Let's Turn November BLUE!

As October comes to an end, my thoughts are already looking forward to November.  


November is Diabetes Awareness Month.  November also marks 19 months since Lovebug's diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes.  


We want YOU!! Our friends and family to join me and the Diabetes community in bringing awareness to this disease.  The disease that effects more the 15,000 children each year. That means 40 children are diagnosed EVERY DAY.

Despite that statistic you can still help. We can make a difference by raising money for research, educating, and bringing awareness to Type 1 Diabetes.  By doing this we can help make a better life for those kids (and adults) living with Type 1 Diabetes.  

In celebration of World Diabetes Day my hubby and I will be wearing our own World Diabetes Day t-shirt on November 14th.  


We want YOU to help us celebrate!!!  You can show your support by purchasing your own World Diabetes Day t-shirt for just $10!  For every t-shirt sold 40% of the monies will go to JDRF to help with education and research for a cure.  Then on November 14th, wear your t-shirt in support of Lovebug and all the other kids (and adults) that suffer from Type 1 Diabetes.  

I need your order SOON though!!  We only have until November 5th to get our order in!  Please email me at audreys.brand.new.day@gmail.com with  the number of t-shirts you want and your sizes. I will be picking the t-shirts up on November 10th and delivering them on the 11th and 12th. 


Then, after you purchase your shirt we want pictures of you wearing them around town!  We want to see what you did to celebrate World Diabetes Day.  Then sometime in November, I will post all of them. I can't wait to see how all of you celebrate!  


To learn more about World Diabetes Day please go to www.worlddiabetesday.org

  

Walk Day!

Wow, I was just realizing today I started this post a while ago and never finished it!
  
It took me a while to figure out our grand total because we had so much money come in at last minute, I lost track!! 


But I have it now..


Are you ready for it???  


Our GRAND TOTAL from the walk is.....




$2,264 dollars!!!  That is almost 3x's the amount we raised last year!!!  


And we exceed our team goal!!!


I am truly blessed to have SO many people out there raising money and awareness for Type 1 Diabetes. This past year has been a wonderful experience.  Tim and I have truly felt your love and support. It is wonderful to see how many people will come out and show support for our Lovebug!  Even when it looked like it was going to rain the whole walk, you were all texting and calling me, letting me know you would be there rain or shine. 


Lovebug is why we do this. Why we raise the money and bug people to walk with us.  Why I have stepped out of my comfort zone to talk to whoever will listen about Type 1.  


It's a fight that I will win and will not back down from because  Lovebug and all the other children out there are worth it. They need a CURE.  


We are already starting to get some fundraisers started for next year.  We can't stop raising money. We can't stop raising awareness and educating people about the seriousness of this "invisible disease".  


Because Diabetes never stops, neither can we.  

Thank You for helping make our walk a success this year.

Enjoy some snapshots from the day! 

Dr Faustman

I recently learned more about Dr. Faustman when I was doing some research on stem cell research.  I believe what Dr. Faustman is doing is very promising.  She has been able to cure Type 1 Diabetes in mice by killing off the white blood cells that kill islets in the pancreas.  Her research does not use embryonic stem cells for research.  It is sad that the drug companies stand in her way, since they stand to loose a lot if  Dr. Faustman can do this in humans.  There are FDA approved clinical trials going on right now, but she needs funding. Wouldn't it be amazing if a cure ends up being this simple.

Please take a few minutes to watch this video and check out Dr. Faustman's website www.faustmanlab.org.

The Story of Rocco Kuehl

This is why we Walk for a Cure and educate people on the seriousness of Type 1 Diabetes. 

Two Days!!

We have just 2 days Until our Walk Day!!!  


I am very excited and so humbled.  


So many of you have touched our lives in a special way this year and there are no words that can express our gratitude.


I can't hardly believe we are only $155 dollars away from our team goal!!!!  


After I was just telling Tim last week that I didn't think we would reach our goal this year....and yet here we are!


We have been incredibly blessed!  


Thank You!  Thank You!  Thank You!!

Only a Few Days!!!

We're only a few days from Walk Day!


As of Today we have raised $1550 as a team!!!


WAY TO GO!!!  


YOU GUYS ROCK!!!


We are not very far from our Team goal of $2000. 
Keep getting those donations right up until Walk Day!


T-Shirts are done and I will be picking them up today or tomorrow.  


Be looking for an email from me with all the Walk Day Details!  


Can't wait to see you all on Saturday!  

