Join Us for the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes on Saturday, September 25th, 2010

Walk to Cure Diabetes

Greetings from Mark and Jade Matlock and Bart and Shannon Millard!

It’s that time of the year for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk For A Cure!  

While a cure is why we walk, and what we pray for, we know that it may take quite awhile for a cure to come even with the great advances that have been made. 
 
So why do we walk for something our kids may not experience until later in their lifetimes? Because the research funded by JDRF is improving the quality of our lives kids TODAY. 
 
Next to the US government, JDRF is the largest funder of diabetes research. The money doesn’t just fund the search for a cure but new ways of managing diabetes . New technologies and treatments have been developed that help Sam and Skye today, and will definitely help treat them tomorrow. Quite a bit of this research is being done in Texas and we’ve had the privilege of visiting with some the men and women making progress. 
 
I’m hoping this allows Sam and Skye to not have to worry about blindness, kidney and heart disease as they become adults and for Skye, to be able to have children without risk. 
 
To offer them this future we need your help. 
 
Living with Type 1 is more than just 4-5 shots through out the day and endless finger pricks to draw blood. It makes like frustrating (as if it isn’t frustrating enough!). Even if a cure doesn’t come in their lifetime, the research dollars you help us raise will reduce this frustration in their lifetime. 
 
We so believe in the work and integrity of JDRF, they love our children and they want to find that cure. Will you join us? 
 
For the past few years we join to form the Sam and Skye Walkers, to walk for a cure to end diabetes.  Here is how you can help. 
 
We ask you to help us find a cure by sponsoring or joining us on Saturday, Sept. 26,
 
2009 at Granite Park at 5800 Granite Parkway, Plano, TX 75024 .The Sam and Skye Walkers raised $45,000 including 110 walkers by our side last year! We need your help to make an even bigger impact this year. 
 
Your contribution might make the difference in the one research laboratory where “the cure” will be achieved! 
 
Please join the Sam and Skye Walkers team and/or donate online.  Everyone who signs up by September 9th to walk will get a free Sam and Skye Walkers t-shirt to wear the day of the walk! 
 
If you prefer to write a check, make payable to JDRF - send to
 
The Sam and Skye Walkers, PO BOX 166317, Irving, TX 75016-6317. 
 
Please forward this site to your friends. Please ask your organization for a company match for your donation. 
 
Your donation could change the lives of nearly 3 million Americans and save our kids. Thank you! 
 
Blessings, 
 
Mark and Jade Matlock
 
Bart and Shannon Millard 
 
PS. For those of you who don’t know both of our families the Matlocks and  Millards are longtime friends.  Bart is the lead singer of MercyMe and Mark  leads WisdomWorks Ministries. We  all used to travel together in our early days of ministry. We join together every year because we want to help our children live longer and healthier lives. Thank you for joining us.
 

Frequently Asked Questions

Sam and Skye aren’t obese, why do they have diabetes?

Obesity is linked to type 2 diabetes. One of the problems we face everyday is people misunderstanding the differences between them. Type 2 diabetes means that your body is not producing enough insulin or the insulin is of poor quality and ineffective. Type 2 diabetes can be regulated with diet, exercise, and oral medications. While diet and exercise are also components of the Type 1 dietetics’ management, insulin cannot be produced and can only be given via injection. 

Can Sam and Skye eat sugar?

Yes.  Unlike Type 2 Diabetes where diet and exercise require careful control of sugar intake, this is not an absolute requirement for a Type 1 Diabetic.  As long we measure the number of carbohydrates in any food (including high sugar foods), we can balance those carbohydrates with the appropriate amount of insulin required.

Will Sam and Skye “grow out” of this disease?

No. Sam and Skye will always have diabetes unless a cure is found. It is important to remember that insulin does not cure diabetes, it only keeps them alive by providing what the body cannot on it’s own. God made our bodies to be incredibly sophisticated. Our job as parents is to “think” like a pancreas and then “act” like one. It is truly amazing the amount of effort involved replicating this one function of one organ.

We must balance carbohydrates, insulin, and physical activity with uncontrollable variables such as illness, growth, exercise-level, excitement, and stress.  Each day Sam and Skye are at  risk of a drastic low blood sugar causing seizure or possibly death.  It could only take one mistake on one morning or one afternoon or one night… or it might simply involve a random event in their bodies.

I’ve heard of insulin pumps, why don’t Sam and Skye have one?

Pumps can be great because they potentially offer flexibility and allow for micro dosages to be administered in ways injections cannot. Pumps only change the way insulin is delivered, and have many disadvantages as well. The child must always be connected to the pump. Pumps require constant decision-making on part of the parent and/or child, increased number of blood checks, and the risk for diabetic shock increases. While some children do use the pump, our doctors have not recommended this as a suitable treatment at this time. I am sure in time we will be using a pump, but this only changes the method of delivering insulin, it is not a cure.

How did you know Sam and Skye had diabetes?

At the onset of diabetes glucose from carbohydrates (not just sugar) builds up in the blood. Insulin helps the body convert the glucose into energy. Since the insulin is not available to do this the glucose stays in the blood producing certain symptoms.

Who in your family has Type 1 diabetes?

While scientists believe there is a genetic factor related to the onset of Type 1 diabetes, to our knowledge no parents, grandparents, or great grandparents in any family on either side have a Type 1 diagnosis.