OUCH!

I have a pretty high tolerance for pain (that doesn’t mean I won’t complain incessantly when something hurts). I’ve been taking shots a long time (and they were WAY bigger when i was a kid), inserting pump sites and Dexcom sensors for oodles of years. Why then, is today the day that my left ring finger tip hurts so effing much from a finger stick? It’s almost comical in the realm of physical pain that typing is killing my damn finger and I keep wincing in pain… like a VERY angry splinter.

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Such a teeny red spot/ bruise. Sometimes it really is the little things that sting the most.

A bruised finger has me thinking about how ready I am for the next level of technology and ultimately, someday, I hope, a cure.  I think about how I speed packed this morning to get out of town for a few days.  Picking out what to wear today not based on weather or comfort, but what will keep my pump most accessible going through security at the airport and how I should have moisturized my legs as I may have to drop my pants to show of my thigh Dexcom site but at least I’m wearing my lucky heart undies.

I write this post to bring up a point near and dear to my heart (oh and to complain a bit)… This week has been National Volunteer Week (tomorrow is the last OFFICIAL day).

GO. DO. SOMETHING.

No really, go. Volunteer to help JDRF. Local chapters are always looking for people to help out. It’s not about donating/raising money (although that is indeed important). Encourage a non D to volunteer with you.  Believe me, it’s not always easy, but try it.  Spread the word.  Do good, feel good.  Figure out your talents and volunteer them. Give your time, your ideas, your heart and most importantly, your passion.

It is time. GO!

PS If you are looking for something to do…Alecia’s Stem Cells is ALWAYS looking for walkers, sponsors, social media pushers, friends, competitors, cheerleaders, huggers…. more info about ASC in the next few weeks.

ThrowFORWARD Thursday

“Like success, failure is many things to many people.  With a positive mental attitude, failure is a learning experience, a rung on the ladder, a plateau at which to get your thoughts in order and prepare to try again.”

W. Clement Stone (1902-2002): Author, businessman

This quote is a tough one for me, but a great goal (yay positive mental attitude).  Instead of Throwback Thursday, I’m calling today ThrowFORWARD Thursday.  I think back on all the years of absolutely dreading exercise and how now, it is huge stress release and a bit of a confidence booster and a commitment I keep in my life.  A special thanks to my DOC Twitter, exercise pushing peeps too.  We all need cheerleaders.  A little inspiration goes a long way!

Now, time to stop procrastinating and tweak some overnight basal rates.

Believe me, a lot of work went into this.

Believe me, a lot of work went into this.

I have some exciting Alecia’s Stem Cells/JDRF news to report but I am waiting for a teeny bit more info.

Throw forward.  xo

 

Weekend Update – Cloning Plans

Friday.

No time for blogging this week.  Not enough sleep… ever.  Must. NOT. GET. RUN. Down.

1.  JDRF NYC WALK- Still trying to get ready (there’s really no such thing as ready right?) and delivering as many shirts to people as possible the past few days (riding Citi Bikes like the Wicked Witch of the West also refering to myself as Mr. McFeely and making “speedy deliveries”).  I have no idea how I am going to get so much stuff (props, shirts, all my normal D stuff, baton, pom-pons) to the Walk site.  Must do laundry in next 48 hours.  Also must try cloning myself between loads of laundry.  Looking to make multiple clones.  Will definitely kill one clone for new pancreas.  If my current pancreas worked for 6 years-ish, I am excited for my new, cloned, works-for-6-years, pancreas.  Going to send other clones off to do projects.  I will definitely have my real self go to the Walk,  and will leave the clones at home to walk the dog and clean.  I hope they clean better than I do.  Hey future clones, the bar is NOT high at ALL (the home is a mess though).

IMG_42742. Due to demand (I know, that truly sounds ludicrous), we are offering a SECOND printing of our JDRF WALK Team shirts.  Lots of styles:  men’s, women’s, kiddie-poos.  I LOVE these shirts but, I am biased.  Proceeds go to JDRF.  Cool shirt goes to YOU!  <- Click there.  Get a shirt!

Our shirt sale ENDS Tuesday 10/1 (I can’t believe it’s almost October).