One Week to Go!

We are now in the last 7 days of fundraising for the 2010 Walk to Cure Diabetes!


I am happy to say that we are half way to our team goal at $1005!  
WAY TO GO TEAM!!!!


We WILL reach our goal!
You are doing AWESOME and I know we will reach our goal by the end of next week!  


 Thank you so much for all the work you are doing to raise money and bring awareness to Type 1 diabetes!

Two Weeks and Counting!

WOO HOO!!!

I'm EXCITED to announce that to date we have raised $590 for JDRF!!


That is VERY exciting, but we are still short for our team goal. I know that we can do it!

You still have up to the day of the walk to get donations so make calls, email/snail mail letters, sell sneakers, whatever you need to do (short of robbing a bank of course!) to met your personal goal and help us reach our team goal. Also, don t forget to recruit additional walkers for our team.  Walk day is going to be great so don t let your family, friends, or neighbors miss out!

I am putting our T-Shirt order in tomorrow so please let me know by tomorrow if you
plan on walking with us.Your support means so much to us!  I can't wait to see the look on
Lovebug's face when she see's all of you there for her!!

If you have any questions please contact me.
Thank you for all your hard work and support!

One Month!

There is just ONE MONTH until our walk!  I am getting so excited!

Let me stop and  tell you first, that this journey I have been on the past couple months has been INCREDIBLE.  So many people have touched my heart and touched it deeply.  Those of you that I have never met that are walking with us or have donated, thank you and I can not wait to meet you and give you a hug. (if you will let me :)  Those that have helped me out, encouraged me or just said you are thinking of me, thank you.  Those of you who are raising money for my little girl, there just not words enough to express how I feel. 

I have been so blessed by the out pouring of love and concern for my little girl.  It is an amazing journey that I am so blessed to sharing with all of you. 

With that said, with the walk just a month away and t-shirt orders coming soon, I will remind you that we really need to you register for the walk, even if you MIGHT come. Sign up anyway!! (it's easy and only takes a couple minutes, just click on the link to the right of the page) I can not wait to see the look on my little Lovebug's face when she realizes how many people are there for HER  and I know YOU will want to be there to see it too!

WALK UPDATE!!

WOW I can't  believe the Walk is just two months away!!  I am getting really excited!

Things are coming along!  We have our team logo and t-shirt logo (thanks to Perilight Graphics!)and I am currently looking for a screen printer to donate their services to print our t -shirts. I have some great leads and am making lots of phone calls. I am also looking for a donor or corporate sponsors who would be willing to donate $100 dollars to cover the cost of the t-shirts.  The corporate sponsors will get their business advertised on the back of our t-shirts.  If anyone knows of any businesses that might be interested, please let me know and I will get in contact with them.

We also have our FIRST donation!!!  In the amount of $100 dollars!  I am super exited to be on our way to reaching our goal of raising $2000!  I KNOW we can do it!

Currently we have 25 walkers signed up to walk with us!! We are halfway to my goal of getting 50 walkers this year! If you haven't already signed up, we would LOVE to have you join us. The walk is just 2 miles long and you can choose to raise money yourself or just make a donation (of any amount) to our team and then come walk with us.  It was a great time last year!  If you have any questions please feel free to email me at audreys.brand.new.day@gmail.com

If you are walking and raising money yourself, for the team, please be sure to share Our Fundraising Video and set up your own fundraising page!  They are powerful fundraising tools.

That's all for now, Folks!  Keep raising awareness and money! and Remember that a CURE depends on EVERYONE!

Now that's Fancy!

 NOW SHOWING!!!

OUR NEW BLOG LOOK!!

Now, this is what I call FANCY!! 
Aren't you just loving our new blog look! 


Thanks to the wonderful creativity of Kelly over at Perilight Graphics we have a new "logo" and look for our blog.  You should check her out! She does really great work!  

A great update on the Artificial Pancreas Project!
 This article is from the blog Diabetes Mine and wasn't written by me. 

a d v e r t i s e m e n t

Artificial Pancreas Gets Research Boost; “Home Study” is Next Step

There were a number of encouraging news announcements this week here in Florida about progress on the JDRF’s Artificial Pancreas Project.  The most prominent of those is today’s unveiling of the results of the STAR 3 Trial (Sensor-Augmented Pump Therapy for A1C Reduction) that showed adults, teens and children achieving a 4x reduction in A1C levels using this tech-heavy therapy versus patients on injections.
The STAR study, sponsored by Medtronic, was conducted at 30 clinics in the US and Canada. A total of 485 patients participated, ranging from age 7 to 70 (329 adult and 156 children).  The study group used a pump and Medtronic CGM, while the control group used daily injections. After a full year of observation, researchers found that more than 81% of those using the “sensor-augmented pump therapy” were able to reduce their A1C levels by an average of a full percent point.

