Intel CEO Opens Up About Her Diabetes Battle

In a candid interview with 'Yedioth Ahronoth,' Maxine Fassberg (63), the outgoing CEO of Intel Israel and Vice President of Intel Worldwide, shares her journey of living with diabetes.

"Diabetes has been with me for 52 years, since I was 11," she recalls the moment she was informed of having juvenile diabetes. "When the doctor told me I had juvenile diabetes, I didn't know what it was, but I immediately asked how to treat it," she remembers. "When he said 'with injections,' I looked at him in horror and asked if it was more than one injection."

"His affirmative answer made me burst into tears that lasted for two days while I was hospitalized in the children's ward. The doctor gave me that time, then took my hand, led me through the department rooms, showed me the truly ill children, including cancer patients, and then brought me back to my room and said: 'Now think if you really have a reason to cry.' That's when my crying stopped. I understood," she describes.

According to her, it is important to teach children with diabetes to manage the disease and not let the fact that they are sick manage their entire daily routine. "Children receiving this news need to believe that their world hasn't collapsed. Juvenile diabetes can be an integral part of life without becoming its center," she says.

Fassberg, now 63, a mother of two and grandmother of two, reflects on her childhood under the shadow of the disease: "I had to boil glass syringes with large steel needles, go on trips with pots for boiling, and there was no way to check blood sugar levels in real-time," she recalls. "There were no gadgets like the pumps we have today and the testing kit I carry with me. It makes all the difference. But the fact that no one around me let the disease become the center of my life made sure it didn't consume me, and it didn't become traumatic. The doctor's approach, and subsequently my parents', was that there is a disease, it's chronic, we live with it, but we set it aside and move on. For me, that's the gift I received, and that's what I try to give others who face this revelation."

Juvenile diabetes, also known as Type 1 diabetes, occurs when the body's immune system attacks the beta cells in the pancreas, for a reason that is still unknown, which are responsible for producing the hormone insulin. Without it, sugar doesn't get absorbed into the cells but remains in the bloodstream unregulated, leaving the body without available energy on one hand and at risk of life-threatening high blood sugar on the other. Therefore, the patient must use synthetic insulin injections several times a day, check their blood sugar levels frequently, and adhere to a balanced diet.

One of the difficulties patients face is avoiding life-threatening situations of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and hyperglycemia (high blood sugar).

"Fears are human, and it takes a lot of courage not to let them control us"

In the busy schedule of Intel's CEO in Israel, this task requires quite a bit of creativity. "Keeping sugar levels balanced is complex. I, for instance, inject long-term insulin twice a day, morning and evening, and supplement after every meal," she describes her way of dealing with the disease.

"When I fly, which happens frequently due to my work, it can confuse the injections," she shares. "There are also times when I'm busy with work during the day and forget to inject when abroad. So, despite all the computing and progress, I make sure to prepare myself reminder notes for injections that I place by my bed. It works."

Fassberg doesn't eat grapes, oranges, and tangerines, due to their high sugar content ("An orange for me is a medicine in times of crisis when I'm in hypo and need instant sugar"), and she's never drank cola. "I try to eat whole-grain bread, which makes me feel better than regular bread. I also avoid white rice, and I've never eaten meringue because it sounds worse to me than a sugar overload."

Her recommendation to parents of diabetic children is unequivocal: "The concept is that nothing is black and white," she says. "When a child goes to a class birthday party, it's natural for them to want cake, and this should be allowed along with ensuring they inject a bit more insulin. Once something is forbidden, it becomes an obsession, and it's natural that kids don't want to feel exceptional. Of course, it's necessary to explain that they can't have cake, candies, and cola, and a small pre-party conversation can be held where the child chooses what they most want to eat at the party, within constraints, but under no circumstances tell them 'no' to everything."

She concludes the interview by emphasizing the power of parents to provide their children with effective coping mechanisms for the disease: "I attribute the good adaptation and coping with the disease to my home, my parents, and the initial care the doctors gave me," Fassberg explains. "Fears are human, and it takes a lot of courage not to let them control us, but it is so important. I was made to feel responsible for managing my condition, and I felt it gave me a certain amount of control in a situation that one of its most difficult characteristics is the experience of loss of control." I'm convinced that a child's ability to cope with such a thing stems only from the attitude their parents adopt towards the disease and the message they convey about it," she concludes, summarizing her main insights for parents of children dealing with this sweet burden.