Dale Brinkman

I was diagnosed in 1956 at age 10 with “diabetes” and began a lifelong journey of managing diet, insulin, exercise, highs and lows, along with all that life offers. I started in 1956 with one injection/day, but exercised for an hour after every meal during the first year, being homeschooled by my mother. The following year, I began three insulin shots/day and continued with this until the mid-’80s when I increased it to four injections/day, using Humalog, Humulin R, and Humulin N. I started using my first Dexcom G5 sensor in about 2018, and am currently relying on their G7 for trending. Finger sticks are still, and are likely to always be, my gold standard for determining insulin dosages, as the Dexcom is NOT reliably accurate for this. I have none of the typical T1D complications, other than at 79 years old, now in need of a replacement aortic valve, to be done soon.

I have been blessed with very attentive and dedicated parents, and now for nearly 53 years with a caring wife, who have all helped me through my life’s journey. As a Biomedical Engineer, I had opportunities to work on early development of glucose sensor technologies. While currently maintaining HgA1c values between 6.5 – 6.2, I am relatively free of complications, although currently await replacement of my aortic valve.