Reid doctor joins Lilly in recognizing long-time insulin user

Dr. Erica  Kretchman  presents the medal to Margaret Sligar at Arbor Trace.

When Margaret Sligar was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes as a toddler, insulin was a brand new treatment for a disease that just a few years earlier would have typically meant death within a couple of years.

This week, Sligar was celebrated in a reception at Arbor Trace in Richmond to mark more than 75 years of insulin use and successful management of her disease. Now 89, she’s actually used the medicine for 87 years. The recognition, created by Lilly Diabetes and presented by Reid Endocrinologist Dr. Erica Kretchman, includes a medallion and the placement of Sligar’s name on a monument at Lilly headquarters in Indianapolis.

Dr. Kretchman, who helps Sligar continue to manage her lifelong illness and who is herself a Type 1, said Sligar is an inspiration. “This can still be a devastating disease. I see people every day who struggle with it. And you lived at a time when this could be a death diagnosis. You are an inspiration to me in that you lived through all these changes and decided from Day One that you would fight this battle … I look at someone like you who has gone through all these changes and think, if Margaret can do it, I can do it too,” Dr. Kretchman said.

Sligar said she just determined long ago to take care of herself and be a good patient. “It takes willpower,” she said, noting she has always managed her weight and been careful about her diet.


Dr. Kretchman also cited Lilly’s years of dedication to developing treatments and medicines for a disease that is considered an epidemic in the United States.

“Lilly began our journey with insulin over 90 years ago when we became the first company to bring insulin to patients who desperately needed a solution. Since then, the journey for Lilly has been filled with innovations, successes and major milestones,” said Kevin Cammack, Sr. Marketing Director, Lilly Diabetes. “We aspire to recognize major milestones for people who have demonstrated to the world that living with insulin has not taken them off the path toward their destination. We are so proud to have played a role, no matter how small, in helping these inspiring people.”

Lilly began recognizing long-term insulin users with the Journey Awards program in 1975, and now has a monument on the grounds of the Lilly corporate campus to recognize those who have used the treatment for 75 years.

Dr. Kretchman has helped other patients receive recognition, though Sligar is her first patient with the highest award. “This program and patients like Margaret are living proof that diabetes can be managed well and people with the disease can have long and healthy lives,” she said. “These successes help all of us to work hard to stay on track until the day there is a cure.”