Charlie Kimball

Almost immediately after M was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, Bill and I learned that recently confirmed Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor also had Type 1. We were excited to be able to hold up a prominent role model with Type 1, so that M could see that, even living with Type 1, many possibilities were within her reach.

Sorry Sonia, just not cool enough for an 11-year-old. WE love you, though!

Unfortunately, M was 11 years old at the time, and a supreme court justice with Type 1 did not impress her.

Nick Jonas, on the other hand, did.

At least M notices you, Nick. Even if she prefers your brother.

She watched the Jonas Brothers TV show, and although she preferred Kevin, she admired Nick's handling of the disease. She even bought the Nick Jonas dog tags that helped support diabetic research. And she wore them almost every day.

A few months later she heard about Brett Michaels, some old 1980's rock star, who had Type 1, and she thought it was nice that he won Celebrity Apprentice and donated his winnings to the American Diabetes Association.

Live to rock, rock to live, Baby!

But this year, her father learned about a race car driver who had Type 1. Being a car guy and a mechanical engineer, he found the story of a man driving a car at over 200 miles per hour while managing his bg fascinating.

The man's name is Charlie Kimball.

"Hi, I'm Charlie Kimball!"

Now, if you think that what M goes through every day sounds like a royal pain, you should hear what a normal day at work looks like for this guy.

When she turns 16, M will have to check her bg before starting her car each and every time that she drives. This is so M can treat herself prior to operating the machine if she needs to. If she does lose consciousness, she might hit a tree, or another person/car/cat, and someone could be hurt or killed.

If Charlie has a dangerous low on an ordinary work day, he will likely do millions of dollars in damage to many cars, and most certainly injure or kill someone along the way. Charlie says that no one in the race circuits has ever expressed concerns about his diabetes. I suspect that they really don't understand the disease.

Of course, Charlie is VERY responsible and keeps a doctor on staff in the pits with him.

Instead of a water tank in the car, Charlie has a water tank AND a sugar-water tank, in case his bg slips down a little.

Well, you may be thinking, how does he know what his bg is? It's not as if he can pull over and check his bg with a lancet and some test strips. Well, Charlie has a CGM (continuous glucose monitoring device). This nifty device constantly reads bg, and indicates a trend line showing whether his bg is climbing or descending. Pretty nifty, huh? He straps the monitor to his steering wheel, and calls out his bg readings to his doctor over his headset. She then lets him know what corrective actions to take, if any.

I cannot imagine trying to drive 185 mph, two feet away from 35 other cars while managing any health problem, so my hat goes off to Charlie. Our whole family is - in the New England vernacular - "wicked impressed."

While at diabetes camp, M has heard from skiers and bicyclists who talked to campers about managing their Type 1 while pursuing their athletic dreams. This year, it was Charlie Kimball who came to speak to them.

M loved him. She said that he was interesting, kind, engaging, and that he was smart enough to know to repeat some of the quieter questions from the crowd so that everyone could hear.

As a mother, I appreciate Charlie Kimball. He has faced his diagnosis without fear, and has embraced the diabetic community. He, although diagnosed just four short years ago, has begun giving back to that community.

I wish Charlie the best of luck. Our whole family will be watching him!