November 1st I will have had diabetes for 50 years and know there are a couple of company’s that give plaques to people that reach that milestone , I was wondering if anyone knew the process to get this , Thanks in advance
What a great milestone to celebrate. Congratulations.
Thank you , never thought that I would make it but here I am and still with all my parts a little worse for wear but relatively speaking healthy and well
Congratulations to you!
Joslin has one:
https://www.joslin.org/joslin_medalist_program.html
Also Lilly:
Hi Drilldoctor! Welcome!
Most of us didn’t expect to make it this far especially with all our parts still intact. ![]()
Great to hear that you will be celebrating your 50th year with Diabetes in November. Congrats!
Richard is usually the gentleman who promotes the Joslin Medal and Certificate. He may be at the gym though. I’m not sure any company presents a plague.
I received a beautiful framed print for my 50th Diabetes Anniversary 3 years ago from Novo Nordisk. Last year I participated in the Canadian Diabetes Longevity Study and they sent me the lovely(and heavy) 50 year Joslin Medal. I am proud to have both in my possession. Lilly also gives an award but I haven’t contacted them.
This will get you started on your way to the Joslin Medal and Certificate. There’s no time like the present. Good Luck and Good Job!! ![]()
Looks like LizBa helped you while I was typing and I can’t delete the link on my page which she already supplied. I’m glad she found the Lilly link for you also.
Thanks to all for the helpful information , and support it is very much appreciated
Here’s another discussion on it
@Richard157 will be getting his 75th in a couple years, I seem to remember he’ll get that around the same time I get my 50 in 2017.
I feel like we are all members of a club none of wants to be in. I know I wish I didn’t hit any “milestones”. It’s a tough thing to go through, for all of us. I would have preferred to get my diagnosis (if I had to get one) one hour before I died of old age.
Basically, I wish no one had to have these kinds of milestones. I wonder if diabetes will be better managed/cured within the next 50 or so years. I wonder if the only way to stop it is to prevent it rather than to reverse it or if they will find a way to do both. Thinking about it is like thinking about the origin of the universe.
I hope I’m never defined by this disease.
The 50 Year Joslin Medalist Post was mine. The links are still good. The contact at Joslin is Stephanie Hastings.
I found the milestone to be exhilarating and self fulfilling. I had MADE IT! At 10 years old, I was told–can you believe this-that I would not live to 50. When I hit the 50 year mark with T1–at 60–I proved lots of folks wrong.
Milestones, and their ability to tell me I have won so many of the battles, seem good to me.
And phoneixbound, the stories I could tell about a little 10 year old girl with diabetes in 1962 would curl your toes. D today has made leaps and bounds–not cured, not perfect, but so, so much better.
I can only imagine how awful it was in '62! It was pretty crappy in '78, so it had to be much worse in 62. Not being able to check my bg’s was the pits. I think within a year or two I started using the chemstrips. That helped a bit. Not wanting to deal with infernal “exchanges” meant I never knew how to bolus (with Regular–ugh). Then, like an idiot, I didn’t get on board with carb counting until I decided to pump in '96. I guess I’m sometimes slow to warm up to things. 
Marie, in Sept I will be T1 for 70 years, so my 75 year medal is due in the year 2020. There is also an 80 year medal that started being awarded in 2013. That one confuses me. There is a big gap between the 50 and 75 year medals, but only a five year gap between 75 and 80. Are they expecting us to not live longer than 80 years post diagnosis?? lol
That is okay, I am planning to hang around until the year 2045. That is the year I would be eligible for a 100 year medal!!! I would be 106 years old then. 
Hello my friends, it is so nice to see this discussion about medals. If you apply and get the first medal, or 25 year certificate, then you are in the computer at Joslin. You will then get the next medal(s) when the time comes, without having to apply again.
I have found many long term T1D’s who have never heard of the medals. I wish I could post the application form as a “sticky” in Type 1/LADA forum so more people would see it.
Congrats to those of you who have, or are getting these medals!! 
Hi Terrie, I am glad to see you are here on the NEW TuD site.
Hey Richard, great to see you here too. I was here before conversing with Kate but I ended with continuing password/logging in problems, so I quite trying til I came back and noticed this thread. I changed my password again but it still said that I was not logged in. I noticed my avatar on the upper right and replied to this thread. Voila it worked! I hope you are well, Richard.
congratulations I received mine last Thursday didn’t think I would make it but here I am
