This morning’s run on the beach was so cool. I saw a starfish or rather, a sea star latched onto a rock. This was the second sea star I have seen this past year. Such a rare sighting and, it made my morning more interesting. I stopped to take a picture – – a photo of the rare creature – – not seen too often, especially during low tide. What’s so interesting about the sea star?
Thanks to wikipedia, I learned the following fun facts about sea stars: they are like the fictional characters from The Wizard of Oz. Like the Scarecrow, sea stars have no brain. Like the Tin Man, sea stars have no heart and, they have no blood. Amazing. Who knows if they are cowards like the Lion. Sea stars live up to 35 years and there are about 2,000 species of sea stars. What does the sea star have to do with TYPE 1? Absolutely nothing. But wait, they are different, yes. We people living with TYPE 1 are also different. We are limited physiologically because of our makeup – – just like the sea stars.
Sea stars can not survive in fresh water. People with TYPE 1 can not survive without insulin. Instead of blood, sea stars have their own water vascular system. Instead of the beta cells in the islets of Langerhans producing insulin in the TYPE 1, the TYPE 1 has to inject insulin or they will not survive. I trust there are no sea stars with TYPE 1. And, there are no TYPE 1s with a water vascular system.
