The Ron Santo Walk to Cure Diabetes is this weekend - this will be the 14th year my family and I will participate. This year due to our expanded family we got a late start to our appeal. Our letter letters just went out on Thursday, but the good news is we already have close to $1,000 and we are not far from our $1,500 goal. Thank you SO much to all our friends and family that have supported us thus far. Do you think you can help up get the rest of the way? We love the big donations, but the $5, $10, and $20 donations are what have been the bulk of the almost $100,000 weve raised over the last 14 years. Thank you so much for your support. Here is a link to our team page and you can pick your favorite Families for a Cure team member to support. www2.jdrf.org/site/TR?fr_id=3943&pg=team&team_id=165992 I mentioned our appeal letters that went out on Thursday. Every year I share a story about how a friend or family member encountered diabetes over the past year. This year I have a unique story to share that happened while my car was being towed. Its a touch long, but I hope you can take a couple minutes to read it over as I think its pretty good and it shows how far weve come in helping those afflicted by this terrible disease. Here you go My car broke down, I had to get towed, but I got to see what a “cure” to diabetes could look like... I was having a terrible day. My car conked out and and was a steaming mess, broken down in the middle of rush hour traffic at the intersection of Ashland and Wellington . Good news was I had AAA and they said the guy would be there in 15 minutes. So the tow truck guy gets there and he is the friendliest tow truck guy I have ever met (unfortunately I’ve met a few in my life). I don’t remember how it happened, but the Walk to Cure diabetes came up. He tells me that his wife was a diabetic with extreme symptoms - including episodes of fainting and being taken to the ER unconscious. It was so prevalent that when a call from an unknown number came in he would answer and ask “where is she and where do I need to be?”. Diabetes had not only taken a toll on his wife’s body but on their entire life. He went on to tell me that her extreme case made her a candidate for an islet cell transplant. If I were not on the JDRF mail list, I would not be familiar with this procedure so I would like to share some information for those that would like to know more. webmd/diabetes/islet-cell-transplantation?page=2 As the article states, islet cell transplantation has come a long way over the last 15 years and the science is really bringing rejection rates down. Research, testing and the pharmaceuticals involved that brought us this far and that will take us further down the road cost a lot...A LOT...of money. That is where the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation comes in. The JDRF mission is simpe: Improving Lives, Curing Type 1 Diabetes. They live this mission by supporting research including islet cell transplantation. I always like to remind people that more than 80 percent of any dollar you give directly supports research and research-related education. Wait, let’s get back to the tow truck. His wife had the transplant and it was successful. What does that mean? While she will be on anti-rejection meds for the rest of her life, she has been symptom free for a few years now. Let’s say that again. SHE HAS BEEN SYMPTOM FREE SINCE THE PROCEDURE. No more passing out. No more phone calls hearing that his wife has been taken unconscious to the emergency room. Cured? The scientists don’t say that exactly, but their life has been completely changed. My new friend and his wife are enjoying a “normal” life that most take for granted everyday. A cure for all? This treatment is currently only available to extreme cases and a CURE for all is still a long way down the road. With that said, this story was not possible just a few years ago. How can we make this story happen for more people? How can we find a CURE for diabetes and change lives all over the world? SUPPORT the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation because the JDRF will not rest until T1D is fully conquered. Neither will our team, Families for a Cure. Can you chip in this year? As I mentioned earlier, we love the big donations, but the $5, $10, and $20 donations are what have been the bulk of the nearly $100,000 weve raised in the last 14 years. Family teams like ours are the foundation of the $1.7 BILLION that JDRF has awarded to diabetes research since its inception. Thank you so much for your support today and over the last 14 years. Have a great day! Mike
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 22:34:01 +0000
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