:: Red Rider Friday :: This weeks story comes from #TourDeCureOC Team Red Captain Dave Martin. Read all about his journey with Type 1 diabetes below and sign up to ride with him at this years event at diabetes.org/bikesurftosummit At 15 months old, I was run over by the next door neighbor’s car that was backing out of the driveway as I walked out of the garage, down the driveway and down the sidewalk to the neighbors. I sustained a fractured skull and my right leg was broken. The doctors told my mother that I had a 50% chance of ever walking again. I did learn to walk again and I started to have severed ear infections after that. At 7 years old, I remember going to the garage to play and I fell on the floor with no energy. That was my last ear infection and I found out that I had diabetes. My life had made a big change. I learned how to manage my diabetes with the help of my parents. As time went on I started to take classes on how to carb count and balance insulin with exercise through programs provided by the American Diabetes Association (ADA), which was very helpful. I am now involved in helping other diabetics that are living with the disease. When I reached my 40’s I developed low blood sugar unawareness where my blood sugars would drop from about 135 to 35 within 15 minutes. So one day I opened up a magazine from the ADA and found an article that was looking for volunteers that had unawareness to do a clinical study on Islet Transplants. I contacted City of Hope and was approved to do the study. I had three transplants and after taking insulin for 45 years, I have been insulin free for 4 ½ years. Even though this is not a true cure for diabetes (the islet cells are still being attacked by other beta cells)it brings us closer to finding a cure for type 1 diabetes and possibly type 2 . This is my goal in life to help find the cures. The main thing that I have learned from being involved in clinical studies is to exercise 30 minutes every 48 hour or more, this is to keep the reservoirs in my muscles filled with insulin. I also choose to maintain a low carb diet to help keep my diabetes under control. This is also why I either walk or ride bicycles every other day. In the last three years I have been the Team Red Captain for the Orange County Tour de Cure to inspire diabetics and non-diabetics to exercise while helping raise funding for diabetic research and education. Come join me for the Orange County Surf 2 Summit 2014 Tourdecure - American Diabetes association bicycle ride and we can talk about all the research going on and things that might help all of us in controlling our diabetes. #StopDiabetes #RedOutOC
Posted on: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 19:18:06 +0000