 

3.  A friend is making me a Dexcom case.  Yes, he has a rapid prototyping machine.  He is most likely going to kill me for posting this pic (but maybe he’ll be fooled by a clone and the one he kills can be the one I get the pancreas from?).  Hopefully he won’t see this before the Walk Sunday.  He was on my very first Walk Team in 2001.  As for the case, he has been prototyping samples with dimensions he found online (not using my actual Dexcom receiver).  Yes, this is kind of totally awesome.

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What I love about this photo… we are in a restaurant.  My friend has my Dexcom in a case that doesn’t quite fit.  There are calipers on the table.  We appear to be doing important stuff.  He is holding a glass of wine.  This is what we call a very productive design meeting.

4.  If you live on the East Coast and don’t already know this, WaWa makes the best coffee.  Also my favorite, and best tasting milk.  WaWa supports JDRF.  WaWa’s coffee just got THAT much better.  I wasn’t always a New Yorker people.  Support businesses that support JDRF.

Special thanks to my baby bro for taking the time to get me these pics.  Let's go Eagles.

Special thanks to my baby bro for taking the time to get me these pics. Let’s go Eagles.

5.  I hope this laundry/cloning thing works out.  I change what I said before.  I would bring 2 clones to The Walk but dye their hair so everyone wouldn’t be confused.  I really need them to help me get all this stuff to Foley Square and pay for the cab.  One clone could carry my silver backpack (how else will people see the back of my shirt?) and the other one could help lug stuff around all day and get me a snack and maybe some coffee.  I’d put a clone in charge of our Walk Team table.  I’d go chat with the Animas rep about the VIBE.  I’d go visit my buddies over at Team Hoffmanderson and also a new friend at Team Pigs Are Precious. I’d put that clone to work (I “may” be taking this too far.  Lack ‘O Sleep).

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Thinking Outside The Box, Or In A Pouch

When it comes to having a JDRF Walk Team, it is challenging to get and keep people interested year after year.  Asking the same people to donate money, asking people to walk, asking people who are walking to please raise money, it isn’t easy, and involves a lot of asking.

I met my dear friend Kerry, my first day of college (Yes, a long time ago.  Dinosaurs carried our books.  They were very helpful). She is a wonderful friend and will be walking with me again on September 29th.  A few months ago, she started a new business venture with Initials, Inc.  At the time, I was carrying my blood glucose supplies in a ziplock bag (yes, it was convenient-ish, ok, not really).  When I looked over her website, I thought this was a great opportunity to not only support and cheer-on my friend, but also time to try out a *NEW* blood glucose carry case.

Kerry sells a design called Tune Keeper which is a fabric, zippered pouch, meant to hold an iPod.  It also has a keyring and lobster claw clasps on one end.  The pouch is padded and securely fits my Verio IQ, OneTouch Delica, Verio test strips, emergency cash, and if need be, my Dexcom G4 receiver.  Yep, I love it.  It also has a tiny interior pocket (that’s where I hide the $5… there’s the info robbers.  Come and get it).

photo

 

Kerry contacted me about an idea she had to help fundraise for this year’s JDRF Walk.  In separate news, her daughter is the one who reminded me to believe in miracles, when I needed a miracle believing boost.  It’s a whole story about inch worms, and bronchitis, and crying at a funeral, and the inch worms becoming moths.  I’ll save that story for another day though.  Anyway, Kerry is a special person in my life (as is her family) and this is what she’s doing (in Kerry’s words):

As a Creative Partner at Initials, Inc., I am excited to help fundraise for my friend, Alecia’s, JDRF Walkathon’s Team. This month, 25% of your Tune Keeper purchase will go towards her team, Alecia’s Stem Cells, as we walk for a cure in two weeks.

