Sam’s Story

I don't remember much at the age of 5, but I can still remember Thanksgiving of 1990, like it was yesterday. While my family sat down to eat the Thanksgiving turkey, I had absolutely no appetite, but was unbelievably thirsty and continuously going to the bathroom.

Watching me that night, my mom a pediatric nurse, and my father a dentist, both knew something was wrong. Over the prior two months, I had lost 10 pounds or about a quarter of my body weight at age 5. So, my parents were not surprised when they took me to the pediatrician the next morning that my glucose was 438.

From the pediatrician's office we made a quick trip home and then packed up the car. My mom, dad, and I made the short drive to University Hospital - Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, where I would spend the next 5 days. Throughout my stay, the nurses and physicians would take impeccable care of me. I will always remember on the drive to the hospital seeing my mother cry for the first time. And during the hospital stay watching my father being afraid to give me shots, even though he drilled teeth for a living. Still, to this day the greatest memory I have was from Diabetes Day 2. I remember my nurse capping off my IV so that my grandfather, dad, and I could go play football in the cold Cleveland snow on the hospital's playground.
I remember being the automatic wide receiver and running up and down the playground catching the football until my hands were cold. From that moment, I realized that while diabetes would always be a part of my life, I could still live life the way that I wanted.

Growing up, I continued playing football through high school. And scholastically, I was always mesmerized by how complex the human body was and how medicine worked. Pursuing this interest, I decided upon a career in medicine while at college at the University of Michigan. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science from the University of Michigan, I continued my education at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, and then returned to Ann Arbor for anesthesiology residency training at the University of Michigan.
I was fortunate to then be the first graduate of the University of Michigan - Department of Anesthesiology's Head and Neck - Advanced Airway Management Fellowship in 2016.

Every day, I am honored to work at Michigan Medicine, where I am currently an Anesthesiologist and an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan Medical School. I have a sincere interest in head and neck anesthesiology and advanced airway management and currently serve as the President of the Society for Head and Neck Anesthesia (SHANA), an international society dedicated to the care of patients undergoing head and neck surgery. I am fortunate to be part of a spectacular team of physicians, surgeons, nurses, medical students, and healthcare providers at Michigan Medicine, where our team is always supportive of my diabetes.
Type1D made me realize at a young age, the value of medicine and I love having the opportunity to work in this specialty and help others suffering from disease.

Since my freshman year of college, I have used a Medtronic insulin pump and I currently use the Medtronic Diabetes - MiniMed TM 770G System (Medtronic Northridge, CA). With a hectic work life and active lifestyle as a runner and cyclist in my free time, the pump and CGM continue to allow me to live a life with tight diabetes control without much challenge. And this is despite some long nights on call and running about 20-25 miles per week! And I continue to be fortunate every day to have supportive parents, friends, and colleagues.

After 31 years with Type 1 Diabetes, I don't know what life without the disease would be like. I continue to recognize that Type1D has made me the person and doctor that I am today. I am thankful each day for the opportunity to continue living out my dream. And I hope to continue to prove to myself and others living with Type1D, that while it sometimes can be challenging, we must make the most of the opportunity and never let Type1D stop us from being the people who we want to be. And with how much I have seen diabetes technology advance over the past 30 years, I am hopeful that we will continue to make life better for those living with Type1D!

Sam Schechtman