Since she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, Cindy McLean乌鸦传媒檚 body乌鸦传媒檚 immune system has been attacking itself, destroying insulin-producing beta cells in her pancreas. Those cells are needed to convert blood sugar into energy.
乌鸦传媒淭he kidney disease didn乌鸦传媒檛 come until about 45 years (after the diagnosis),乌鸦传媒� says McLean. 乌鸦传媒淎s much as you try and control your blood sugars, you can乌鸦传媒檛 do it all the time. It just doesn乌鸦传媒檛 work that way.乌鸦传媒�
Growing up with Type 1 diabetes, McLean says, was a challenge. Her classmates were always asking why she was allowed to get juice or candy when no one else could. Sometimes this would lead her to hide when her blood sugar was low, causing her to go into a seizure.
Another challenge was the lack of knowledge on diabetes. While medical professionals and scientists know a lot more about diabetes, there is still a lot to learn, like what causes Type 1 diabetes. Leading theories suggest genetic and environmental factors lead to the autoimmune disease.
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McLean, who was born and raised in Campbell River, started struggling with kidney disease 17 or so years ago and needed a transplant when she started going into renal failure 11 years ago. She didn乌鸦传媒檛 find a donor until last year.
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 not sure how long Heather [Thomas] has been in Campbell River, but we乌鸦传媒檝e kind of always known each other like acquaintances,乌鸦传媒� she says. 乌鸦传媒淲e would run into each other. Of course, she乌鸦传媒檚 a dance instructor, so she was teaching at my granddaughter乌鸦传媒檚 school 乌鸦传媒� who lives with me full time 乌鸦传媒� so we would talk there.乌鸦传媒�
When McLean started her business, Thomas would come to visit her. At one point, Thomas, whose son also lives with Type 1 diabetes, was adamant she was a match for McLean and continued looking into it. McLean wasn乌鸦传媒檛 so confident Thomas would be match after searching for a kidney donor for ten years, including putting an ad out in the Campbell River Mirror.
乌鸦传媒淪ure enough, probably six months later she comes into the shop and says 乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檓 your match,乌鸦传媒� McLean says.
The transplant was originally supposed to happen in June 2023, but it didn乌鸦传媒檛 work out for either of the two. Thomas called McLean and said the only time they could do it was on July 19.
乌鸦传媒淚 said, 乌鸦传媒榊ou got to be kidding me, that乌鸦传媒檚 my birthday.乌鸦传媒櫸谘淮綕 So she said, 乌鸦传媒淥h my God, do you want to do it on your birthday?乌鸦传媒� recalls McLean.
Her response? 乌鸦传媒淗ell yeah, we乌鸦传媒檙e going to do it on my birthday.乌鸦传媒�
She couldn乌鸦传媒檛 have received a better birthday present.
The transplant was a success. McLean still needs to go to Vancouver every three weeks.
乌鸦传媒淲hat happened while I was there is the Kidney Research Institute approached me and they said I was the perfect candidate to start this new drug they are trying to get approved. After, listening to their story, I was like this is a no-brainer, so I decided I乌鸦传媒檓 going to do this research, I乌鸦传媒檓 actually on the research team.乌鸦传媒�
The drug is AT-1501, also known as Tegoprubart. It was originally developed to treat ALS and Alzheimer乌鸦传媒檚 disease. McLean is one of seven people worldwide trialling the drug for Type 1 Diabetes. The trial is only in phase one of three.
While she is in Vancouver, she has to take intravenous medication for the research.
乌鸦传媒淲e still have phase two and phase three to get through, but as it goes now I乌鸦传媒檓 feeling amazing, I乌鸦传媒檓 doing amazing, everything is just going really good,乌鸦传媒� she says. 乌鸦传媒淚 started at eight/nine pills a day. I乌鸦传媒檓 now down to three.乌鸦传媒�
Before the transplant, McLean had to adhere to a very strict diet, like fruit and vegetables or anything very high in potassium. Now, she can eat and drink almost anything, except grapefruit, green teas and Earl Grey because they interfere with her medication.
乌鸦传媒淭he first thing I had after my transplant was French fries. I haven乌鸦传媒檛 had French fries or potatoes in ten years乌鸦传媒hey weren乌鸦传媒檛 even the best French fries but they were good.乌鸦传媒�
