Type One to Type None

This is my daughter Kaylin.  She is participating in JDRF One Walk™ to raise money that will help improve the lives of millions of people like her living with type 1 diabetes (T1D). T1D is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin—a hormone essential to turning food into energy. It strikes both children and adults and is unrelated to diet and lifestyle. With T1D there are no days off, and there is no cure – yet. Your support of JDRF can help change that.

By donating to JDRF One Walk today, you can help fund research that impacts the lives of the millions of children, adults, and families challenged by T1D every day. Together, we can create a world without T1D. Thank you.

Here's a link to her JDRF One Walk Donation Page: http://www2.jdrf.org/site/TR?fr_id=6087&pg=personal&px=10794709

I'm a T1D Mom

One of the biggest changes in our lives during my blogging hiatus is that Kaylicious was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes or T1D last year on her first day of kindergarten. We've had a lot of learning and adjusting to do, but I'm happy to say that despite having to check her blood sugar 4-10 times per day and inject insulin 5 times a day, my little girl is healthy and thriving!

T1D Moms have the Sweetest Kids

For those of you who are not familiar with Type 1 Diabetes, Riva Greenberg Diabetes advocate, author, speaker and coach gives a very accurate description of day to day life with T1D here: Type 1 Diabetes Finally Explained.

August 26, 2013 -- Kaylicious's 1st Day of Kindergarten, 1st Ambulance Ride & The Day We Found Out She Has T1D

Becoming a T1D mom, was and is one of the hardest things I have ever experienced. No mom ever wants to see her child suffer.  Knowing that there is no cure for your child's chronic, life-threatening disease can be really overwhelming at times, explaining that and helping your five year old understand and cope with her diagnosis is even harder.  To her credit, Kaylicious has been an amazing trooper through all the poking, prodding and diet changes.

Since Kaylicious's T1D Diagnosis, I have actually worked through the five stages of grief:

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

I didn't realize this was happening until I hit the Bargaining Stage, where I "what-iffed" myself crazy for a month or so trying to figure out what could have been done differently to avoid having my child get Type 1 Diabetes.  

We've made a few discoveries along the way that have made treating T1D a little more manageable and helped me get to Stage 5 . . . Acceptance.  I'll be sharing some of the T1D tools that have been the most helpful for us in an upcoming post.

Until then, I will leave you with one thought that both gives me hope and makes me grateful. Insulin was discovered less than 100 years ago.  Prior to that, a diagnosis of  Juvenile Diabetes was essentially a death sentence.  Today, Type One Diabetics have a life expectancy similar to the general population. T1D can be difficult to manage, but understanding of the disease, treatment methods and technology have come a long way in a short time and are improving everyday.