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!

We hope you never find yourself writing a letter like we are writing you today. But the reality is the increase of children with type 1 diabetes is growing at an alarming rate. Every 30 seconds someone is diagnosed with diabetes. Diabetes is also the seventh highest reported leading cause of death. Overall, the risk for death among people with diabetes is about twice that of people without diabetes of similar age. But look at those smiles, Sam and Skye are living positive healthy lives for now, and they need your help to keep smiling.

Since Skye was diagnosed two years ago, we have had more than five close friends find their children with this debilitating disease. We’d like to ask you for your help to bring an end to what Sam and Skye have to deal with everyday and make sure nobody in your family or circle of friends has to worry about diabetes in their future.

Imagine what it was like when the cure for polio, smallpox, the measles and chicken pox were discovered. For many of our children they will never experience any of these diseases, but diabetes could still take them. We are close to having a cure and as parents we are doing everything we can to keep the researchers doing their job every day to find a cure for Sam and Skye and millions of others. Won’t it be exciting to find a cure and know we were able to play a part? Together we can help make history!

The first year with the disease was challenging, it altered just about every aspect of our lives including church attendance because her new schedule and the intricacies of balancing diet and insulin were laborious. But in the second year we started to find our groove. But that groove quickly became a rut. Living with diabetes can be a real drag. It never goes away and for a child like Skye who is in the early stages of puberty, her body chemistry is going crazy.

This summer we were able to go to Washington DC as a family. Skye (an avid art lover) was excited to visit the many galleries of the Smithsonian. She was so excited the night before she could hardly sleep. Of course, excitement throws body chemistry off, and when we arrived at the museum she was running low. Running low is similar to a person being drunk, listless, and exhausted. We kept forcing carbohydrate laden food into her body to lift her up but nothing was working. A day she had been looking forward to ended up being a frustrating day for all of us. She couldn’t help it. Later that day when her numbers did balance she was back to the Skye we all know and love.

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!). We are so proud Skye and her ability to manage her diet and give herself her own shots. But that is a lot for a 10 year old to deal with, and she knows it isn’t going to end any time soon unless we find a cure.

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. 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 to your friends. You can also direct them to samandskyewalkers.com for more information. 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

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.