What is the Tune Keeper, you ask?  It is a cool little wallet meant to hold your iPhone & earbuds, but Alecia has found it perfect to case her diabetic supplies! We thought you might think it is handy for other uses, too. Plus it makes a great gift – never too early to start that holiday shopping!
Since being diagnosed in 1979, Alecia has benefitted from technology advances in diabetic care and treatments. Glucose monitors and insulin pumps simply did not exist when she was diagnosed, but these advances come from critical research – and research is the key component of JDRF.
I’ve set up a shopping link to purchase the Tune Keeper. Please visit my website !Click SHOP ONLINE at the top and click “Shop Now” to the right on the “Tune Keeper Fundraiser – JDRF event” link to make your purchase. I will personally donate 25% of my sales of the Tune Keeper towards my friend’s JDRF team, and will follow up with an email to you to let you know how much was raised from this sale. Please consider buying one of these great wallets and supporting JDRF!
(Please be sure to un-click “ship to host” to have your order shipped to you – otherwise it will ship to me.)
For more information about Alecia’s walk team, please go to:http://www2.jdrf.org/goto/AleciasStemCells
Please feel free to email me with any questions about placing your order.
 
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
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Pretty cool huh?

Guest Post – Sara at The Voices Council

Today I have a something/someone special to share.  It’s a guest post from my friend Sara who was one of the first people I met and felt I could really talk to when I made the switch from MDI to an insulin pump in 2000 (we also happened to have the same doctors).  I can’t possibly explain how fortunate I felt to have her as a friend then and all these years later, for her friendship now (hey, when she got her Dexcom she was willing to to bedazzle it).  Sara’s friendship has been a true resource for me and made me realize how important it is to have peer support.  She moved to AZ many years ago, but I usually get to see her twice a year when she’s in NYC on work trips.  She is a friend I probably never would have met if it weren’t for T1D.  So yes diabetes, I will give you 1 point for that one.  Here’s her post  (Also that is a pic of us below, post pumpkin pancakes.  Clearly pumpkin pancakes are exhausting hence the squinty eyes):

 

Annual/Bi-annual NYC brunch (pumpkin pancakes)
Hi, my name is Sara and I have had type 1 diabetes since I was a little kid and for the last 39 years, 3 months, 16 days and….6 hours,  I have been waiting….eagerly, sometimes not so patiently, but always hopefully, for my cure. For the day when I can travel without getting groped by the TSA, and when I can eat, without doing MATH.   For the day I stop poking holes in my body and I stop worrying about needing dialysis or going blind or wondering if my brothers kids will get this cruddy disease.

 

I had the honor of being selected to participate in the first JDRF T1D Voices Council. These 16 people are meant to reflect the needs of people with type one diabetes.  Most of the Council members have T1D, but there are a couple of family members. Most of us are normal people, but some are medical professionals. We are mostly American, but we have some Europeans who bring their unique perspective to the group. We range in age from a college freshman to a grandparent, but what links us is our commitment to finding a cure for Type One diabetes, and our vested interest in JDRF.  We are all active with our local chapters, whether as participants in the Annual Walk, and some of us are on our local Board of Directors. We don’t make any funding decisions; we are simply here to speak as the voice of our peers, to make sure our concerns (and I mean the universal “our,” not just our 16 voices) are being addressed, and to offer some perspective from the front, as it were.  We have been assured that our opinions are highly valued by the organization, including CEO Jeffrey Brewer and the International Board of Directors.

 

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Our first meeting was held last December in conjunction with the research meeting. We all met for the first time in person (we had set up a Facebook page and were stalking each other madly), along with with our leaders, Bill Parsons, from the International Board of Directors and father of a T1D son, and Dr. Richard Insel, JDRF’s chief scientific officer.  Our discussion focus was “complications”and specifically, which complications, if any, should JDRF be concerned with in terms of research.  As you can imagine, our opinions were fiercely personal; colored by our experiences. For me, the focus should be on eyes, absolutely. Others were more concerned with nighttime lows (the parents in the group seemed to speak loudest on this, less of a concern for me, thanks to my CGM), but we discussed and ranked them. The discussion at times was heated, to say the least, and a couple of us were unable to “rank” which complications were more deserving of funding than others.  By the end, however, I think our consensus was that we wanted JDRF to stay focused on a cure and improving our lives, and leave the research on complications to other organizations.  One complication the T1D VC discussed, which wasn’t on the original list, were the psychological aspects of living with this disease, which I think came as a bit of a surprise to the powers that be.

