January 16, 2024 Lending his support to improve future diabetes care

In the 60 years that Jacques Toupin has lived with type 1 diabetes, change has been the one constant he has seen in diabetes care. “I find it fascinating how much the technology has changed over the years,” he says.

Jacques was just five years old when, during a visit to his grandmother’s farm near Lloydminster, Sask., he suddenly started wetting the bed at night and complaining of always being thirsty. A visit to the doctor back home in Calgary revealed a diagnosis of diabetes.

Moving beyond his grandfather’s diabetes

Jacques marvels at how diabetes equipment and management has evolved since his diagnosis in the early 1960s. At that time, checking his blood sugar (glucose) levels involved complex urinalysis using a collection cup, test tubes, droppers and tablets—the same kit and process that his grandfather, who had type 2 diabetes, followed in the 1950s. “Test strips were quite an improvement when they came along,” Jacques says with a laugh.

He also remembers using his grandfather’s hand-me-down glass syringes to collect insulin to inject several times a day. Fortunately, he never had to use his grandfather’s thick-bore steel needles and whetstone (used to resharpen the needles), because by then, disposable single-use needles were available. Jacques eventually switched to an insulin pen and, just a year ago, to an insulin pump.

“You would figure after decades of poking myself once, twice, three, four, five, six times a day that I’d be inured to injections. But the greatest thing for me about the pump is that, hey! I don’t have to poke holes in myself anymore.” As an avid underwater hockey player (yes, it’s a thing), he appreciates the fact that his tubeless, wearable pump is also waterproof.

Free to be a kid

One thing that has never changed over the years is Jacques’ belief that kids need to be kids.

Looking back at his childhood, Jacques gives his mother a lot of credit for treating him like a 'normal' kid.

“She encouraged me to get outside, ride my bike, go skating, and come back in three hours when it was suppertime,” he says.

One of the highlights of his childhood was the time he spent at summer diabetes camps in Alberta. “It was nice to find out that other kids had the same issues and to learn how to handle our diabetes,” he says. But fun was the most important thing about camp: hiking, camping, swimming, rock climbing. “Diabetes camps help kids enormously. They get to do all the same stuff that other kids do.”

Donating in support of others

Now 65 years old, living near Saskatoon, still playing underwater hockey and in overall good health, Jacques is grateful that he has not experienced any major diabetes complications. “I’ve been extraordinarily fortunate in that I haven’t had many restrictions placed on my life because of my diabetes. I’m not sure if I’m the exception to the rule, but I know that there’s a whole lot of people that do not do as well living with diabetes.”

He pays forward his good fortune by making regular monthly donations to Diabetes Canada. “When I donate, in the back of my head I am thinking about research and the children’s camps [D-Camps],” he says. “The technological improvements have helped my lifestyle so much, and my friends and I got so many benefits out of camp.”

Did you know?

Your support can make a difference to people like Jacques and others who live with diabetes. Inspired to give monthly as he does or to make a one-time gift? Donate now.