I just received the most amazing news today! Michael has been chosen to be a delegate for JDRF's Children's Congress. This means that in June of this year Michael and I will go before congress in Washington D.C. and share our story with them and ask for help in funding research for a cure. This is a huge privilege and I'm still in shock that Michael was chosen. Back in September JDRF promoted children's Congress on their website and I decided to enter a letter to see if Michael could be one of the 150 children in the nation to be chosen to meet with congress on Capitol Hill. I poured my heart into the letter, hoping for the chance to make a difference and received a letter in the mail today confirming that we will be heading to Washington D.C. this June. Words can't describe the emotions I have felt today. As I opened the letter I was expecting to see "sorry, you have not been chosen, try again in two years", instead it was just the opposite. I instantly broke down in tears and could not stop crying. I am so excited for Michael to have this opportunity, I know he is young, but know he will make a difference.
I want to share with you the first two paragraphs of the letter we received today.
Dear Michael:
Thank you for your application to the Juvenile diabetes Research Foundation's Children's Congress. I am pleased to let you know that you been selected as a delegate for the 2009 JDRF Children's Congress to be held June 21-24 in Washington, D.C.!
Out of nearly 1,500 applications that were received, your powerful and well-written application led to you being chosen as one of only 150 delegates. As a 2009 Children's Congress delegate, you will be representing not only all of the children with diabetes in your home state, but all of the children with diabetes in our nation, letting the leaders of our country know why their support is so critical in finding a cure for diabetes. In Washington, you will have the opportunity to meet with lawmakers and help them put a face on diabetes and the need for a cure.
I had the hardest time getting through those two paragraphs, it's such an honor to be chosen and something that Michael can be proud of and remember all his life. I've attached the letter that was sent in as part of our application. For those of you that know us well and have participated in walks, you are probably very familiar with what you're about to read. I hope you can bare to hear some of the same things you have already heard. Diabetes is not something we want to deal with, but simply is something we have to deal with. Oddly enough the last two years have been an amazing journey for our family. We have grown closer together, care more for each other, and feel great about standing for something! Here's our letter.
I am the parent of a four-year-old child who lives with diabetes. Our son, Michael was diagnosed with diabetes 3 months after his third birthday.Our journey of dealing with this awful disease began on February 26, 2007. My husband and I were on a business trip in Mexico and our three children were home in California with their Grandmother. My husband and I had spent the day taking in the beauty of the Mayan Ruins and enjoying the beauty that surrounded us. When we returned to our hotel, our nice, relaxing day, quickly turned into every parent’s worst nightmare. We received a phone call from my in-laws telling us that Michael had become ill and had been rushed to the hospital. Upon arrival at the hospital, Michael was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes and was admitted into the intensive care unit. When my husband and I were finally able to speak to a doctor we were told that Michael was extremely dehydrated and that his body was beginning to shut down. The doctor went on to tell us that Michael was in critical condition and that we should get home as soon as possible because he could not promise us that Michael would make it. We faced many challenges trying to get a flight home and it ended up taking us a day and a half before we finally arrived at the hospital.
Once we arrived at the hospital, the reality of what our new lives would bring, caught us off guard. We sat in Michael’s hospital room and watched him scream and cry every time a nurse walked in the room because he knew she was going to prick his finger or give him an insulin injection. My husband and I, not knowing anything about juvenile diabetes, finally asked the nurse “how much longer will Michael need these shots?" I felt like I had taken a dagger to the heart, when the nurse replied, “He will need these the rest of his life”. I instantly felt the weight of the world on my shoulders. As a parent, you want nothing more than to make everything “o.k.” for your children. Not to hear that you are completely helpless, and that your child has been diagnosed with a disease that has no cure.
Our sweet Michael was finally released to go home after spending four days in the I.C.U. Now this is when a new way of life for our whole family began. Michael at age 3, needed to adapt to the fact that he would need his parents to prick his finger and give him multiple injections each day. He no longer could go to the cupboard and just eat anything he wanted. We now needed to count carbs for every thing he put in his mouth. Emotionally he was drained, he constantly threw fits, cried and screamed. This was a very difficult time for the whole family, not only were we living with the pain of Michael being diagnosed but also trying to make many adjustments to the way we lived. I remember spending many nights lying in bed and silently crying as to not let my husband know of the pain that I was feeling. I was super mom and needed to be strong for my family and didn’t want anyone to see how badly I hurt.
The last year and a half has been challenging, but we have all made adjustments and are just grateful to have Michael here with us. Michael is my hero and inspiration! He is a great example of how to be positive even when facing tough trials. He may appear to be a normal, healthy, little boy on the outside, but diabetes has definitely taken a toll on his health and emotions. He is without a doubt, a fighter!
Our family wants so badly for a cure to be found. We don’t want Michael to have to endure another day with diabetes. I recently calculated how many times Michael has had his finger pricked and received insulin injections. In the last 18 months since being diagnosed he has received over 2,700 insulin injections and has had his finger pricked over 3,300 times. He still has a full life ahead of him and I can’t imagine where these numbers will be if a cure is not found! How does one with diabetes live a long, healthy, life with all of the side effects diabetes can bring? Heart disease, kidney failure, blindness and even amputation are just a few things our young children can look forward to if their diabetes is not well maintained. This is not the future I want my four year old to look forward to. I want a cure for this disease and I want to see it while Michael is still young! I want him to live a long, happy life, with a beautiful wife and children and even grandchildren one day. I can’t help but worry that these dreams for my child may be cut short due to his diabetes.
We need the support of the U.S. Congress to help our children live their lives to the fullest, by supporting diabetes research. This disease is not something that can be ignored. Millions of Americans live with diabetes every day and it is not going away.We need all the help we can get to find a cure!
I have decided that my new mission in life is to do everything I can to spread the word about diabetes. I don’t think many people understand what children with diabetes endure on a daily basis. I think it’s a disease that is very misunderstood and not taken as being all that serious. Once the initial shock of what our family was going through wore off, I decided it was time to share our story and inform others of this disease. We have had a full-page article published in our local newspaper informing people of what diabetes is and what it is like to live with it. Our family also participated in the walk to cure diabetes last year and formed a team of fifty plus members to walk with us and raised over $5,000. We will be walking for our second time this coming Sunday in Sacramento and have a team of over 100 people walking with us and have raised over $5,000 at this point. My young children also have stepped forward and shared with their classmates and teammates the importance of finding a cure for diabetes. Every chance I get; I talk to someone about what diabetes is and how important it is that we find a cure. I will continue to do this until my time comes to leave this earth! I love my child and will do absolutely anything for him. If I could have one wish granted, it wouldn’t be to drive around in a fancy car, to live in a big beautiful mansion on the hill or to be able to travel around the world….it simply would be, to find a cure for diabetes!
