“Still, there are definitive moments, moments we
use as reference, because they break our sense of continuity, they change the
direction of time. We can look at these events and we can say that after them
things were never the same again.” from The Robber Bride, by Margaret Atwood
My life has been full of definitive moments but none more so than Monday, 04
April 2005 in the emergency room of Children’s Hospital in Seattle. It was then
I was told that my 5 year old little girl, my healthy, strong, resilient little
girl has Type 1 Diabetes. I was like most people and thought that all we would
need was insulin and life would go back to normal. (Two years later, “normal”
is something I don’t even strive for anymore.) In a way I am grateful for the
intern who had not quite perfected bedside manner that told me how close Sáin
was to permanent, even fatal, complications. I have always believed the best
way to deal with pain is to meet it head on and there is nothing more painful
than being confronted with your child’s mortality. 04 April 2005 was the day I
grew up. It was also the day I held my little girl in the ER as she was hooked
up to 3 IVs, sang “I’ll Stand by You” to her and promised I would find a cure.
Two years, nearly 2000 injections of insulin, over 5800 finger pokes, 7
endocrinology appointments, more calls from the school nurse than I could
count, 2 ER visits, a battle with a well respected organization over ADA
compliance and countless tears later I still stand by my promise.
We are so close to finding a cure but we need your help. The current political
atmosphere in both Canada
and the US
is causing significant funding shortages for medical research. 85 cents of
every dollar donated to JDRF goes directly to the research that will one day
cure this devastating disease.
Please join Team Sáin as we participate in the 2007 Beat the Bridge to Beat
Diabetes walk and run. Show Sáin and the millions of others in Canada and the US suffering from diabetes that
their futures matter. It may be your dollar that saves my daughter!
Thank you!
Angie
(Captain, Team Sain)