Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: death, diabetes, diabetic ketoacidosis, news
While diabetes is not a disease any one wants to have, it is a manageable disease than people can LIVE with… except in this sad case of a family who decided their daughter’s illness was instead a spiritual test… for me this story reminds me of how fragile Charlotte and Kaelyn are… anytime they get sick and their blood sugars are impacted, there health is in serious jeopardy… diabetic ketoacidosis is a life-threatening condition and one my sister and sister-in-law take VERY seriously… it’s sad to think that in this case this little girl (11 years old) did not have to die… she could have been treated, could have rebound and learned to live with her disease… yes, there are issues of religious freedom being debated here, but for me this is a story of the seriousness and fragility of the disease and just makes me sad. I’m keeping my eye on the diabetes blogosphere… curious what others will think.
Alright now, who’s ready to take me seriously and put your dollars to work… I’ve made this lovely chart an everything… let’s have some fun… who’s ready to buy mile 30? how about mile 130? how about mile 300? Making cute graphics is fun and motivating, but seeing some donations would really make my heart sing! Feel free to use the online donation tool. Don’t make me call you out by name…. I’m doing my part- can you do yours?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bags of hope, JDRF, miles, pump wear, type 1 diabetes
so this week in total I accumulated about 14 miles… it’s time to make some kind of graphic to illustrate my trek… no one’s taken me up on the offer yet to buy miles, but perhaps you’re all just waiting to see if I’m gonna stick to this!
Trying to think of more ideas for making an impact… discussed some with my sister this morning, like making pump pouches for kids to make life just a little more fun (Charlotte has an entire fashion wardrobe of these) or making something similar to the “bags of hope” JDRF distributes to newly diagnosed kids… anyone got any ideas?
Charlotte thinks this blog is cool- its fun having the approval of a 4 year old… I just hope that I can accomplish some big things on her behalf… she’s such a sweetie and it sucks that her life has been permanently altered with this diagnosis…
Filed under: Uncategorized
My sister and I found this (and others like it) on youtube months ago… we talk about making something for Charlotte and I offered again yesterday to help (hint, hint, sis)… it captures the essence and importance of the cause so beautifully so rather than try to think of something profound, inspiring or educational to share with you today, I’ll just leave it to the video… it certainly makes it all very real even if you don’t know anyone with Type 1 yourself. By the way, you may need a tissue handy. Enjoy!
So, I know I struggle with commitment… this is part of why I am blogging this experience- accountability. I’m hoping that knowing that somebody is out there reading I’ll be compelled to keep up my end of the bargain.
So this morning as I circled the track I thought of proposing the idea to you all to “buy a mile.” The good news too is that miles are cheap… just a $1! My plan as you know is to walk 500 miles between now and Charlotte’s JDRF walk (team Moochie’s Marathoners!) and raise $500 in the process.
Interested? Buy a mile, buy 5, buy 10… pick your mile – challenge me – wanna buy mile 357 – go for it – you don’t pay until I walk it! I’ve been thinking about creating some kind of cool graphic to post for you guys to see my miles and better yet for me to see my progress – how fun would it be for you and your donations to be scattered across my mileage map… sure seems it would keep me committed if I knew there was no cha-ching! until I did my part and walked the miles you bought… so let the mileage sale begin… drop me a comment, send me an email… pledge on the JDRF page. And I’ll get busy making that mileage graphic so we can have some fun with this.
So part of my “walk a mile” is literal walking and as of right now I have logged 12,919 steps or approximately 5.71 miles today on behalf of my mission. I actually got up early and got out on the track for a 30 minute walk and I have to admit that while I was fretting about running late and not wanting to walk the full 30 minutes all it took was thinking for a minute would I be questioning my dedication to walk if Charlotte were on the sideline watching? That’s all it took for me to stay with it and walk the full 30 minutes I had committed to, which happened to be the first 4,000 or so steps of my day.
Today was unusual in that I had a training to conduct in the hospital, which gave me the opportunity to schlep a quarter mile there and back, walk the room for the hour and a half training, not to mention my dash to the cafeteria and back before we started to scarf down lunch. So, I’m not sure 12,000+ steps is realistic for everyday, but we will see!
So only 495 miles left to go!
