

general practitioner. "

Asked about the keys to living 89 years with diabetes, says " Exercise

is good, and then, eating on time is very important too. " He's eaten oatmeal

for breakfast every morning for years, and for a long time he ate shredded

wheat for lunch <http://www.diabeteshealth.com/browse/food/lunch/> . He

rarely indulged in treats though. His wife recalls, " When we got married, at

the reception, he ate a couple bites of cake. He doesn't usually eat cake,

but he had to have a little bit of the wedding cake. " remembers,

" Yeah, but it didn't throw me off too much. That was a really unusual thing,

to have a bite of cake--I didn't do that with any regularity at all. I abide

by my diet pretty well. It's important to do things regularly, at the right

time. Have a structure and a schedule. I take my insulin every morning at a

regular time. That's important. "

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