I wonder what it was like to be Banting and Best - realizing that they'd actually SAVED countless people from a torturous death. I can't imagine how thrilling and rewarding that must have been.
And I wonder if I am selfish or stupid to hope for a life less complicated when there are many people whose suffering is so much greater than my own. I wonder if these scientists will know that thrill that Banting and Best felt all those many years ago. I wonder if they'll someday realize that they have relieved the exhaustion, the frustration, the fear, and the physical toll that diabetes imparts on me and so many of my friends.
And I'm hoping - but only a little - and ever so cautiously. I'd like to say I'm trying not to think about it - but that would be a lie. I have clicked on that article link at least twenty five times in the past two days. I have googled the names of the scientists. I have searched for confirmation of their theory, for critiques of their work. I have searched for any information that might give me permission to hope - or permission to pass this off as just another false alarm.
6 comments:
Yeah. Me too. I keep glancing at the information out of the corner of my eye, dancing around it, not wanting to get too close for fear of it being yet another false alarm.
That picture of that little boy is startling. Wow. I haven’t paid much attention to the article, too much to hope for in that for me.
Nicole,
I have my hopes up with this one too, a little more so than usual. I even asked Riley's endo about it at his appointment today.
I just want the research to continue and to make new discoveries about the human body.
The speed in which this is happening is phenomenal and is unlike any period of time.
Whether one discovery or another becomes the cure, there will be a cure....soon.
When comparing the past with the present, I do appreciate the strides that have been made to make the lives of PWD's that much more healthy, but we must never lose sight of the big prize.
AND we must never settle for less than what we dream of :)
I am definitely not suggesting we settle for less than a cure - if a cure is to be had - it's just that I feel sometimes like it's selfish of me to hope for a cure for MY disease when, really, if I stay on top of it - it's not as bad as other diseases ie: certain stages and types of cancer or ALS.
Looking back - the dreams of children and parents that faced near-immediate death by starvation seem bigger, more important - than my own. Also - I have my eye on the past as I look at this research. Banting and Best discovered insulin treatment for type 1 by going out on a limb - thinking outside of the traditional box; it sounds so similar to what the team North of our Border has done in the past months; thinking about the disease in a totally new way.
I just can't get over-excited. I can't imagine myself getting this cure - because I am afraid of being disappointed - again.
I'm not overexcited either...as the fall from disappointment would be too hard from me. I just have a light sense of optimism.
You and everyone else deserves to be healthy. So don't feel guilty.
Lastly, I totally think it's wonderful that there are scientists who think outside of the box. That's where the best surprises lie in wait.
Just think of how the powers of penicillin was discovered...it was by accident!!
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