Sure, it’s true: All we want for Christmas/Hannakuh/Insert holiday of your choice here is a cure.
But we cannot have that yet. And while I’ve seen…
The diabetes community has been here before, and in the late 1980’s, had the same outcry. We want a cure! JDRF (JDF at the time) listened, embraced the movement, and gave it a name: TORIAC
There’s another kind of auntie our world needs: this one’s bond with the person comes not from blood, but from blood sugar. This auntie’s advice, compassion, and care comes not from knowing what it means to live with diabetes or care for someone with diabetes.
But here’s the thing: this is not one product. This is not one moment in time. This is an entire new generation of tools and treatment, and it needs an umbrella name for it all to be grouped under. JDRF called it the APP – Artificial Pancreas Project – because it is just that. A project. A mission. Not just one finite goal.
On a February morning in 1962, astronaut John Glenn was launched into space to orbit the earth. The world watched in wonder, imagining what could…
I called my friend Anne from the ER. “Lauren’s in the hospital,” I said. “She was just diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. And I’m wicked scared.”
Anne is my friend and neighbor. We met pushing baby carriages down the street. While I’m a loud (sometimes overbearing) extrovert, Anne is calm and reserved. I was thrilled she wanted to be friends with me.
My dear friend, Kitty Castellini passed away this week. She lived with type 1 diabetes for over 50 years. Kitty was a longtime diabetes advocate and president and founder of Diabetes Living Today.
Shortly after I received the incredible news that my husband and I would be honored at the 2016 JDRF One Night Gala in Boston this year, I got a message from fellow D-mom, Darlene, a talented seamstress. “I am making you an original gown for this event," she said. "And… it’s my gift to you.”
Which brings me to the olden days of diabetes. Back when we had to walk barefoot both ways uphill in snow to get our NPH and Regular. Back when pumps clicked and meters took a lot of blood and a good long time to count down.
For 19 years, my focus and goal as the mother of a child with diabetes had been survival. And in life with diabetes, that meant developing a new level of acceptance. It meant looking at the strange and challenging daily situations as normal.