 

Two weeks ago, the T1DVC attended the annual conference in Washington DC, and we were forewarned that our topic was going to be the Psycho-Social aspects of T1D, which arose partially from a recent study on these issues, and our timely discussion back in December. However, let me start by saying for the first time in 39-odd years, I finally really felt some HOPE….sure, we all say we are full of HOPE every year when we try to raise money for the Walk…my donors need to hear that I haven’t given up on JDRF. Frankly, that “just around the corner” nonsense has been playing rather thin.  But now, oh, NOW!  I am so full of ever-lovin’, say Hallelujah, pass the hat HOPE, I can’t stop bouncing, dare I admit to smiling, (and then crying) every time I talk about it.

 

Little Sara

Little Sara

Not much has changed since the research meeting in terms of what JDRF is pushing through the pipeline (as they like to phrase it), but what HAS changed is the marketing and presentation of this research. For eons, I have had issue with the way JDRF marketed us! I was just sick of the ads full of cute children surrounding Mary Tyler Moore, as she begged for a cure. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Mary Tyler Moore, but she is not of this generation, and while Nick Jonas and Halle Berry ARE, we can’t seem to get them to speak out as loudly as, say Christina Applegate and Sheryl Crow do for breast cancer.

 

Anyway, enough whiny rant. The point is, if you haven’t seen the new marketing campaign,  stop reading now and go watch the BELIEVE video (which got a standing ovation and reduced me to tears) and the VISION video (which also got thunderous applause and reduced me to tears), and then watch the research videos on Encapsulated Beta Cells and the Artificial Pancreas Project and Smart Insulin and the WALK video or watch the Plan for the Future one. If you aren’t moved by these, then you probably aren’t really T1D!

 

So then we had our T1DVC discussion on the psycho-social aspects of diabetes, and we each defined our vision of a “cure.” Some of us are pretty strict and a cure means, “life as it was BEFORE diabetes,” while others are a little more lenient, and would accept a STEP towards a cure, such as encapsulated beta cells, or even an artifical pancreas system that integrated insulin, symlin AND glucagon. Most of agreed we didn’t want to trade T1D for anti rejection drugs and a pancreas transplant.

 

What I am MOST excited about is those Encapsulated Beta Cells.   I won’t go into all the technology behind it cuz you can google Viacyte and read one company’s plan for yourself, but I SAW it. Jeffrey Brewer stood up there and held up a prototype of this amazing device in his hand. It looks like a tea bag, but this packet will allow us to live completely boring lives, for up to 24 months…which, as Jeff said, isn’t exactly a CURE, but it IS a darn good thing. And it will be in clinical trials next year!

 

And don’t you think, for one SECOND, that just because they are working on all these technological advances, they’ve forgotten about a CURE.  The Voices Council cornered Dr. Insel at breakfast and grilled him on research updates that our own doctors don’t know about. His eyes gleamed as he talked about the things that are coming down the pike…the potential for a vaccine, and regenerating damaged beta cells, and gene therapy. It is all THERE….and we just can’t lose hope!

 

And basically, it’s that hope that gets us out of bed every morning. It’s why we ask our friends and families to donate to the walk, isn’t it?  We all still hope for our cure and we need JDRF to continue this research until we have a world without Type One Diabetes.  JDRF is now making it clear that they are no longer a mom and pop organization, but a world leader committed to removing T1D from this earth and until then, it is their mission  to lessen our burden, lessen our struggle, lessen our pain and fear, and lessen that of our loved ones.

And they won’t stop,  until they turn Type One into Type None

So, now go sign up to be a part of Alecia’s Stem Cells, or come be part of my Team Type None in Tucson, and let’s NOT give up our hope!

Sara (LINK TO MY VIDEO)

meandaliens

Lucky 12

LUCKY 12I pass by this patch of sidewalk almost everyday.  I noticed it again as I rushed home from the gym this morning.

12

12 is my favorite number.  12 is my “lucky” number.  Alecia’s Stem Cells was founded 12 years ago.  2012 wasn’t quite what I thought it would be.  There’s gotta a be a BIGGER 12 out there.  Please, please let there be a bigger 12 out there.

