I believe that everyone has an event or day that ends up altering the course of their lives in some way. For our family, it was February 7, 2012, when our daughter, Addison, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the tender age of 5 years old.
After going to our pediatrician for what we thought was a bladder infection, we were sent to the Barbara Davis Center for the next few days, learning how to keep our daughter alive and adjust to what was going to become our “new normal.” Addison is now 17 years old and even though we all have become accustomed to the constant and often painful management of T1D, Addison is exhausted from the 24/7 grind from which she has no days off.
Soon after Addison’s diagnosis, we were given the bag of hope from JDRF, delivered by some friends from church who also had a child with type 1. A few months later, Jason and I knew we had to do something, so we jumped right in and got involved! We joined the 2012 JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes and formed an “Addison’s Super Friends” team. From 2012-2015, Addison’s Super Friends team raised almost $50,000. The overwhelming love and support that we felt at the Walks gave us such hope, and this is when JDRF became our community. That same year, a fellow T1D Mom and I decided to start and co-lead a local JDRF “Type 1 Talk” group. This family network and support group brought families together monthly, where children could play, and parents could support one another. This group was a huge success and a true blessing to our family, as we didn’t feel alone in the diabetes journey with Addison. In addition, I served as a JDRF Family Council Member for two years where I was assigned 10-15 families to connect and share JDRF’s mission. Around this same time, Jason and I started to attend the JDRF Gala annually and saw what an impact this event made. In 2018 we served as Fund A Cure Chairs and were able to share our story and personally raise donations.
We couldn’t be prouder to be involved with such a wonderful organization. The T1D research progress that gives me the most hope is the advancements in cell therapies. I was so excited to learn that Vertex announced earlier this year they received FDA clearance for clinical trials in their therapy that will not require immunosuppression. I feel like this type of therapy could not only be an answer to type 1 diabetes, but it would make advancements toward therapies for other autoimmune diseases.
Our family consists of Jason, Mindy, Addison, Brenden, and our golden retriever, Breck. As a family, we have never let type 1 stop us from doing what we love to do. We love sports and love nothing more than watching our children play. Addison was a multi-sport athlete since diagnosis, but now focuses her passion on soccer. She currently plays on her high school team and a club ECNL soccer travel team and hopes to play in college. Our son, Brenden plays basketball for his high school and club team. If you can’t find us on a soccer field or basketball court, we are either skiing, cheering on other teams, or traveling. We love to travel! We have been all over the world and don’t plan to stop. Even though T1D is life-altering, we don’t let it stop us from what we love.
The women who are part of this type 1 diabetes community are all resilient. The disease is complicated, unpredictable, and often misunderstood. Women become emotionally strong but seek a T1D community like JDRF. This creates power in numbers and women who have the willingness to go after what they want. JDRF consists of a community of wonderful women employees, females with type 1 diabetes, mothers, caregivers, and many female doctors and researchers who work closely with its mission. We are all in this together to turn Type 1 into Type None.
From the Bag of Hope to updates in cell therapy trials, JDRF gives families like ours hope and support. JDRF’s mission has become so close to our hearts because they want what we pray for. Their focus is on finding a cure, but until they do, they want to improve the lives of people with type 1 by driving advancements in technology and treatments. In the past 12 years, we have personally witnessed how much JDRF has been involved with funding every major breakthrough in diabetes research.
People who donate to JDRF can know that every dollar they donate goes directly towards T1D research and every dollar counts when it can make such an impact of improving and potentially curing millions of lives!