Walk to Cure Diabetes

The following is an email I sent out to our family & friends last week concerning the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk to Cure Diabetes that's being held at Elitch's Garden on September 14th. The response has been phenomenal! $830 has been donated to the JDRF in Janie's name so far, and we still have four days to reach her goal of $1,000. Thank you, everyone, who has donated and/or passed the email along to others.

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Hi everyone!

It was six months ago that Janie was diagnosed with type I diabetes - March 12th, 2008.

After a few days of insatiable thirst, extreme hunger and frequent urination I called our pediatrician to have her examined. Janie was in school that day, so I made an appointment for after school. Ten minutes after hanging up the phone, our doctor's nurse called back and said they wanted to see her immediately. It was at that point that I realized what was probably wrong with Janie.

With Jacob in tow, I picked her up from school, picked Mark up from a park-n-ride and went to her doctor's office. A quick finger poke later and it was confirmed... type I diabetes.

Our doctor called the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes and we were sent immediately with directions to have her start drinking and keep drinking as much water as possible until we arrived. What followed was three days of new onset diabetes training, a lot of tears and endless questions.

We received a huge amount of information those first days. We met with three nurses, two endocrinologists, a dietitian and a social worker. We discussed what the condition is, why it happens, how it's treated, how to check blood sugar levels, how to give injections, what the immediate risks are with high and low blood sugar levels, how to treat those high and low blood sugars, what the long term risks are, how physical activity/emotion/pain/sleep effect her blood sugar levels, and on and on and on.

The ONE good thing we heard during those first devastating days was that a cure is becoming a concrete possibility. Researchers believe that a cure could come within ten years. She may not have to face a life of constant blood sugar monitoring, injections or pump infusion sites, watching every bite of food she eats, considering what physical activity is coming up in her day, etc. She won't have to do these things when a cure is found.

Janie, Mark and I will be walking in Denver's Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk to Cure Diabetes on September 14th. JDRF funding and leadership is associated with most major scientific breakthroughs in type 1 diabetes research to date. Also, JDRF funds a major portion of all type 1 diabetes research worldwide, more than any other charity. This year's goal from all Walks to Cure Diabetes across the nation is 100 million dollars.

Please consider partnering with us to defeat this disease. If you are able to help, please visit Janie's Walk Central page (blog edit: contact me to find how to do so). Also on this page you can see how close Janie is to reaching her personal goal of $1000.

A note from Janie... Diabetes is a bummer because I can't have sweets like birthday cake without an insulin shot. I have to go to the Barbara Davis Center every three months and have blood drawn and meet with doctors. I have to have four, or more, shots a day. I have to watch my blood sugar, I have to poke my finger. There's a strip in a meter that sucks up my blood to see what my blood sugar level is. If I get low I can have juice and have to eat a 15g carb snack. If I get too high I have to drink a lot of water, get extra insulin and test for ketones. If I exercise too much, my blood sugars can get low. I really want a cure to be found. If you can donate money, THANK YOU! - Janie


Thank you so much for your time and consideration!

- Shannon

P.S. Below is a photo of Janie and her friend, Jace, taken last week. They met at the Barbara Davis Center during the second day of our new onset training, the day Jace was diagnosed.