I received some horrible news from a friend over the weekend.  My Dad hugged me and I just started sobbing.  I believe that is very much a Dad/daughter thing.  Hug from Dad = tears from me.  Life has thrown me a slew of challenges, all in a row lately.  My Dad kept whispering in my ear, “It doesn’t make sense right now, but there is a plan for you.  Just remember, there is a plan for you.  It’s just a different path.”  There was some God stuff thrown in there too but that’s between me and Dad and well, God.

I was with the friend with the horrible news last evening (that is a terrible description by the way).  There were some tears.  We discussed many things.  She’s always supported my diabetes and JDRF projects.  I told her about the JDRF Walk Kick-Off/ Research Update I’d attended on Wednesday night.  I told her about JDRF’s encapsulation program (or at least what I understood of it) and all the things I learned last week.  I told her about how I felt inspired, a renewed sense of hope, again.  I told her about my friend who’s part of JDRF’s Voices Council and how she recently shared with me that she too felt inspired.  At the end of our meal, I think I’d not only given her a pep talk, but I’d also given myself one.  She kept telling me how much I inspire her.  Talking with her really helped inspire me too.  Sometimes, I think the energy you give off, really does come back to you.  I got the most positive e-mail from her first thing this morning.  It felt like a hug.

12

LUCKY 12.

I’ve gotta a lot of work to do.

Join me.  Join our team.  Get involved.

Oh, and if you don’t like me or think I’m a jerk or I talk too much, just donate to this guy.

The fundraising all goes to the same place although we seem to be in some sort of competition.  This is the photo he put on Facebook last night.  Yes, that is me.  No, that is not my quote.  If this quote raises funding for research, then yes, that is EXACTLY what I said EXCEPT, I definitely didn’t call anyone Mr. Strahan*.

Ben H

 

And if you’d like more info on Alecia’s Stem Cells, want to spy on how we’re doing, want to join our team, want to sponsor one of our walkers, want to donate, please go here AND read the post below this one for more ASC info. XO

* Team Hoffmanderson is an awesome team and I am extremely happy to call them friends.  I mean, they might not even be friends, but I’m happy to call them that.

 

Kicking It in NYC

ASC sign1Let’s face it, I’m really not sure there will be a cure for Type 1 Diabetes in my lifetime.  I do know though, I will absolutely be part of finding the cure for Type 1 Diabetes.  This dream, idea, vision of mine has grown with intensity as I’ve gotten older.  I’ve been a T1D for 34 years.  That’s a long time.

I became involved with JDRF, because of my parents.  JDRF was their calm in the storm after I was diagnosed in 1979.  JDRF was still in its infancy at the time, but now stands the largest charitable supporter of T1D research.  JDRF and the families my parents met, managed to give my family HOPE.  My parents passed this HOPE along to me.  At 6 years old, my parents showed me what it’s like to pour your self into a cause and to BELIEVE. (check out my Mom’s 4-letter word)

In 2001, I founded Alecia’s Stem Cells in New York City with a tremendous amount of help from my friends.  A lot of things have changed in my diabetes world since that time.  One thing that hasn’t changed though is that our team is still based on friends and family who are willing to sacrifice their time and money (and often lend their creativity). They too will BE part of the Cure.

asc dodgeAlecia’s Stem Cells has had teams walk in Queens, Manhattan/Brooklyn, Boston and Los Angeles.  Our team has raised OVER $200,000 towards JDRF’s mission to cure diabetes by funding crucial research!  This is incredible and this is because of YOU!  YOU too are part of the CURE.

 

This past November, I was asked to speak along with Michael Strahan at a JDRF NYC Fundraiser.  It was a fun event but most importantly, it gave me a chance to share my view.  I got to tell parents of T1D kids about my story.  How I’ve been diabetic for 34 years, about how I DO understand how they may be angry that there isn’t a cure yet, but how I am proof positive of how technology has changed and is advancing diabetes care and treatments.  I told them how I envy their children. I told them that the glucose monitors and insulin pumps I use along with their children simply didn’t exist when I was their child’s age.  I told how to check my glucose levels,I would pee in a cup and add some chemicals and that gave a glucose “range”.  THAT range that was flawed.  I showed off my Continuous Glucose monitor that I wore on my arm.  I explained how these technologies are not a cure BUT they are advances.  They are advances that come from critical research. Research is the key component of JDRF.

