When Rick Edwards was seven years old, he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. The local doctors didn't know much about diabetes, what caused it, or how to deal with it. It was apparently a rough go for awhile. Until his family doctor recommended he see Dr. Charles R. Read, an endocrinologist at University of Iowa.
Read, a former Canadian Navy Doctor during World War II, had moved to Iowa in 1954 - the first pediatric endocrinologist in the state. Before moving to Iowa, he had devised the "constant carbohydrate diet" for diabetics, so he was probably one of the closest people who could be considered an expert in the field. He was a Nobel nominee for his work in the field and retired in 1987.
One of the first things Read asked what what the seven year old Edwards wanted to do. The answer was to be active in the outdoors, athletics and farming.
Read said something along the order of, "If you listen, you can do anything you want to do. Otherwise you'll be dead by 30."
Edwards listened, ate the same foods at the same time every day and was very active in athletics. He was active in sports in high school and football in college. After college, he was one of three punters playing in scrimmages who tried out for punter positions with the Dallas Cowboys. They only needed two. "I got cut," he said.
He dealt with his diabetes the same way until 1998 or 1999. That's when he began using an insulin pump.
Insulin pumps are about the size of a pager and can be programmed to deliver insulin as necessary for the users lifestyle. According to Edwards, the insulin pump increased the convenience of life "big time." "There's more freedom, I don't have to eat the same amount at the same time," he said. "After I got the pump I could eat at different times, and eat different amounts."
Edwards has treated diabetes as a problem to be overcome, not something to keep him from doing what he wanted to.
"I've not let it interfere with what I wanted to do, including sports," he said.
For the last 18 years at California R-I, Edwards has taught sixth grade social studies and English and has been head track coach and assistant high school football coach. This year, he is the new California Middle School assistant principal, the R-I School District Activities Director and, for this school year, assistant high school football coach.
"My goal has always been to make everything as good as it can be and achieve as high level as we can achieve, as much as we can," he said.
Edwards puts this to practice in his teaching, coaching and his life.