"He's Why I Have My Vision" - Alecia & Marty Have a Friendship Forged in Diabetes History Diabetes Connections | Type 1 Diabetes

Clinical trials are incredibly important for research, but the people who take part don't usually get to meet anyone they've helped.  Marty & Alecia are a very special exception!
Marty Drilling took part in a clinical trial in 1974 that later helped save Alecia Wesner’s eyesight! We’ll share their remarkable story and talk about how much progress has been made in treating diabetes eye issues.
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In Innovations this week.. a new partnership in the closed loop space. We'll talk about Lilly and Ypsomed
Check out Stacey's new book: The World's Worst Diabetes Mom!
This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
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Episode transcription:
Stacey Simms  0:00
Diabetes Connections is brought to you by One Drop created for people with diabetes by people who have diabetes by Gvoke HypoPen, the first premixed auto injector for very low blood sugar, and by Dexcom, take control of your diabetes and live life to the fullest with Dexcom.
 
Announcer  0:22
This is Diabetes Connections with Stacey Simms.
 
Stacey Simms  0:27
This week, taking part in a clinical trial is incredibly important, but it's often thankless you don't expect to meet the people you might help years later. That's why it was remarkable when Alecia met Marty,
 
Alecia Wesner  0:40
the people who tested that technology, I'll never meet them and tell them but you know, you're some that I can still see or the reason I have the strap is the reason that I do all of these things. And my doctor had told me that most of them, you know, they either left or didn't or they lost their life
 
Marty Drilling  0:56
while she was moved because I was still alive and she'd been told we all died. I was just moved to St. meet somebody who had benefited and certainly appreciated.
 
Stacey Simms  1:06
Marty Drilling took part in a clinical trial in 1974 that later helped save Alecia Westerners eyesight will share their story and talk about how much progress has been made in treating diabetes eye issues.
In innovations this week, a new partnership in the closed loop space could bring a new pump to the US market.
This podcast is not intended as medical advice. If you have those kinds of questions, please contact your health care provider.
Welcome to another week of the show. I am so glad to have you along. If you're listening as this airs, it is Thanksgiving week here in the US probably a Thanksgiving, like none other for many of us, but I hope you are staying healthy and safe. Of course on the show, we aim to educate and inspire about type 1 diabetes by sharing stories of connection. My son Benny was diagnosed with type one right before he turned two, and he is almost 16 years old. This episode I think is a really nice one for Thanksgiving. It gave me a lot to be thankful for specifically, the amazing people in the diabetes community who lived through very different times, and went through these clinical trials to make things better for people that they assumed they would never meet. It's also a really great Thanksgiving story, because it's just one of these heartwarming, yeah, I got to admit, Alecia made me cry. Oh, my goodness, it was a wonderful story.
So I'm really glad you're here, we also have some really good information about not just taking care of your eyes, but complications that can happen, what you can do about them and the progress that has been made. So if this is something that you have been worried about, I just saw a Facebook post from a young woman in her 20s with something very similar to what Alecia went through. I think this will give