This is something I thought I would never do

Hello. Although I have been assiduously reading every blog I could get my hands on regarding Type 1 Diabetes, blogging is something I thought I would never do personally. I am the aunt of a Type 1, 10-year-old girl, diagnosed at the age of 8. Her mother and I work different shifts and trade off on her care. I am constantly searching for more information on how to better manage and treat this disease. Hoping for the cure… My hopes have been dashed, however, by non-passage of S5, THE STEM CELL RESEARCH ENHANCEMENT ACT of 2007. Apparently, President Bush and many of our Senators and Representatives feel that the medical waste bin is a more worthy recipient of previously fertilized embryos than researchers who could help find a cure for my niece. I feel very bitter about this. Bitter, particularly, in light of the fact, that these embryos ARE going to be destroyed. They are not saving life! They are aiding in destroying other’s lives! So many others, many of whom do not have the time to wait as my niece does… In addition, lack of insurance coverage for new technology which could literally save many people’s lives (continuous blood glucose monitoring) is one of my top pet peeves. I do not think I am being dramatic by using the term “save many people’s lives,” since so many suffer from hypoglycemic unawareness. We are trying to get the Paradigm cgm system approved by her insurance company and that is our most pressing personal issue right now. I welcome any and all info. on how to fight the insurance companies if denied. And we will fight them tooth and nail! I do not have permission, or even want, to post my niece’s pictures on the net. I do not presently know how to even upload pictures on my home computer, LOL. What I lack in pictorial content (for the moment), I hope to make up in political content. I hope to post, soon, records of how our politicians, by State, are voting on diabetes issues and remind those that tune in, when elections are being held. Not telling you how to vote, but just a reminder of who our friends in Washington are and are not…

Welcome! Your niece is lucky to have such a passionate advocate looking out for her.

I want to say welcome too! You sound like a great aunt! I could have written the same thing about what the great Mr. Bush did-wonder if he would feel the same way if one of his precious daughters developed diabetes?

Stem cell research is the only hope for a cure right now. I have not gotten everything together yet, but I will be posting lists on votes on S5 here, who voted for and against and a reminder when offending parties are up for reelection. However some of the stem cell bloggers are much more proactive than the Juvenile Diabetes counterparts and the info is available on the web. I don’t know how to post links but I am going to learn how to do all of that good stuff. JDRF has put stem cell on hold until the next election when hopefully a Dem will be in the White House. I guess if you have ALS and three years to live, you are more desperate to pass stem cell research than we may be. Time is ticking away, though, and I would hate to see her still suffering from this in ten or twenty years…

I agree totally with you about stem cell research! You have the same opionion that both me and my Dr. do about it! Back after they made it a vote to where it would be illigal to do it he really heald hope but I guess you could say busted his bubble when I had an appointment that day and had heard the news about it and went madder than an old wet hen and told him what was on the news. He piched his pen down that he was using to write in my chart with and said " Well there goes any hope for the next 50 years then"
I’m so sorry that I hadn’t wrote you back till now but I jusy now read my blog and my granddaughter is now 13 months old and my daughter is expecting another in April so I know it’s really old!