Fifty years with Type 1 diabetes; which is now two-thirds of my lifetime.  I am Don Stephen Aron, a native Houstonian and an original founder of what was called JDF, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.  Diabetes is a family disease.  The whole family is affected along with the care and regime that I follow.  I say it’s a family disease because meals, travel, and medications are ever imposed on all members of the family.  I am more than lucky to have my beautiful wife, Sue Sue, and our children, Leslie, Doug, David and Douglas, Joanie and Angie, as my cheerleaders.  Thank G-d none of our children or six grandchildren are diabetic.

I was serving my duty in the U.S. Air Force in 1970 when I completed a routine physical exam and was called back for a glucose tolerance test.  I had served at that point five years. After the test results showed I was a type 1 diabetic, I was medically discharged from the service within a few hours.  I remember clearly being astonished how quickly I was excused.  At that time, it was as if I had “cooties”, which is slang for something contagious.  It was then called “sugar diabetes”.

On my way home from Ellington Air Force Base I remember thinking how will I tell my wife I am diabetic.  The belief at that time was diabetes was either hereditary or an outcome from a traumatic event.  As I understood, traumatic was either a bad flu or being in a major accident.  I tried to keep my sense of humor and rationalized I had no hereditary past of diabetes, so the traumatic event was that I had gotten married just six months earlier.  That humor was short lived.  I learned about diabetes care at Baylor College of Medicine at Hermann Hospital from the one Houston doctor specializing at that time.  Like others, I was taught to give myself shots by injecting an orange.  I had another difficulty because the determination for checking sugar levels was peeing in a vile and testing a regent strip to see the color code of sugar levels.  I could not tell the different levels because I am color blind.

My next stop to become more educated about diabetes was my ten-day in-patient stay at Joslin Clinic in Boston.  My first day scared me with a memory that I have never forgotten.  The facility was much like dormitory living with a dozen or more people on each floor.  Shortly after I arrived, I was introduced to other diabetics at the clinic.  The first girl I met was walking the hallway with her dog.  I learned she had lost her eyesight due to diabetes.  The education back then, 50 years ago, was MODERATION.  Try to keep from having low blood sugars or high values at well.  I also remember that throughout the clinic there were bowls of peanut butter so that patients could revive themselves before going low.

Before we had decided to have children, we were told that the likelihood of diabetes being hereditary was 25 percent each time a new baby was born from a diabetic parent.  We had two wonderful sons, who have been diabetes free for 44 and 47 years.

Shortly after I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes I was exposed to a newly formed organization, JDF.  I have always been a champion for causes that involve my family, friends or religion.  Over the years I helped form the Houston Chapter and served on the International Board of JDF/JDRF.  I had the privilege of being the local President and Executive Officer on the International Board.

During my tenure we started the national walk program in Houston, which became the model for one of the biggest fundraisers to-date for JDRF.  I had the pleasure to see our organization grow from a tiny group of concerned parents to a major health organization that gained the respect of the Institutes of Health on a worldwide basis.

The advancements I have seen in my 50 years have been major milestones in making life with diabetes more tolerable and promising.  The discovery of the Hemoglobin A1C test has allowed patients and parents the ability to more accurately know the real results of blood sugar levels.  Before A1C, patients could game their results by manipulating the blood sugar.  The development of new and synthetic insulins have given rise to much tighter control and insulin availability.  Blood monitors coming on the market made knowing, with close accuracy, where the blood sugar levels were all while eliminating the color-blind issues.  The joint efforts with the NIH (National Institutes of Health), the American Diabetes Association and JDRF led to determine that tighter control of blood sugar levels over an extended period of time was directly related to less complications of diabetes as we age.  The ability to preserve eyesight with the discovery of laser surgery was monumental for me from my earliest fears of blindness.  JDRF has championed the cause, care, comfort and hope for every family worldwide that has or will get diabetes in the future.  The best new advancements must include the Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) and transplant surgeries.  CGM has taken much of the fear away from the patient, parent and health providers and has enabled them to be able to get a full night’s rest.

I was asked what does JDRF mean to me.

JDRF has been and is an integral part of my life.  When I sit next to someone on a plane ride (before Covid-19) and we would strike up a conversation, I would begin to introduce myself.  Within a few sentences I would make it known that I am diabetic and part of JDRF.  For 50 years I have believed that the cure and solution to diabetes, and complications due to diabetes, will be ended directly due to efforts made by JDRF.  Over the years, I have personally interfaced with hundreds, or perhaps a thousand families, who have gotten involved with diabetes.  My standard talk to families includes the statement that there are three legs on a diabetic stool – insulin, exercise and diet.  When you master those three you can manage diabetes.  My next statement is soon you will graduate to the four-legged chair; that fourth leg is support of JDRF.  JDRF will be the organization that will discover or invent the cure.

Twenty-five years ago, while I was on the International Board of JDRF, a gentleman came to our NYC office and wanted to know who was in charge of diabetes.  The gentleman was Robert Wood Johnson IV; known as Woody.  At the time he was the namesake owner of Johnson & Johnson.  As Woody told the story, his daughter, Casey, became a type I diabetic and he went to J & J and expressed his desire to have a cure.  After much research on his part, he was told that his best bet was to hook up with JDRF.

Another memory story for me personally was when I met Mary Tyler Moore as we were both on the International Board together.  People would approach Mary and tell her how beautiful she was and regale her with stories and questions.  Mary and I compared our experiences and concluded that anyone who would drive down the street of houses that were freshly painted could never tell which home had termites.  We laughed, that was a similar example of people with diabetes.

Finally, before I wear out the readers of my experiences over 50 years.  I tell every parent of a newly diagnosed diabetic child, you won’t hear what I am saying to you today because you’re in shock.  Please remember one thing.  Your child will not break.  This is a very long term condition and with the help of JDRF and your reasonable support we will get to a cure.

May my words, prayers and beliefs come true.