JDRF

Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

This organization helped me SO much when I was first diagnosed nearly 9 years ago when I was a a lost 14 year old. Their website was one of the few out there at the time where a kid could go and find some sense of acceptance and normalcy to this new life of Type 1 Diabetes.

When I was in the hospital I got this awesome backpack - in it was a bunch of goodies: A Rufus Bear (Being a teenager I wouldn't admit it to friends, but I snuggled that thing at night for years), A One Touch Ultra meter kit (it was the latest and greatest at the time), A lot of literature on how children with diabetes can live perfectly normal lives, and a bit more I don't remember. Most of it had that good 'ol JDRF stamp on it.

I spent hours on their website (and www.childrenwithdiabetes.com too). Researching diabetes, learning the ins and the outs. Learning about complications if I don't take care of myself, teaching myself all the tricks of the trade from other more seasoned Diabetics. Being the book worm I am the internet opened so many more avenues of learning for me - so I made sure I was always up-to-date on the latest and greatest treatments and gizmos and gadgets.

What is it about a nice new gadget? I just LOVE to have a new thing - even if they are nearly always diabetes related. I love new treatments that will help make things "easier" to deal with. Yet, I've never been one to jump on all the latest trends. When CGMS first came on the seen I was excited about it, but knew it was too new to be accurate enough to be worth it for me - AND those first receivers were freaking huge! Haha.

Anyway, I have wanted to, pretty much since I was diagnosed, participate in The Walk to Cure Diabetes. as My husband and I went down to the park it was being held at the first year we were married - we walked around and talked to some of the vendors - it was really cool to talk to people who "understood" me. Real people, Tangible people. I LOVE the DOC (Diabetic Online Community) it has been my only real support group of people who understand the life since I was diagnosed. So being with people who were real was a whole different experience, and I liked it!

So this year I decided would be the year, rather impulsively tonight, I would join in the walk! I don't anticipate raising tons of money or anything of the sort - but just to go down and meet some others, maybe I can help be a support to other young women or mom's who are concerned for their kids living with this blasted disease - that would just be such a blessing to me.

It doesn't hurt to ask, though, if you do feel like donating no matter how small, that would just be awesome. My Walk fundraiser page can be found here.

 Diabetes is not an easy thing to live with day to day. There is no "vacation" from it. We have to make choices every day that most people would consider trivial like "do I eat toast or cereal for breakfast" can actually be a big deal - "Well, toast doesn't raise my blood sugar as much as Cereal, but my blood sugar is a little low this morning so maybe Cereal would be the better choice in this case..."

Like Cancer and so many other things, we'd also like a cure to come around some day.

Thanks for taking the time to read!