March 2013 - a time we will never forget. Our daughter Brynlee was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D).
T1D is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin—a hormone essential to turning food into energy. It strikes both children and adults and is unrelated to diet and lifestyle. We were terrified, but from that moment on, we knew we were going to fight to live a new normal life and make the best of the situation for our girl. Immediately, we were taught how to give Brynlee injections for every single thing she ate or drank to cover her carbohydrates since her pancreas would no longer do the work for her. We learned that activity, emotion, weather, and practically anything else, would affect the way her blood sugar reacted, and we had to learn to deal with the uncertainty of the disease. Brynlee was so brave from day one and continues to be brave to this day.
Fast forward to today - although we have moved on to an insulin pump for her treatment, we are still carb counting and dosing for the ups and downs of the disease. With the improvement of her treatment with the insulin pump, Brynlee only receives an occasional injection; but this is not a cure. We are still praying every single day for a cure for this disease that takes no days or nights off.
We are excited to announce that once again our team, B's Believers, is walking to help Breakthrough T1D continue to fund life-changing type 1 diabetes research and create a world without T1D. This will help millions like Brynlee who live with T1D. As I said before, there is no cure—yet. Your support can help change that. We are just one team in this fight; however, in the past 11 years, our team alone has raised over $300,000 to help bridge the world from Type 1 to Type NONE.
By donating and/or joining our team and helping us to fundraise, you can help fund research that impacts the lives of the millions of children, adults, and families challenged by T1D every day. With your support, we will help Breakthrough T1D turn Type One into Type None. Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to seeing you at the Walk!
Jeff, Ashley, Brynlee and Delaney