My name is Jimmy Dodson, and I live in Durham, North Carolina.  I am 26, and was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes as a 19 year-old sophomore in college at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC.  I had been a multi-sport athlete while growing up playing football, soccer, wrestling, running track and cross-country, and playing midfield in lacrosse.  I began exhibiting the symptoms over a three week period in October of 1995, only to be admitted to the hospital with a glucose level of 808.  One of the last things a 19 year old, college sophomore playing club lacrosse wants to hear is that they have diabetes.  I thought the fun was over – boy was I wrong!

The first group of people I saw took the traditional look at diabetes – the “you can only do so much” approach.   Within a few months I was thoroughly frustrated, and essentially awoke one day saying enough is enough.  No one can do this for me or hold my hand.  The hard-headed side of me took over, and 10 months after diagnosis I took my first 2 week solo backpacking trip to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park conducting my own “little experiments”.

 Now, I am the assistant forest manager for the College of Natural Resources at NC State, with degrees in forestry and wildlife biology.  While finishing my degrees, I added rock climbing to my resume of backpacking, skiing, fly-fishing, and paddling.  I’ve been climbing now for about 3 years, and have had the privilege of three great partners.  I’ve now added ice climbing and mountaineering to my resume.   I spent 2 weeks in New Hampshire last winter getting my feet wet in the environment and variables with managing glucose levels, given the cold and intensities of moving and climbing.  The setting with cold, snow, ice, wind, etc. is perfect to learn how to effectively manage my injections and testing, as well as getting the much needed technical experience to do bigger climbs and trips in larger mountain ranges.   One of my partners has made an attempt at Denali, so of course he is ecstatic with my developing interest in alpine mountaineering.

 I now see a superb group of individuals at the diabetes clinic at UNC—Chapel Hill.  It was this group that led me to IDEA, and have brought me out of what I refer to as my “dark age” of diabetes.  I now utilize a regime of Lantus and Humalog injections, while testing my glucose levels 5-13 times daily.  The injection regime works well, especially for my daily work outdoors managing 5000 acres of forestland.   There are still gains to make though, and in the next year we hope to switch to an insulin pump to broaden the flexibility I have with my recreational pursuits.

 At heart, I am an alpine climber – being from North Carolina does pose some difficulty.  The current goal is to attempt the Moose’s Tooth near Denali National Park in the Spring of 2004.  I’ve rock climbed in NC, VA, and WV, and backpacked in more places than I can name.   I also work at REI in Cary, NC to support my habits.  We climb once or twice a week, with 2-3 trips outdoors a month.  To train I enjoy running, mountain biking, and some strength training.  I’m also planning to run a half-marathon in early Dec 2002, and we’re headed back to New Hampshire in Jan and Feb 2003 for some more fun!

 I’ve been following IDEA since their Aconcagua summit, and these ladies and gentlemen exemplify the “you can” attitude.  Take it to heart.   Make the effort.  Start with small goals and build on them.  Ultimately, YOU CAN!

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