Community Corner

Kentfield Woman Is A Medical Miracle

Doctors hope to learn from Rita Calumet's ongoing 75-year battle with Type 1 diabetes.

"Stubborn." That's the secret to a long life, according to Kentfield resident Rita Calumet.

The 87 year old's stubbornness has put her in an exclusive class and made her something of a medical wonder. Calumet has survived the past 75 years, fighting Type 1 diabetes and giving herself regular insulin injections.

"I'm glad I've had the life I've had. I've had pretty good life let me tell you," she said. "Lots of bad things happened … but I had two children and I just love them and life's been good to me."

New York's Joslin Diabetes Center honored that accomplishment with a medal that  was presented to Calumet on Wednesday by her doctor, Linda Gaudiani. She is just the 48th person in the nation to receive this award since it was founded in 1970.

"My mother had good genes. She lived to be 102," according to Calumet, who also received a 50-year medal.

Calumet's daughters and grandchildren, some of whom were visiting from Seattle, gathered around her to share in the moment.

Calumet is now part of a study to determine the factors that have contributed to her successful fight against diabetes.

That struggle hasn't been easy by any means. Undiagnosed until she was 11 years old in 1935, she became gravely ill.

"They took me to Lenox Hill Hospital, I will never forget that," Calumet said, recalling the night she fell into a coma. "I don't remember getting there, but I do remember lying on a table with a yellow light shining on me and someone saying 'Go back Rita. Go back.' And that's the truth."

Insulin had only recently been developed as a treatment in 1922 and the instruments were relatively primitive. Calumet spent a month in the hospital learning how to take care of herself and give herself injections.

Calumet stayed at the forefront of medical technology as it's developed through the 20th century, even adapting to an insulin pump, the latest technology. 

He wasn't in any of the photos with Calumet, but one of her biggest fans attended the ceremony. Kentfield's Bruce Braden, a patient of Dr. Gaudiani for the past 26 years, made a $1,000,000 gift to Marin General Hospital to establish the Braden Outpatient Diabetes Center. The center, slated to open in 2012, will offer a comprehensive program that provides assistance with prevention strategies and self-management of the disease. It is the only program of its kind in Marin County, occurring to hospital officials.

“It’s my chance to make a difference,” says Braden.


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