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Permalink Reply by Manny Hernandez on May 24, 2010 at 5:18pm

Very cool! More details:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/gossip/2010/05/bret-michaels-celebr...

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Permalink Reply by AngelaC on May 24, 2010 at 6:49pm

Here's another take on last night's show, Manny: http://www.tudiabetes.org/forum/topics/and-the-celebrity-apprentice

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Permalink Reply by AngelaC on May 24, 2010 at 6:42pm

The money Bret raised isn't going toward basic research. It's going to help defray the costs of sending children with diabetes to camps so they can learn to manage their diabetes and live a full life like he has. He's said a number of times that he learned a lot going to camp and that he made a number of life-long friends at camp. It's also been bittersweet for him, since he has out-lived most of the people he knew at camp.

I would argue that by doing this, the money is being used well. Let the real big boys, like the NIH, the Robert Wood Johnson Fund, and the Eli Lilly Foundation fund the basic research that will get us the cure. In the meantime, all of us with diabetes need to keep ourselves as healthy as possible, so when (if?) the cure comes, we will not be suffering from too many complications. That takes far more ongoing education and support than most of us are currently receiving -- even children. And for that to happen, that takes money, and Bret's efforts will help to defray those costs.

You know that there is a TuD member (Bretfan, I think) who met Bret, and when she told him she had a child with diabetes, Bret had her call her boy, talked to him, and joked around with him for a short while. He also asked her for her information so he could pay for her child to go to diabetes camp. That sort of kindness and generosity is rare, and IMO, it goes to show what a gentleman he really is.

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Permalink Reply by Doris D on May 24, 2010 at 6:48pm

He's a great man! Very caring about his fans,friends and really there for the kids that take Type 1. He (andI) know how hard it is to hear the word DIABETIC when your small. Heck I really thought I was going to die! But 36 years later here I am!

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Permalink Reply by AngelaC on May 24, 2010 at 9:16pm

I can't imagine what it must be like to be diagnosed as a kid and be told "Ok, you're no longer allowed to eat ice cream, cookies, cakes, or chocolate and you have to learn how to identify carbohydrates and count them. Oh, and by the way, you need to inject yourself several times a day, get regular exercise, live a "moderate" (i.e. regimented) lifestyle, prick your finger.........." It's frankly crushing to be told that as an adult, never mind a kid of 6!

Did you read his thank you to his fans on his Facebook page? It's really sweet and touching. He truly does wear his heart on his sleeve.

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Permalink Reply by northernlights on May 25, 2010 at 6:08am

I know it is hard to be diagnosed as a kid. But being an adult diagnosed in my thirties, I feel that was harder because you have over 30 years of eating habits to overcome. I have found it very hard over the years to stop eating the incorrect way. I am so proud og Brett for winning, this man has gone through a lot. Very lucky to be alive. GO BRETT!!!

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Permalink Reply by Jan on May 25, 2010 at 6:51am

I agree money needs to be spent on learning to live with diabetes now, not just research in the future. A very worthwhile cause. I am shocked to read here, though, that many of those Bret went to camp with as a child are no longer alive today. How old is Bret Michaels? What are the statistics on life expectancy for those with Type 1 Diabetes diagnosed as children? I have been told children should live a long, full life if diagnosed as a child today. Very hard to acknowledge and assess the true risks when you have a child diagnosed. I wonder if the medical professionals are telling us the truth or sugar coating the information because it may be hard to deal with.

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Permalink Reply by Doris D on May 25, 2010 at 8:36am

Bret is the same age as me. He's 47. We were told way beck tonder we should (or never would have kids) and wouldn't live to be 30 and if we did it would be with ampitation or worse! I can see why he fights so hard to get kids and adults to understand that you can live and have childern (me, got 2 and 3 grandkids) and be VERY prosperious with diabetes. Heck back when folks like us first took it we were told nobody would ever hire us! So alot of us went our and done things on our own to prove we could!

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Permalink Reply by AngelaC on May 25, 2010 at 11:26am

Bret's 47 years old and has had diabetes since he was six, so he's had it for approximately 40-41 years. If I remember correctly from what friends who were diagnosed back in the '40s, '50s, and '60s told me, the life expectancy for someone diagnosed with diabetes at that time was around 20-30 years, give or take. This is in part because at that time, back in the 1960s, what we consider "tight control" today was not quite feasible. Many people at that time were taking only one or two insulin injections a day and monitoring their glucose levels using urine testing. There were no statins to help control cholesterol levels, ACE Inhibitors to help protect kidneys, or laser treatments to help control the damage to the retinas. When Bret was diagnosed, human insulins were still a pipe dream, while the insulin analogs that so many of us take for granted today were still two decades away. His first insulin was most likely derived from cows or pigs. The pumps so many use today also wouldn't be developed for about two decades. The tools that are now commonly used to manage diabetes simply did not exist when he was a child.

That said, the 20-30 year life expectancy was considered wonderful in comparison to the month or two that was the life expectancy prior to the development of insulin. When I was diagnosed 17 years ago, my first endocrinologist told me I should be grateful I had developed diabetes when I did. Had I developed diabetes in the years before insulin, I would have been sent home to die, that at that time, diabetes then was the same as childhood leukemia today (or, more accurately, back in the 1990s).

According to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the life expectancy for children diagnosed today with type 1 diabetes is nearly normal, only shortened by 7-10 years. I know this is not an easy discussion to have, and I have to commend you for your willingness to discuss it! While no one can predict with 100% accuracy how long an individual child with diabetes will live, children with diabetes alive today have a far better chance at living a normal lifespan and doing nearly anything they want (there are still some jobs for which diabetes is an automatic disqualification, such as commercial airline pilot).

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Permalink Reply by Doug on May 25, 2010 at 2:30pm

Some food for thought for anyone that might be getting down by the average reduction by 7 - 10 years:

Alcoholism and smoking reduce life expectancy by 10 - 15 years on average, and obesity a few years less than that.

If you can stay fit and avoid drinking and smoking, you should be able to live as long as many of your peers. My non-T1 aunt drinks like a fish and smokes daily, and is still going strong at age 70.

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Permalink Reply by Gary on May 26, 2010 at 4:53am

Jan,

I don't get this statement. How much do you think does it costs to "learn how to live with diabetes"? What costs money is continuing to live with diabetes as the patient that is! How long your gonna live is anyones guess. This disease has been around long enough and over the last decade there have been a few very promising therapies in the works that with support may help fast track them to the finish line. Trust me you never really want to learn to live with diabetes. Right now we have no choices. I'd like to see that change in the near future. FWIW I got it at 9 years young and am now 44 years old. I didn't go camp and don't have any kids.

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