Janet Durbin is walking with Whimsical Publications Plodders on March 27, 2010 in Cocoa Beach/Brevard County, FL.
one Someone once asked me why I'm so into helping JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). I ask in return if they have ever seen what people, especially young people, have to do every day just to survive. The sacrifices they have to endure, the multiple fingersticks, the illnesses, the reduced lifespan, the many, many, many doctor visits.
I tell them of the times I watched children go through the motions of pulling out their meter, sticking their finger, then either receiving a shot of insulin or, in the case of one teenager, giving themself a bolus of insulin through an insulin pump.
At many a team captain luncheon for the Walk to Cure Diabetes, I see the kids running around having a ball. Before eating the meal provided, though, they go through the motions. In some cases, the dessert provided at the end is too tempting and the parents give in. Some of the kids became diabetic at around 7-8 years of age so they remember how it was before the disease robbed them of their childhood.
Being a cardiac nurse in a hospital for the past 18 years, I don't see the kids in the doctor's office, or even the hospital. By the time I see them, the damage is already done. It's disturbing to see a person in their 20's or 30's with heart disease, with kidney disease, with neuropathy, with damage to their eyesight. It's disheartening to know they had no choice in the matter. Even if they took the greatest of care, some will have complications regardless.
It's because of these things that I started helping the JDRF people. I want to see a cure for Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes. I want to see that cure in my lifetime. No, I don't have diabetes. I'm a nurse who won't mind having one less young person to care for just because a genetic disorder changed their lives forever.
Hopefully, forever won't be "forever" because of research, and JDRF. Won't you help by donating? Together, we can make the cure a reality.
P.S. By helping WP reach the goal of $1000.00, you get a really colorful sneaker with your name on it posted on the website, unless you wish to remain anonymous. And you get the joy of realizing you've made a difference in a child's life, a life one day hopefully free of needles.
Thank you!
Janet Durbin
Whimsical Publications, LLC
http://www.whimsicalpublications.com
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