A Letter from My Son!

Kaci was chosen to be on a Invitation for Juvenile Diabetes Foundation for a Fundraiser!

Subject: Favor

I normally don't send out blanket messages like this, but I made a promise to my daughter and so hopefully no one gets upset about it and I just ask that everyone spend a few minutes to read this message as it would mean a lot to my daughter and myself. I will explain the reason for sending this at the end.

A year ago on July 28th our lives were changed forever. We took our daughter Kaci who was 7 at the time to her doctor as we were concerned about some items and her doctor sent us immediately to Dell Children's Hospital. Kaci spent several days in the hospital and was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. There are a lot of misconceptions about diabetes as many folks as get Type 2 diabetes at an older age when they may not be in the best of shape. Type 2 can be prevented and often kept under control with a good diet. Type 1 or more commonly know as Juvenile diabetes is an hereditary disease and cannot be prevented. A lot of people also think that diabetes just means not eating candy or sugar and that is absolutely not the case. Any Carbs taken into the body convert to sugar and so any carbs have to be monitored and given insulin for - this is fruits, breads, almost anything.

This is a lot for most adults to deal with, but for a 7 year old it is amazingly tough. Kaci has to take a minimum of four shots a day often more and has to poke her finger and draw blood on average of 7 times a day. Anyone that has kids and knows how hard it is to see your kids get shots it is amazing to think that Kaci has taken over 1500 shots in the last year and she has poked her finger over 3000 times. We have been to the emergency room when we can’t get her bloodsugar up. One day when she was sick we poked her fingers over 25 times to keep checking her bloodsugar. I can’t tell you how many times when her numbers are off that we have to wake her up at 2:00am to check her sugar.

I know there are guys out there that work with your hands and have callouses on them, but a pretty little girl should not have to have callouses all over her fingers from poking them everyday. By the time Kaci graduates highschool she will have take over 20,000 shots and poked her fingers over 30,000. Everywhere we have gone for the last year you have to bring her insulin, needles, test strips, blood sugar meter, and emergency sugar no matter where you go. And always taking her glycogen emergency needle in case she was to have a seizure. I hate that pen - I can’t tell you how many times in this year I have read the instructions so I will be prepared and know what to do if something was to happen. Just the thought of having to use it on my little girl makes me hate it as it always on the back of my mind.

With all those shots and pokes the actual worst part is watching an 8 year old go to beach and when all the other kids are getting ice cream pass as she knows if she has it she has to have an extra shot and as a kid you just don’t want to get more shots. To go to birthday parties and watch all other kids have cake and icecream and again will often pass as she is tired of the shots. It isn’t just sweets if she wants a banana, an orange, or strawberry after playing outside as a snack she has to take a shot. As a parent watching your child have to give up the little things of being a kid breaks your heart. To think she will have this to deal with the rest of her life unless we find a cure. She is only 8 now, but she is a shy girl already I think about will it be hard for her on her first date when she gets older to have to check her bloodsugar on her date to take a shot. I want her to be able to be a kid to grow up and not constantly think about this big weight that is always on her shoulders. I want her to go to a movie and be able to eat popcorn without having to measure it out, to go to a sleepover without worrying if the mom there can giver her a shot or else she can’t go. After a baseball game to be able to have an icecream cone with everyone else.

Diabetes leads to problems with your feet, often times blindness and just general health problems with shorter life expectancies. This disease gets the best of a lot of people, but Kaci has chosen not to just live with it. At 8 years old she has chosen to fight for a cure. I am so proud of my daughter - she takes on her own any money she gets from allowance, from her grandparents, anything she gets she puts half in a bank to raise money for JDRF. Instead of buying toys or dolls or any other things 8 year olds waste money on. She has donated books and toys to Dell Children’s Hospital because they took good care of her. She volunteers to stuff folders to give to schools that have fundraisers for Juvenile diabetes. She went on weekends to sit around and take pictures to be on invitations for diabetes fundraisers.

She has chosen to fight and thus my promise. I promised my daughter that as long as she fought this terrible disease I would always fight with her. I hate asking people for money, but if my daughter can raise money I can try as well. If you have $5, $10, $20 or anything you can spare please make a donation to my daughter’s Race for the Cure walk team. you can mail her a check made out to JDRF or you can go the tabs on my facebook page and click on donations and make a payment on my meter with a credit card.

My daughter is fighting for a cure and my promise is to always fight along beside her...

Needless to say when Clint sent this to me on my Facebook I cried like a baby sitting in front of this computer.

When I found out Kaci was diagnosed a year ago today I went into a deep well of depression and was not sure if I could climb back out. For this I am ashamed because I was little help to my son and DL with the grief they were having to deal with. It was around this time that I started writing on my blog hoping to release some of that hurt and never dreamed that it would lead to such wonderful friendships.

It was double hard having Kaci diagnosed because of her age and that I had went through this with my oldest son Chad when he was thirteen and it devastated me then all those years ago and then to have it come back to my only granddaughter well I know I don't have to say anymore.

Chad thank God has taken care of himself and does well with controlling his diabetes. I know some of you have this and I think of you too wondering how you are doing and feeling.

I shared this letter from my son because I knew that you would want to know about what kind of man I have for a son and what a brave young lady I have for a granddaughter. God has Blessed me over and over. So once again I am asking for prayers for a Cure of this disease Diabetes before another child is diagnosed with it.

Needless to say I am so very proud of both Kaci and her Dad.

Love to all
Maggie

Kaci's site for her fundraiser!

Sorry Clint could not ever get yours to copy and paste for me...lol