Team Emma Walk to Cure Diabetes

As you may all know by now at 20 months Emma was diagnosed with Type 1 Juvenile diabetes. From that day on our life has changed. There is no known cause for this disease. Emma’s pancreas does not produce the insulin needed to break down the glucose in her food to convert it to energy to sustain her life. Now our mission is to treat this disease by monitoring her glucose levels in her blood, counting her carbohydrate intake and manually balancing it with insulin. This treatment will keep blood sugar levels normal to avoid complications.

We take for granted how our working pancreas so amazingly regulates the flow of insulin despite how much food we stuff in our mouths. Emma's doesn't do that. Hers is busted. We've had to be Emma's surrogate pancreas for the last two years. 24 hours a day, every day. Diabetes never takes a break. That means pricking her little fingers as often 10 times a day to test her blood sugar and adhering to a regimen of diet, exercise, and insulin. She cannot always eat when she feels hungry and she must eat at times when she's not. Trying to avoid dangerously high and low blood sugars is an hourly battle. A battle we unfortunately often lose.

As Emma is now a bit older she speaks of how her diabetes impacts her life. Some things we often here are “my legs are shaky” from being low, “how many carbs in this”, “I feel icky”, “ I don’t want my insulin, it’s going to hurt”, “my head hurts”, and frequently in play her dolls and teddy bears get their insulin so the can “have energy”. It breaks are hearts every day.

A cure is crucial, as we do not want to see our child only know living with this disease and the daily struggles that come with managing such an unpredictable disease. Also, the possibility of complications and the fear associated.

On June 8th 2008 at Assiniboine Park we will be walking for a cure on behalf of TEAM EMMA. It is crucial that Team Emma does our part. I am asking each of you to be a part of our team and help us reach our goal of $3,000.00. By going to this link you can help our team reach our goal.

“At first I wanted to be Emma’s hero but now it is clear that she is mine.”

Sincerely,Chris, Denise, Anna, and Emma