Also, of the kids and teens in the study, nearly 44% of those using the pump/CGM regularly achieved their daily glucose targets, versus only 20% of those using shots.
Personally, I would argue that in the aggregate, people get better results on a pump than on shots anyway — but adding the CGM sensor was a bit like outfitting one set of spies with old-school binoculars and another with a full Agent 007 spy gear set. Who do you think will perform better?
Nevertheless, the STAR 3 study is important because it’s the first solid data collected to confirm that a “pre-closed-loop” system (pump + CGM) provides superior glucose control, especially for kids and adolescents, “an age group that is particularly challenging to treat due to the social and psychological changes… of growth and maturation.”
Meanwhile, another study from the University of Cambridge presented at the ADA this weekend showed that a complete artificial pancreas system (sensor and pump + algorithms to automate dosing) can improve overnight glucose control without increasing risk of hypoglycemia “across a range of real-life situations.” This study was conducted in a clinic setting, where patients were hooked up to an array of technology mimicking what a healthy pancreas does. In one case, they had patients eat a large meal and drink a glass of wine — and guess what?  The system got the dosing right!
A Joslin researcher named Marilyn Ritholz presented a third study that made me smile. She’s a psychologist focusing on the “human experience” part of diabetes management. She conducted in-depth interviews with 20 patients using CGM systems to understand their feelings and concerns. Guess what she learned?
* People had a variety of negative responses to the annoyance of alarms, sensor insertion, and sensor time lag
* People’s coping skills varied: those with a problem-solving approach did better than those with an emotional approach, as the latter got frustrated and gave up
*  People’s learning approach varied quite a bit too. The “problem-solvers” were much more likely to download their data and attempt to analyze it
* The level of success had a lot to do with the level of support patients got from their spouse or significant other – the less support, the more the patient struggled
* Body image concerns – how self-conscious was the patient about wearing CGM or other diabetes gear on their body?  It made some people feel different, “even robotic”
The researcher concludes: “success or failure of this system is as dependent on the human experience as it is on the technology.”
Hmmm, I LOVE that academics are looking at these issues. But I could have told you all that! Re-read the list above. Is this not a basic checklist of the factors that determine how well someone will do coping with diabetes at pretty much any level?
Anyhow, all these announcements have served to raise awareness of the Artificial Pancreas project and hopefully show the world what a high priority it is for JDRF (and ADA) to develop a system that will help patients live better asap.
“There’s a big clinical need for this in insulin-dependent people,” says JDRF’s AP project director Aaron Kowalski.  “The average Type 1 spends about 90 minutes a day hypoglycemic. They also spend a significant amount of time above target. Our goal is to help ’shave off’ time there, and help people spend more time within healthy target ranges.”
The next step, he says, is to conduct “home studies” that will get the AP system out of the lab. JDRF is already organizing panel to help the FDA decide what’s required for these home studies.
What this will likely look like is an overnight study in which patients will be hooked up to a home-based AP system while they sleep. This is the time that about 50% of adults and 75% of kids have the most hypos, Kowalski says.  The home system will consist of 4 components: the pump, CGM (Abbott Navigator – which just introduced an upgraded system in Europe, btw, with just a one-hour warm-up time versus 10 hours previously!), a remote control, and a ‘bedside box’ that contains algorithm to automate insulin delivery, and also shut-off if the patient goes low.  For the initial study, the system will be used overnight only.
“The possible danger of a closed-loop system is of course over-delivery,” Kowalski says. This study will be designed to show that automatic shut-off provides a sufficient safety mechanism to avoid that. “This is the easiest path forward,” he said.
I don’t know about easy. None of this is easy. But I for one am excited to see so many smart people pushing so hard for the advancement of these integrated BG control systems.


For some great background info: see Manny Hernandez’s video interview with key players in the Artificial Pancreas project.

Nick Jonas - Nation Chair for The Walk to Cure Diabetes

Please watch this video and the inspiring stories on it.  This is just another reason we are Walking for a Cure!  Click on the link to the right to register to walk with us today!  Her Life depends on insulin and and a cure depends on everyone.

