Book: Cheating Destiny:  Living with Diabetes

Author: James Hirsch

Review: Very good

James Hirsch has been surrounded by diabetes his entire life.  He was diagnosed with Type 1 at age 11, his older brother is a leading diabetologist, and as he was researching this book, his 3-year-old son was diagnosed with Type 1 as well.  It would be very easy to expect him to write a passionate portrayal of life with diabetes.  But Mr. Hirsch is also a well known and respected journalist for the New York Times and Wall Street Journal and as such he is able to combine his own life experience with well documented and researched thoughts and information about the state of diabetes in our society.

Mr. Hirsch’s personal journey was a comfort as I read his book on the plane flying to join my newly diagnosed son in the hospital.   At the time I knew very little about diabetes and held all the typical fears associated with knowing your child is suffering from a lifelong and potentially debilitating disease.  Mr. Hirsch’s ability to convey his own emotions associated with tending to his son as well as his ability to place the disease within the larger aspects of his own successful life (it just becomes another aspect of you), helped to calm my fears and set me down a path with a set of principles that I too hope will help my child excel.

Along with his inside story however was Mr. Hirsch’s excellent detailing of the history and research behind the disease.   I had no idea how brutal this disease was just a half century ago and had no idea the endurance exhibited by my previous generation.  In detailing the history, Mr. Hirsch also provides a very straightforward explanation of the causes and management of diabetes.  By the time I had landed I was well armed to question the doctors that were looking after my son.

The final few chapters of Cheating Destiny start to take on more of Mr. Hirsch’s own views and personality as they explore the current research and politics surrounding the disease.  Science and academia are rife with political behavior and I commend the fact that Mr. Hirsch did not shy away from stating his own views of the issues.  Not everyone will agree with those views, but I feel it’s always better to have the viewpoints of the author be explicit so you’re sure where they are coming from.

For a parent of a child with diabetes or anyone who wants to learn more about it, this is a book that will enable you to get emotionally drawn in while at the same time gaining a true understanding of the magnitude and manageability of this disease.

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