Has anyone noticed the kid flipping you off on the side of my blog? That is my nephew Joe. Joe wasn't really flipping anyone off, he is a super sweet kid and would never do such a thing. Here is the thing, that super sweet kid was showing his Dad (I think) a cut on his finger, a cut that took weeks and weeks to heal. Why? Joe has Type 1 Diabetes. He was diagnosed around the age of 3 1/2. I know a ton of my followers are moms, can you imagine telling your 3yr old, no snacks now you can't have more carbohydrates, can you imagine sticking your 3yr old 15-20 times a day (on a good day) to check his blood sugar, can you imagine holding him down to change the site where his insulin pump is connected to his booty every two days (as long as nothing goes wrong). I can't. I can't imagine. I watch my sister take care of Joe and my heart breaks. I watch Joe handle it all like he is an adult and it breaks my heart. How is it that we have cures for so many things but no one knows why some kids pancreases go belly up. WTF? How do we not at least know how this organ stops working correctly. My sister is now a human pancreas, I am not kidding, she plays the role of the organ that is effectively dead in her son in order to keep him alive. There is no magic pill for Type 1 Diabetes. There is no cure, there isn't even a closed loop system set up to take over for the pancreas. And there are tons of kids like Joe out there. I want to do something. I want to raise money for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) and raise awareness.
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| Joe and Bridget heading to Walk for the Cure of Diabetes |
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| Chloe, Joe and Bridget being kids. |
Oh if you want more information or more accurate information on Diabetes and the care of a Type 1 kid, head over to my sisters blog. She is the bomb. Well she is after all, a wife, a supermom and the best damn pancreas around.
Happy Running Everyone! Hope the weather holds for everyone. Stay tuned for my post on socks, figured out which of my million running socks do best in the rain. :).
11 comments:
I like the idea of a marathon a day for a month. You can get followers on Daily mile for it and we can set up a facebook page to promote it. Maybe take a picture before and after each run or something.
I know a lot about Type 2 diabetes and you are right it is nothing like Type 1 totally different. I can not imagine going through it with my girls. Joe is one brave young man and your sister is an amazing mom.
I dont think i have the time to run 26.2 in arow everyday. Would it ruin it if i had to break it up? I can only get 19.5 while chloe is at school and then will have to finish up on tm after she is in bed and on weekends it might have to all be on TM. Ahhhhhhh. I could do a vlog about it each day or blog with picture. What if i got some running gear folks to donate items and in order to entered to win them someone would have to donate atleast a dollar to jdrf? Btw, have no idea if i could actually run 26.2 miles everyday for a month. But i can try. Other ideas? Oh and Tracy love the fb page idea.
that picture makes me laugh each time i see it.
poor lil' guy.
diabetes is such a terrible disease.
i bet you can get some great coverage if u take on a challenge like that!
Someone posted on FB about doing a live and virtual race, I really like that idea. And you know Heather G did a huge fundraiser thing on her blog awhile back where companies donated items and everyone had to donate to get an entry to win the items, then if they donated over a certain amount they got two entries in for the items.
I like the idea of doing a virtual 5k or something, that way all of us can do it with you. And we can all pay the same fee we would to do a 5k anywhere.
Maybe you could do a give away a week for a month and then at the end of the month have the virtual 5k too, make it a month long fundraiser. Just a thought.
A girl friend way back in the dark ages, when I was in high school, was a foster child. She had Type 1 and because of her being a ward of the State, she was given all sorts of "alternative" measures to manage her disease. Including the early versions of the pump. Needle sites would plug or the batteries would die, all sorts of things would happen, and she would crash. Every time I saw an ambulance roll up to the school, I would hustle to the nurse's office to see if it was Missy. Often it was. If you are paying attention, you will have seen that I used the word "HAD" at the start of this. A few years ago she had a pancreas transplant and is now only on anti-rejection drugs. No more insulin. Not sure if it is still part of the "You volunteered to help" projects or what, because I know they don't have the kind of monies required to just go get it done. My brother-in-law and my nephew both have this disease, and yeah, they need to figure out a cure. I will think about cool crazy ways to raise money and get back to this.
Your sister is a rockstar. A TOTAL ROCKSTAR! And look at you! Running like a mother (literally)!
I love Reyna and her family...and I'm incredibly touched by your determination to raise awareness and funds for a cure.
Thank you!
Tara, Such a great sisterly thing to do. Your sister Reyna is awesome! I'm inspired by your love and determination to help. Thank you.
You could have a virtual 5K run. Everyone sends in an entrance fee ($10) and on that special day runs their favorite 5K course.(or plan a special week for everyone to complete their run) Request that all times be emailed to you when their run is completed (before midnight or before midnight on last day if planning a week to complete the 5K) Ask that everyone be honest when timing themselves...but really there is no reason to cheat because prizes are by random. Also request at least one picture of them running their 5k run for you to be able to post online. Results will be posted on your webpage. You can make it more "fun" by creating a "bib" document for people to download and to write their number on it and wear it on race day...lol! For prizes....
1. You could use random.org based on the number of entrances. Maybe running business could donate a few prizes.
2. You could give out prizes for first person registered from each state within the US (diabetes awareness bracelets)
3. Prize for the person who lives the farthest away from you, youngest/oldest, etc.
4. Prize for best picture.....everyone online can vote for the best 5K running picture.
Get the media involved to get the word out! You could also have a real 5K and add the real and virtural race results together???
Good Luck....and thank you for helping us find a cure!
I can't believe you wrote "I have no idea if I could actually run 26.2 a day for a month" You could run all day and night for a month. You're not human! No but seriously, like I said before, You have a beautiful gift and I think it's amazing that you want to use that gift to help advocate and raise money with us. We will come up with something, there are some great ideas up there.
It was SO AMAZING to meet you btw. :)
What a wonderful post...and thanks for the raving about yours truly. You, of all people, know my weaknesses and strengths and I appreciate your kind words.
I posted a link on my blog post today. Hopefully we will get some more ideas.
Your love and support never cease to amaze me. Thank you for that. xoxo
I like the virtual race idea actually - that is something I think a lot of people would feel like they could be a part of....didn't they have a national run day not too long ago? I'll have to do some internet searches, but anyhow somehow using social networking and the ability to vlog about it would be great, too!
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