Somehow negotiated a Sunday 'pass' this spring -- giving up precious family time, especially since spring soccer rules our lives Monday through Thursday evenings -- to take an advanced photography course. Enjoying our field trips and the chance to really concentrate on photography and find out how to really work the controls on that Nikon. This shot is from the Cheam Wetlands on April 25.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Please support Team Molly in the Walk for Diabetes
Dear friends,
As many of you know our family had the sad and difficult experience of having to incorporate Type 1 diabetes into our lives last year when our daughter Molly was diagnosed at the age of 14.
Since then we've learned a lot about diabetes care and management. Type 1 diabetes generally strikes young people. It is thought to be an auto-immune disorder in which the body attacks and destroys its own pancreatic cells, and it is not preventable or caused by lifestyle choices. Multiple daily doses of insulin keep Molly and other Type 1 diabetics alive, and multiple daily glucose checks help them monitor their blood sugar and health. That's thousands of needle pricks and finger pokes per year. We have maintenance, but we'd like to see a cure. We're doing our part in the search by fundraising through the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk to Cure Diabetes on June 13.
There is no ignoring diabetes. It will be with Molly 24/7 for the rest of her life unless a cure is found. At the moment, that means four shots a day, four finger-pricking blood-glucose tests a day, and six carefully timed and balanced meals and snacks, all with the goal of managing her blood sugar levels, as her pancreas can no longer do it for her. It means no going out with friends without remembering her insulin and glucose monitor, and sometimes us driving it to her when she does. It means no more sleeping in as late as she likes or staying up until all hours of the night, or skipping or delaying meals.
It means recognizing, and taking steps to deal with, blood sugar highs and lows to avoid the dangerous effects these can have such as ketoacidosis and coma. It means living as healthy a life as possible now in order to minimize risks of serious side effects in the future. It means far more vigilance and organization than a teenager should have to incorporate into her busy life.
Molly has coped with all these challenges with impressive courage and determination. She continues to balance friends, family, school, homework, three sports, babysitting, and refereeing, all the while maintaining high marks, good fitness, and excellent diabetes management. She even traveled to Europe without her parents!
Families and friends of people with diabetes are an important source of funds for research on cures for Type 1 diabetes. We can truthfully say we never gave much thought to this condition until we were forced to last year. Knowing someone who has Type 1 diabetes really wakes you up to the reality of it.
Please consider sponsoring us. It is the families and friends of diabetics who will help to find the cure by supporting this cause, which is suddenly very personal for us.
Kind regards, and thanks in advance for your support. (For those of you who have supported me in the Run for Mom before, note that this is my new cause and I won't be asking for donations for that one anymore.)
Please click below to support Team Molly, or email me to arrange an in-person donation.
http://jdrfca.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&eventID=804&participantID=53386
Anne, Daryl, Molly, Emma, and Miles
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