Peg Olsen: 65 Years with Type 1 Diabetes
Date Posted: Friday, June 05, 2026Peg Olsen will mark an extraordinary milestone on August 3, 2026: 65 years of living with type 1 diabetes. Diagnosed at age 9, Peg has witnessed nearly every major advance in diabetes care, from urine testing and reusable glass syringes to insulin pumps and continuous glucose monitors. Her story is one of endurance, adaptability, and a lifelong willingness to keep learning.
A Lifetime of Change in Diabetes Care
Peg was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1961 at what was then New England Deaconess Hospital. Her first diabetes doctor was just beginning his practice in Norwood, MA, after completing a fellowship with Dr. Elliott Joslin, the pioneering physician who became the first doctor in the United States to specialize in diabetes care in 1869.
She remembers her mother testing her urine for sugar by boiling it on the stove using a copper reagent several times a day. Later came tablets that could be dropped into urine, with results compared against a color chart similar to today’s urine ketone tests. Peg also recalls the early years of insulin injections with reusable syringes and needles that had to be sterilized by boiling them before each use. Eventually, disposable syringes became available, making daily care a little easier.
Living Through the Challenges
For more than 40 years, Peg managed her diabetes with injections and frequent manual blood sugar checks. She eventually agreed to try an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor, a change that significantly improved her quality of life.
During the interview for this story, her CGM alerted her that her blood sugar was dropping. She paused to drink apple juice and, when she was still low 15 minutes later, took a glucose tablet to bring it back up.
Peg says she has never been able to feel the symptoms of low blood sugar, a challenge she has faced since childhood. Over the years, severe hypoglycemia occasionally led to seizures.
“My parents used to make me sleep on a creaky bed so they would hear if I had convulsions during the night,” Peg said. “But I never missed a day of school!”
Her longtime endocrinologist, Dr. Michael Thompson, encouraged her to try an insulin pump and CGM by explaining that the technology would likely reduce her hypoglycemic seizures. The change made a dramatic difference. Over the past two decades, Peg has had eight seizures. Before that, she had as many as 14 to 16 a year. She is also highly sensitive to insulin, so the pump has helped by allowing her to dose even fractions of a unit.
A Career in Caregiving
After high school, she applied to the New England Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing, but because she had diabetes, she was not allowed to live in the dorm. Instead, she attended Fitchburg State College, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in nursing. Between her junior and senior years, Peg spent a summer at Barton Diabetes Camp in Oxford, MA, working as a nurse’s aide. She later worked at Norwood Hospital and Deaconess Hospital, served as the town nurse in Tyngsboro, and spent time at the Visiting Nurse Association in Worcester as a liaison nurse at UMass Memorial. She also worked as an inpatient care manager for Fallon Community Health Plan before becoming a sales representative for Accu-Chek blood glucose meters, covering a large multi-state New England territory.
The Value of a Dedicated Diabetes Team
Peg says one of the things she values most about the UMass Memorial diabetes clinic is the team-based approach. She appreciates the different perspectives that each provider brings to her care. In her experience, endocrinologists often approach diabetes from a scientific and clinical perspective, while diabetes educators and nurse practitioners focus on day-to-day living.
Peg says her care team understands both the latest diabetes technology and the fact that diabetes is never static.
Advice Built on Experience
After more than six decades of living with type 1 diabetes, Peg’s advice is simple: pay close attention to diabetes education and stay open to change.
“If something isn’t working for you, be willing to try something else,” she said. “You have to be flexible, because what works one day may not work the next.”
Peg says having providers who understand that reality makes a tremendous difference.
That flexibility has defined Peg’s journey. Through decades of changing technology, shifting treatments, and personal challenges, she has continued to adapt, learn, and move forward. Her 65-year diaversary is more than a milestone. It is a powerful reflection of resilience, experience, and a life lived fully with diabetes.