This June, I was honored to be voted to the Board of JDRF NYC.  At the same time, I also became the Coordinator of JDRF’s Adult Type 1 Group.  Both of these opportunities will hopefully enable me to take another step in my NEED to make a difference.  Government advocacy and peer-to-peer support?  Yes, sign me up.  There’s a third part to this news though.  I consider it my diabetes TRIFECTA.  I’ve started the process to participate in diabetes clinical trials.  Maybe Alecia’s Stem Cells should be Alecia’s Lab Rats?

So one last thought, I’m 40 years old now.  I think about how someday I won’t be here anymore, but hey, none of us will.  I wonder what my legacy will be.  I hope that my nephew and soon to be either niece or nephew live healthy and happy lives and have families of their own.  Maybe they will mention me as their creative aunt.  I HOPE they remember that I always followed my heart.  I REALLY HOPE they never have to worry about T1D in their own children.  I HOPE that someday they talk about how their aunt had a friend who told her one time that there are two types of people… victims, and ass-kickers and their Aunt Alecia was an ass-kicker and yes, she helped cure diabetes.

I am not willing to sit back and wait for change.  I will be part of it.  Be part of it with me. Grab your sneakers and walk with me.  Walk for the other 3 million people in the US who are also fighting T1D.  Walk for hope. WALK FOR MY HOPE.  Support our team. CHEER US ON!

You can join and/or support Alecia’s Stem Cells at: http://www2.jdrf.org/goto/AleciasStemCells

Xo,

Alecia the Ass-kicker

WALK 2012 - Brooklyn 1/2 way mark

We Walked Some More…

Dodger StadiumI’m a bit late on this post but it’s been one hell of a Diabetes Awareness Month for this lady!  This post is the follow-up from my JDRF New York City Walk for a Cure post.  Our team, Alecia’s Stem Cells, expanded again this year.  On November 11th, I walked with our first EVER Alecia’s Stem Cells Los Angeles team at Dodgers Stadium (and the crowd goes wild….. Rrrraaahhhh).  It was wonderful to have a 2nd team again this year filled with friends and family. I was amazed by the team spirit exemplified by my cousin, his wife (my wonderful friend), her sister, and her sister’s boyfriend.  They sent walk donation letters out as a group.  When I received one, of course, I cried.  Their letter talked about me and used parts of my own NYC letter, but then it included a story about the beloved uncle of my cousin-in-law and her sister, who had died of complications of diabetes.

Our little newbie team managed to beat our LA team goal and raised $2,210.  I was, and remain, amazed.  Our NYC team had just raised $21,631.62 and I was 100% sure I had asked anyone and everyone to donate already by the time the LA Walk was on the horizon. If you doubt the power of social media, I offer you this, friends posted a zillion NYC walk team photos on Facebook right away.  It was an incredibly exciting day for me and I think that comes across in the photos posted.  As the LA Walk approached, I posted something about how great Walking in NYC was and if anyone felt they missed out, there was still time to help out our LA walk team.  Within minutes, two Facebook friends I barely know donated!  Right before I left for LA, I posted that we were $50 away from our team goal.  3 people who had already donated to the NYC walk all donated AGAIN to help us reach our goal.  I’m teary just typing this!  AMAZING (not the teary part, since I’m a crier, but how many people cheered us on and supported our team’s efforts).

LA Walk Day was incredible.  Gorgeous weather, a new venue and fun stories.  The walk route circles Dodger Stadium twice (but different paths both times) and THEN, the last lap is around the infield!  There were tons of diabetes vendors to visit and lots of swag.  I got samples of LEVEL Glucose Gel (the mandarin was super duper sweet tasting but very effective as I learned on the last lap when Dexcom beeped bg 87 and an arrow down) and Quick Sticks (which are freaking awesome – said me, the girl who’s never had a pixie stick ever).  I also got chatty with an Animas rep and begged for the Vibe (oh I know, I know, it hasn’t been submitted to the FDA yet, but a girl can dream and ask the same question over and over, and yes, over).

