I've had Type I diabetes for 40 years! I say that with a qualification. I was insulin dependent for 32 of those 40 years. My kidneys failed after 30 years of diabetes and after receiving my brother's kidney, my doctor's full plan of transplant was to also do a follow on pancreas transplant. And so 18 months later I received a pancreas. Although normalized blood sugars do a lot to protect my new kidney, we know that transplant is not a cure but a treatment and so I continue to count my years of diabetes.