Our 2010 Fundraising Video!

Type 1 vs Type 2

Please check out this article on the difference between Type 1 and Type 2. This is something that frustrates me almost everyday and I want to educate everyone on the DIFFERENCES between the two. There is a reason the article is article has the word "War" in it.

The Type 1 Versus Type 2 Diabetes War

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Caused by a Sweet Tooth?

This article just goes to show how ignorant people are about Diabetes.

Almost half of people wrongly believe that diabetes can be triggered by a sweet tooth

Rockin

Check out this cool article about musicians raising money for Diabetes research. 

Rock For Diabetes

Our Journey with CGM!

We are very excited to announce that Audrey will be doing a week long trial with a CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor) starting next Wednesday!  Here is some information on the CGM Audrey will be using. The specific system is the DexCom Seven Plus.  Needless to say, we are VERY excited.

CLICK HERE to learn more about CGM.

News From JDRF

JDRF Industry Partner Osiris Receives FDA Orphan Drug Designation for its Diabetes Treatment

A stem cell treatment for people newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes has been granted "Orphan Drug" status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), speeding the path to market for this promising therapy.

Developed by Osiris Therapeutics, the drug Prochymal is intended to preserve insulin-producing cells in newly diagnosed patients.  At least 30,000 children and adults are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes every year, and could potentially benefit from such a treatment; an estimated 3 million Americans are living with type 1 diabetes. 
The orphan drug designation by the FDA eliminates FDA filing and registration fees and provides tax incentives for as much as 50 percent of the clinical development costs of Prochymal.  The Orphan Drug Act was instituted to promote the development of treatments for undeserved patient populations. 
Osiris' Prochymal is a formulation of "mesenchymal" stem cells - cells derived from adult bone marrow.  It is a novel approach to reversing or halting the autoimmune attack that causes type 1 diabetes.  As part of its Industry Discovery and Development Program, JDRF partnered with the Maryland-based business to support the current Phase II clinical trial, which is evaluating safety and efficacy of Prochymal in people who have been recently diagnosed with diabetes. 
Prochymal is also being evaluated as a treatment for other diseases including graft versus host disease (GvHD), Crohn's Disease, acute myocardial infarction, and pulmonary disease.  Osiris already has received Orphan Drug designation for the drug to treat GvHD.

The announcement by Osiris has several key implications:

• First, it can speed the development of the drug to help prevent any further destruction of beta cells caused by type 1 diabetes.
  
• It is a promising future into further development of treatments that would provide another way to preserve insulin-producing cell function for the newly diagnosed
  
• Because of the drug's extensive safety testing and evaluation for its use with other diseases,  the timetable for testing and approval for its use by people with diabetes could potentially be much shorter, and its development significantly less expensive. 

About JDRF
JDRF is a leader in setting the agenda for diabetes research worldwide, and is the largest charitable funder and advocate of type 1 research. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is a disease which strikes children and adults suddenly and requires multiple injections of insulin daily or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump. Insulin, however, is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it prevent its eventual and devastating complications which may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation.
Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1.4 billion to diabetes research, including more than $100 million last year.
For more information, please visit http://www.jdrf.org/

It's a Brand New Day!

WOO HOO!!  My  first post!

Today I am "launching" my JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes Team Blog!  I am very excited!  I plan to use the blog to keep team walkers, sponsors, family, and friends updated on what I'm doing with the team and how we are coming along with our fundraising.  It will also be a informational site on everything Diabetes. I am going to load it with a lot of information and links.  I will also link this blog with my personal blog Sweet To The Soul and our Facebook Group for easy access.


Here is what I am currently working on.

SAVE THE DATE!  Our Walk to Cure Diabetes 2010 is September 18th.  I will be posting an event to invite people join or team, donate or sponsor. There is a link on the side bar to our Fundraising page. Just click on it and you can go there to sign up for the walk, donate, or both.   

TEAM T-SHIRTS   A friend gave me an awesome idea to have a design contest at our  school then I get to pick a design and the winner will get a gift card.  I'm very excited about it!  I will hopefully be  talking to the Principle in the next week to see if we can get things rolling.  My hope is to get the t-shirts completely free of cost.  This will require either getting someone to donate their services, getting corporate sponsors or a combination of both.  So, if anyone has any local connections out there, PLEASE let me know!  

 I want to Thank You for checking out the new blog.  Please feel free to contact me at anytime. There is a link on the sidebar. 

Heather