About 8 years ago, I went to some sort of JDRF NY luncheon.  It may have been a walk kick-off lunch but I’m really not sure.  I sat next to the only other person who seemed my age at the table, and she was a fellow T1D.  We became friends and she walked many moons ago with Alecia’s Stem Cells NYC.  At least 6+ years ago she moved back to Los Angeles, got married and had two kids.  All these years we’ve stayed in touch via Facebook and right before the LA walked she signed up for our team along with her family.  It was so great to reconnect with an old D friend and meet her adorable family.

The Set-Up & Reconnecting with an old friend

I also tweeted asking if anyone in the DOC was going to the LA Walk.  Although our team did the Big Blue Test, I never managed to meet-up with Mike Lawson (boo hoo) BUT, Diane from Type 1 Trip said they had a team and described their Team Julia shirts.  I found them in the infield.  I’m fairly certain I may have come across as a stalker, but I asked a ton of people in pink shirts who Diane was and although we were both busy with our teams, we had a few minutes to chat and I believe that was the first time I introduced myself as “Alecia, ummm Surfacefine on twitter”.  We had a big hug moment and my team was off and running (well walking).

Fighting Diabetes

As I’ve posted before and will say here again, Walk Day is like a weird holiday for me.  Its a day full of hope, promise and an incredible amount of love!  It is a day near and dear to me. I can’t thank my friends, family and fellow walkers enough for their amazing generosity and supporting the ongoing efforts of JDRF.

 

 

You walked where?

This is late but life is busy.  I already told you about my trip to the ER.  So now it’s time to flip the switch.  Sunday arrived (9/30), I told my stomach to knock it off, and we all arrived at the walk bright and early.  Here is the email I sent to my fellow teammates and supporters AFTER The Walk (with an updated total and some added photos):

What a day for a JDRF Walk! 

As many of you know, this year was our BIGGEST Alecia’s Stem Cells WALK TEAM EVER!  I could not have been more excited as Sunday approached.  (My friend ) D and I had our WALKS With FRIENDS themed shirts (hats & tote bags too) ready to go, we had a lot of newbie walkers, and for the first time ever, we had a whole bunch of my fellow T1Ds all walking with us too!  

As my fellow walkers know, Friday afternoon turned kind of crazy when I ended up in the ER, stayed there through early Saturday morning, had to cancel my interview on our local CBS Saturday morning show (to speak about JDRF, the Walk, and our AMAZING Alecia’s Stem Cells team 11th anniversary).  If I wasn’t so dehydrated, I probably would have cried a river BUT I did make it to Walk Day!  I think JDRF felt sorry for me and as a cheer-up, they had the President/CEO of JDRF, Jeffery Brewer, come talk to me at our Alecia’s Stem Cells table, which was pretty awesome! 
I have some other incredible moments to report to you, my fellow walkers, and supporters of our fundraising mission…as of today, we have raised a whopping $21,381.62.  Incredible! WOW!
Next up….D’s incredibly cool, customizable shirts WON for BEST FRIENDS & FAMILY TEAM SHIRTS! YAY D (that’s the pic from the moment we heard the shirts won)!


The weather miraculously held-up (after some dicey weather forecasts), WE BEAT OUR GOAL, and my parents and siblings were all with us (except my nephew and sister-in-law Alysson who cheered us on and sent pics of my week and half old nephew in his Alecia’s Stem Cells gear).  We had walkers travel from California, Chicago, Philadelphia, New Jersey and a 7 hour bus ride from Penn State!  Friends I’ve known for 20+ years walked, new friends-of-friends I just met that day walked, and my office mates and their families walked!  We had 46 team members make it to walk day and I could not be prouder!
Walk Day is like a weird holiday for me.  Its a day full of hope, promise and an incredible amount of love!  It is a day near and dear to me.  I can’t thank you all for your amazing generosity and supporting the ongoing efforts of JDRF. 

And just remember, if they don’t cure diabetes by next year, we would LOVE to have you join us in our NYC bridge crossing!