Many years ago a lovely old friend said to me, “Never say no
when someone extends an invitation or chance to do something. Unless you’ve a real reason for not being
able to take up the invite, doesn’t matter what it’s for, just go – ‘cause
unless you do you will never know what you may have missed.”
Thank you for those words Fred, for this past period they
have rung so true with me. Life over the
years has been a roller coaster, yet I continue to accept those chances you
told me to – and the past few months I’ve been given opportunities that have
had me on a wonderful, happy merry-go-round of experiences, adventure,
fulfilment and gratification.
None more so than in the past week.
I am now in Chicago and reflecting on this time last week, a
day when my ‘running mate’ and I flew into Minnesota airport and were met,
greeted and driven to a hotel in central St Paul’s to begin what was to be an
incredible four days of surreality.
I was one of twenty individuals who were accepted by the
medical organisation Medtronic to compete in the Medtronic Twin Cities marathon
or ten-mile road race.
Over 460 people had applied to be one of the twenty; I have
yet to fathom how on earth they could have sifted through those 460
applications and come up with my being one of the thankful individuals
eventually chosen.
It was in late June when I received notification of being
one of the ‘Global Champions’ team.
Part of the acceptance onto this amazing team was the
condition that Medtronic requested each accepted recipient would be flown to
Minnesota-St Paul, accommodated and looked after, but had to compete in one of
the two events with a nominated running partner. Therefore, each of the Global Champions were
in the envious position of asking a fellow runner to partner them on the journey. How lucky were those other twenty
individuals! Forty of us … being hosted
by a most incredible medical company.
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| The 40 incredible & truly special individuals |
As most of you know, I have had a strong and close
association with many medical companies in my lifetime. Not only due to the many years of my having an
annoying heart problem but more specifically with having to deal with medical
experts through the five-plus years my husband was treated for his
brain tumour.
Throughout those five-plus years the gratitude I extended to
their ability to keep him alive was directed solely to their individual skills,
rather than to the medical resources and products they had at their finger tips
to extend his life expectancy from 12 weeks to 5 or more years.
Much was the same respect when I was finally fitted with a
pacemaker. A small piece of modern
technology, the size of a small stop watch, that was fitted into my chest two
years ago, to make my heart work like a metronome – for the first time in my
life it tick-tocked my heart beat at a regular tick-tock rate. For the first time in years I no longer live
with the thought that at anytime I could travel the pathway to the heavens due
to a heart attack, or a stroke caused by a badly functioning heart.
It was not until my pacemaker was fitted that I realised
just how remarkable modern medical technology has developed. Each time I have had to visit the cardiac
ward at the hospital to have the pacemaker checked and tuned I have gone in
with excitement in seeing and learning and understanding how this small piece
of equipment was making my life so much easier.
I never want to leave the technicians rooms because the fascination of
how it functions has me intrigued, wanting to know more on how it worked and
almost transfixed by any explanations of its workings. I get excited when I receive the six month
letter of invitation back to the hospital to have its batteries and workings checked.
Then last week, I was flown into Minnesota with my running
mate and hosted by one of the largest medical companies in the world to be part
of their 2018 Global Champions team.
I actually won Lotto.
I met with the most incredible athletes. Nineteen other people, from all over the
world. Nineteen amazing people – from different
countries, different ethnicities, different social stratas, different ages, different
worlds, different stories. Different in
every way, except we all had one sameness.
We had all had our lives enhanced, bettered and extended by
a technological medical device that had been developed by a medical company
somewhere in the world.
No longer the attitude that the big, corporate medical
companies are only out to fleece the world to make profits. Not that I ever had that. But I had never really thought how much the
world owes to medical companies and the developments and technologies those
companies are constantly working on to enhance, improve and save lives, particularly
over the past two centuries.
Our group of 20 Global Champions and their running partners
were hosted by Medtronic for the full four day marathon period – and during
that time we were offered the opportunity to visit the research and development
offices of their main head office.
It was during this visit to their technological departments
that the full clarity of just how much the efforts of very clever, intelligent
and dedicated employees of that company (and other medical companies) contribute
to the lives of everyone in this world.
I saw machines worth millions of dollars testing various,
minor areas of how only one tiny part of a certain medical device that would be
implanted in a human may work. I saw one
multi-million dollar machine that was only the size of a large washing machine,
working solely on how the surface of a certain material used on a device would
stop the body from adhering tissue to it, thus ensuring the device could be
enduring. I cannot explain in my basic
language what so many of the workings we were shown were testing and
doing.
What I can explain is watching and listening to the staff,
technicians and scientists who work on developing incomprehensible
technological devices and to their dedication, their intense devotion and their
enthusiasm for the work they do, simply to help develop yet another device to
help some individual’s life somewhere in the world.
Among my fellow Global Champions there were others who had,
like me, been implanted with pacemakers – for the same or different heart
faults than mine.
Learning, watching and seeing how the company is developing
those to be smaller, more effective, less intrusive and less costly pacemakers
to those who will require them was fascinating.
There were others in the team who have to use diabetic
insulin pumps to allow themselves to live.
Just learning about those devices and how my fellow team members had to
live with them was a whole new insight into another person’s daily routine that
most of us would never know about.
This company makes, develops and is constantly redeveloping the
insulin pumps so that the use and cost to the individuals makes them become
more and more accessible.
Other Global Champions have had neurostimulators implanted. I had never understood what a ‘neurostimulator’
was. But I certainly do now – and am humbled,
totally humbled by those who have had these amazing devices implanted and have
gone on to achieve incredible feats.
One young twenty-year old in the group had been stricken
with a disorder I had never heard of before, dystonia (symptoms not unlike cerebral
palsy). He had a Deep Brain Stimulator
(DBS) implant. This gave him a life, a
life from being bedridden with twisted arms and legs to a life where he was
able to run a ten mile race on Sunday.
His story this past weekend is worth a movie.
Another amazing 59 year old, suffering from Parkinson’s
Disease, also had a DBS implanted. We
watched a short video of this incredible lady with the implant turned on, then
turned off. We all watched in awe at the
difference the device had made to her life.
She ran an inspiring run on Sunday.
Another individual had a severe form of ulcerative colitis
in his healthy teenage years. The results not good – until he had his large intestine
completely removed and a J-pouch constructed (you may have to Google it). Something that could never have been dreamt
of years ago. He lives a normal life now
and ran a great run on Sunday.
All these 20 Global Champions have had their lives totally
changed by medical devices. Medical
devices that would never have been contemplated, developed and refined had it
not been for medical companies around the world. Or, more importantly, the employees, the
researchers, engineers, the developers,
the scientists, the technological brains, the unique and passionate individuals
that the medical companies employ.
Twenty grateful Medtronic Global Champions, and their running
partners, have gone home from an amazing few days in the Twin Cities with an
enhance attitude of gratitude, thanks to Medronic and it’s devoted employees.
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| The 20 Medtronic Global Champions Friends for 'Life' |
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| At the Medtronic luncheon at their HO |
http://www.medtronic.com/us-en/about/global-champions.html
I don't know how I will ever be able to thank Medtronic and the events team for those few days of magic ... but I shall forever be trying to figure out how ....
