The Sloths are Stepping Out

As most of you know, my daughter, Emily, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in June of this year. She was exhibiting some classic symptoms (which I'll list below) and would not register a blood sugar on the home meter that I had. I took her to the ER -her blood sugar reading was 866.  (For reference, her target range is 70-120.) She spent three days in the hospital getting her sugars under control, but came out like a champ. I won't say it wasn't stressful or upsetting, but we had the "benefit" of experience. Her dad was diagnosed type 1 at age 19 - a few months after we were married - and while she doesn't live with him full time, she has grown up around injections and finger pokes her whole life. But she took it all in - starting with poking her own finger for blood sugars the first day and giving herself her own injections by day two. She's really done remarkably well.

However, just because she's doing so well, doesn't mean that we're not going to fight back. One of the ways we're doing that is by supporting the American Diabetes Association in their quest to explore better treatment options and to hopefully, someday, find a cure.

Emily will be taking part in the Step Out: Walk to Stop Diabetes on October 7th in Champaign. She set her goal at $200 - and because we are lucky to have such wonderful friends and family, she's long since surpassed that goal (at $330 at the time of this writing.) But we'd love to keep going.  Any donation is acceptable $1 or $100 - it all helps. And if you can't donate at this time, would you mind showing your support by wearing red on October 7th? You can send me your red shirt pictures at crystal3x2001@gmail.com (or you can text them to me if you have my number ;-) ) and I'll include them in my blog post about the walk!

Stop by Emily's Team Page and show your support!  Thank you! And thank you to all who have supported her so far! It really does mean a lot to all of us.

From the ADA:

Diabetes often goes undiagnosed because many of its symptoms seem so harmless.

Recent studies indicate that the early detection of diabetes symptoms and treatment can decrease the chance of developing the complications of diabetes.

Type 1 Diabetes

• Frequent urination
• Unusual thirst
• Extreme hunger
• Unusual weight loss
• Extreme fatigue and Irritability

Type 2 Diabetes

• Any of the type 1 symptoms
• Frequent infections
• Blurred vision
• Cuts/bruises that are slow to heal
• Tingling/numbness in the hands/feet
• Recurring skin, gum, or bladder infections

If you have one or more of these diabetes symptoms, see your doctor right away.