Walk to Cure Diabetes

After Emma was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes last year, I was not in a good place. I was sleep deprived due to the new baby, frazzled and overwhelmed by all the details required for Emma's care, and going it alone as Jonny was away constantly that summer for work. I was also haunted by my Grandpa's death due to complications of Type 1 Diabetes and wondered if that was what was eventually in store for my sweet baby girl.

So when the somewhat overly perky representative from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation called me and tried to get me involved in the Walk to Cure Diabetes - I'll be honest here - I kind of wanted to tell her to shove it. I briefly told her that my husband was away and I had a brand new baby and didn't think I could do it. She kept explaining and encouraging...and then my phone died and I thought "Praise the Lord!" and also thought that maybe I should call her back and let her know that I hadn't intentionally cut her off but I really didn't want to talk to her anymore so I just let it go.

Naturally she called me again this year to try to get me involved and once again, the timing is not ideal. We just moved, Jonny is away for his long trip, it takes all my energy to make it through the day without adding anything to my life! I was about to tell her no, but she explained there was a luncheon we could go to and learn more about the walk. I went and I took Emma and about five minutes into the luncheon and I knew that no matter what we were doing the walk - because Emma wanted to. She loved being around other kids with diabetes and hearing people talk about diabetes and hearing them talk about finding a cure.

A cure. I don't let my mind wander in the realm of a cure very often. Because I am a big believer in making the best of today and the situation the way it is now. But when I do think about the day that they find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes, I start to cry. I think about putting my daughter to bed at night without worrying that I will find her dead in the bed the next morning because her blood sugar has dropped too low during the night. I think about not making her bleed 8 times a day or more so that I can check her blood sugar and not giving her 5 shots a day. About not setting an alarm for 2:30am every night to check her blood sugar and not shoving M&M's in her mouth for her to chew while she sleeps when I find her blood sugar is too low. I think about letting her go and play at a friend's house without having a panic attack the entire time she is away because I know that her blood sugar can drop amazingly fast. And not worrying that every case of strep throat or a stomach bug will land her in the ER again. And not leaving a note for a babysitter that says, "If Emma has a seizure or passes out, just call 911 and then call me."

A cure for Emma would mean FREEDOM. Freedom from pain and constant worry and future complications from diabetes.

So here is my shameless plug. I am asking each of you to donate what you can to help find a cure for diabetes. If you can give $1, or $5, or $10 - whatever you can do, I would be so grateful. I told Jonny the other day, "I am not really comfortable begging our friends and family for money." But a moment later told him, "But it's for our little Emma, so I'll get over it."

There are three ways you can help make a difference for Emma.
1. You can join our walk team, known as Team Emma (I know, I am original right?), which consists of family and friends who walk with us to show support for Emma. Register online at: walk.jrdf.org
2. You can make credit card donations to support our team via the above link. Or, you can send our family a tax deductible donation in any amount, made payable to JDRF. We will deliver any donations in Emma's honor to the local JDRF office.
3. Contact others in your circle of family and friends to donate as well. Just get in touch with us and we can send you a pledge form. If you choose to raise donations yourself, you may forward this letter or write one of your own.

You can donate money to JDRF with the confidence of knowing that a full 80% of all donations received goes directly to research.

And know that we will be forever grateful to you for it.


Elmtree Photography


DID YOU KNOW? Sugar is not the enemy. Some of the most common misconceptions about Type 1 Diabetes revolve around sugar.

Type 1 Diabetes is not caused or related in any way to sugar consumption. Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease - your body turns against itself. It attacks the insulin producing cells in the pancreas and destroys them. Emma was at particularly high risk for developing diabetes as my paternal grandfather and my maternal uncle both have it.

Even after diagnosis, sugar is safe for diabetics. Well, as safe as it is for anyone. In the past, diabetics' sugar intake was very restricted. Now diabetes is managed by accounting for carbohydrates. Because a bowl of pasta can raise your blood sugar just as much or more than a candy bar. Each person with diabetes has what is called an insulin:carb ratio. For so many grams of carbs you get so much insulin.


Whenever I tell people about the care that is required to keep Emma's diabetes in check, they are surprised at how involved it is. To give you an understanding of what it is like for Emma, here you have it
A Day in the Life of Miss Emma's Diabetes Care.....

Emma's day begins at 2:30am when I stab her in the finger in the dark (sounds like a Dr. Seuss book, except for the stabbing part. That is a little dark for Dr. Seuss). If her blood sugar is good, I stumble back to bed and try to go back to sleep. If it is too low I fish around under her jammies for her pump, which is strapped to her body 24/7. Except for when I take it off for a bath or a site change (and those can be dangerous, take it from me) and she tells me most every time, "I'm free!"

But, I digress...If her blood sugar is a little too low, I turn her pump down or off. If it is a lot too low I feed her M&Ms. She doesn't even really wake up - just chews and swallows and then I shove more in. She then has to swish some water around in her mouth per the dentist's request because clearly I am not going to make her brush her teeth at 2 in the morning.

When she wakes up in the morning we do another BG (blood glucose/sugar) check (#2). Once she determines what she wants to eat we count the carbs in what she is eating and give her a dose of insulin. For the first year she had diabetes we were doing insulin injections and she would get two at breakfast and one every other time she ate...usually about 5-6 shots a day. Now that she is pumping insulin it is much easier and I just push some buttons and she gets her morning insulin.

If you ever need to know the carb count on anything, just ask me. It's all in there in my brain. Taking up room that I need but now do not have. The part of my brain that reminds me to close my car door after I exit or to blow candles out when I will be gone for the next five hours. Important things that I should remember but no longer do because all the room in my brain is now taken up with the amount of carbs in food. And the amount of time it takes insulin to start working and how long it takes the insulin to peak and how long until it stops working all together...you get the picture.

10:30am Another BG check (#3), mid morning snack,carb counting, and another dose of insulin.

Noon BG check (#4), lunch, carb counting, and another dose of insulin.

3:30pm You guessed it, BG check (#5)mid afternoon snack. It's always chocolate milk while she watches her post nap cartoons. So 8 oz. of milk has 12 grams of carbs and 1/2 tsp. of Nesquick has 3 grams of carbs for a grand total of 15 grams of carbs and 1/2 unit of insulin. And can you imagine how neurotic I feel telling my friend who is babysitting Emma that she can have chocolate milk if she is hungry and then asking her to make it with those precise measurements so as not to make her BG too high?

5:30pm BG check (#6) dinner, carb counting, and another dose of insulin.

8pm Bedtime. BG check (#7). At bedtime she either gets food if she's too low, or insulin if she's too high. Sometimes she's just right. At night she needs to be a little higher than during the day because it is so dangerous for them to have low blood sugar at night. Some people wake up when they are getting low and some people don't.

Some people go to sleep and never wake up because their blood sugar drops too low - it is called Dead in the Bed Syndrome and two teenagers have died from it this year already. I think it is probably the greatest fear of all parents of diabetic children.

Whenever I go to bed I check her one more time (#8). And then I am off to bed. Until my alarm goes off at 2:30am and the whole thing starts all over again...


Blood sugar check #342,962


Fridge full of insulin


Normal blood sugar is 70-130. At diagnosis Emma's was 578. Our goal for her is to be between 100-200. While it is higher than normal, it is safer for her growth and development for her to be a little too high than a little too low. She starts feeling funny when her BG gets below 90.



Bins full of diabetes supplies