There are a lot of fund raising walks, runs and bike rides these days. Most of them are for great causes. But the one that is most meaningful around our house is the annual Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk to Cure Diabetes Jan. 24 at the Mall of America.
My wife Ann has suffered from Type I or insulin-dependent diabetes since the mid -1980s. She was diagnosed as a grad student in her late 20s. Many people are diagnosed when they are kids or teenagers. She has suffered many complications over the years despite her great efforts to control her blood sugar, eat right and exercise. She has poor eyesight, lack of feeling in her legs, heart issues and more. A few years back her kidneys failed and she was on dialysis for more than a year. In 2001, a miracle happened. One of her sisters donated a kidney and a few weeks later Ann received a new pancreas from an anonymous donor who had died. She still suffers from many of the complications from earlier and has to take two dozen pills every day, but her life has stabilized greatly. In fact, she no longer needs to take daily insulin shots and check her blood sugar constantly.
While we are eternally grateful for Ann's turnaround, millions of others, including young kids, still suffer from diabetes and face serious long-term complications. As many as three million Americans may have Type 1 diabetes and more than 20 million others have Type II (usually referred to as adult-onset and not necessarily requiring insulin injections). It's estimated that diabetes accounted for $174 billion in health care costs in the U.S. in 2007 and is a major contributor to kidney failure, heart attacks, nerve damage, strokes and blindness.
But doctors and researchers at the University of Minnesota and around the country are making great strides in finding ways to transplant the islet cells of the pancreas, where insulin is produced, and in determining how stem cells may be used to find a cure for diabetes. There are many exciting projects taking place.
In our house the walk is very personal. My daughter Sadie is organizing the other 13-year-olds on her traveling basketball team to walk and support the cause. And Sadie is donating a significant portion of her Bat Mitzvah gift money. My 10-year-old daughter Evie is bringing some of her friends. My daughters instinctively know that the walk isn't just about raising money for an important cause. It is also about hope. Hope for the victims of diabetes and their families and hope that future generations of children and young adults may not have to experience what Ann has gone through.
For more information about diabetes, go to www.jdrf.org.