A MESSAGE FROM Lacing up again to support the Chicago Diabetes Project
Hello my friends, and welcome to my 2021 Chicago Marathon campaign!
Doesn't it feel as though we were just here? I have leaned on many of you in the years since our family's journey with diabetes began with Theo's diagnosis in December of 2015. To those of you who have joined me in the past: please know that I remember every donation with love and gratitude. And to those of you here for the first time, thank you for visiting!
Last year, the Chicago Marathon was cancelled, but I ran 26.2 miles along the Chicago lakefront because I take my end of this bargain seriously. This year, my sixth, I'm hoping to be back for the real thing, complete with a photo finish to share with you all.
Although we're not out of the Covid woods yet, fortunately we have been able to return safely to some of the activities we missed during quarantine. For Theo, this has meant getting back on the soccer field, reconnecting with teammates, and working hard to be the best darn goalie/striker out there! ;)
Of course, for kids living with diabetes, any new beginning means adapting to new routines and protocols for communication, blood sugar monitoring, and insulin administration - a level of care and attention most kids don't even know they're lucky not to have on their minds. As ever, Theo has handled each transition like a champ: soccer and sports camps over the summer, and a new school he started as a 4th grader just last week. The power of technology never ceases to amaze me - Theo's latest gadget is his Apple Watch, which allows him to receive alerts from his blood sugar monitor discreetly, right on his own wrist, and to treat his lows on his own, even before we have a chance to call and check on him. It's been great to see him take charge of his diabetes and exercise his independence. His next step - we hope! - will be sleepaway camp for summer of 2022.
In the meantime, I'm still running. If you can, please support the Chicago Diabetes Project, a local organization that brings together researchers from all over the world who are focused on a functional cure for diabetes through islet cell transplants. What does that mean? It means working to free Theo and millions of other kids like him from the constant attention and care diabetes demands. For Theo, that would mean more time on the soccer field, and less time worrying about devices, snacks, and insulin.
And boy, when we get there, you better believe we'll be out there shouting:
GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!
With love and gratitude,
Emily
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