Filed under: Uncategorized
Went looking this morning for some first person perspective on type 1 diabetes and found an amazingly inspiring blog… the story of her diagnosis is so moving and really from the child’s perspective – plus, she’s now an adult and gives me the chance to see into the future for my own nieces… will definitely be reading more from her.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blood sugar, insulin, pancreas, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes
Those of you who know me know that I am an educator by trade and a teacher at heart… so what would be more natural for me then to educate myself and you about type 1 diabetes. Now remember that it’s my young nieces who have this disease, so I decided to approach this from a kid’s perspective which is why the JDRF Kids Online site is the place to start.
For those who prefer the quick and dirty version – everybody eats to live and the food we eat gets broken down into sugar (glucose) and is transported to all parts of our bodies in our blood… diabetes is basically having too much or too little sugar in the blood.
Normally our pancreas, a little organ near our stomach, controls how much sugar is in our blood, but in someone with diabetes the pancreas doesn’t work quite right. The pancreas does this important job by making insulin. In someone with type 1 diabetes their body doesn’t make enough (or really any) insulin. This is why they have to get a shot of insulin each time they eat.
We don’t know for sure what causes type 1 diabetes – partly our genes, partly the environment. We think viruses may be partly the cause and in both Charlotte and Kaelyn’s cases a specific GI, or stomach, virus is believed to have triggered their bodies’ immune system to attack their pancreas which led to their type 1 diabetes diagnosis.
Most diabetes (90 to 95 percent) is actually type 2 diabetes- also known as adult-onset diabetes. This form of the disease is usually seen in people over age 35, people who are overweight or who are not physically active. It is more common in certain races and in people with a family history of type 2 diabetes. In type 2 the body usually still makes insulin but not enough or the body doesn’t use it properly. Often these people do not require insulin for treatment.
Why do I point this out? Because there is a stigma attached to diabetes… we think of it as a disease of lifestyle, but I hope you better understand now that is only true of some type 2 diabetes and not the case for type 1 diabetes.
Charlotte and Kaelyn did nothing to bring on this condition. There is nothing they could do to avert it. Their bodies are completely dependent on an external source of insulin FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.
Well, that’s a start… more to follow.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: awareness, email, facebook, JDRF, shameless promotion, twitter
Not sure how this will all play out, but I’m trying to be proactive in spreading the word…
I’ve set up a Facebook group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=26351698160,
I’ve twittered http://twitter.com/Lora_Shea about my new mission,
set up my JDRF page http://walk.jdrf.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=extranet.personalpage&confirmid=87014117
and sent an email out to friends and family to spread the word…
There’s really not much to tell as yet… after all I’ve only just begun, but I wanted to share my enthusiasm and build momentum now so I hope my efforts will pay off…
I imagine there are many more ways to spread the word and I hope ideas reveal themselves in the coming days, but for now I think the main thing is to get the journey underway…
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 500 miles, fundraising, JDRF, type 1 diabetes, walk
So I’ve decided I’m on a mission… you see I have these two nieces with much the same story. Kaelyn will be turning 8 this June and Charlotte will be turning 5 in August. Both girls were diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes (or juvenile diabetes) around the age of 2 following a GI virus that unknowingly set off a dramatic immune response in their tiny little bodies and attacked their panacreas. It amazes me to watch both girls deal with a chronic disease at such young ages and breaks my heart at the same time. I’m busy raising “healthy” twins who are just 7 weeks younger than Charlotte, so I try to imagine walking in my sister’s shoes as she raises Charlotte and contends with her disease daily. And I’ve also watched in awe as my sister-in-law deals not only with Kaelyn’s diabetes but also a diagnosis of Celiac disease – essentially a gluten allergy, which only complicates matters more.
Each year Charlotte and my sister, Michelle, and Kaelyn and my sister-in-law, Anne sponsor JDRF walk teams in the girls’ honor and raise funds to seek a cure. Unfortunately my girls, Hannah and Sarah, and I don’t get to join them as we all live in different states. So this year, I’m on a journey from now until Charlotte’s walk date – 173 days from now- to walk 500 miles – walking in her shoes to raise awareness and hopefully, some money too, for JDRF and a cure. I’ll chronicle my journey here – I’m not sure where the path will lead but I’m excited to begin.
You can visit my JDRF fundraising page at
| http://walk.jdrf.org/walker.cfm?id=87014117 |
