Corinne and Aunt Jeannine enjoying a delicious meal on the patio at Loxleys restaurant in Lancaster and supporting JDRF!!! Thanks Aunt Jeannine! The food was great and the restaurant was awesome but the best part was donating 5% of our check to JDRF…to help find a cure!!
My AMAZING sister-in-law works as corporate sales manager for Heritage Hills Resort and Conference Center, which is the corporation that manages Loxley’s Restaurant in Lancaster, PA. Loxley’s has this amazing program called “The Legend Continues” Program.
Loxley’s “The Legend Continues” program is Loxley’s way to give back to local and national charities. Thanks to my sister-in-law, JDRF has been selected as one of the charities to benefit from “The Legend Continues” program throughout the month of August.
JDRF is the leading global organization focused on type 1 diabetes (T1D) research and the largest charitable supporter of T1D research. The goal of JDRF research is to improve the lives of all people affected by T1D by accelerating progress on the most promising opportunities for curing, better treating, and preventing T1D. Since its founding in 1970, JDRF has awarded more than $1.6 billion to diabetes research.
Here’s how it works:
Loxley’s will donate 5% of the restaurant check, exclusive of alcohol, to each participating charity. Customers at Loxley’s will be able to designate which one of three charities to receive their donation. To help customers make an informed decision, charity information will be prominently displayed at each table and literature will be available and displayed at the hostess station.
So if you are looking for a place to enjoy great food or just want to support a great cause, head out to eat at Loxley’s Restaurant this month and 5% of your meal will go to help finding a cure for type 1 diabetes!
Loxley’s is located at 500 Centerville Road Lancaster, PA 17601. To make reservations call 1-800-223-8963 or Loxley’s at (717) 898-2431.
Thank you to EVERYONE who ordered thirty-one bags to support Corinne. We feel blessed and overwhelmed by all of your love and support. I just received the bags and the donation for Corinne’s puppy. Thanks to each of you, we will be sending in a check to Guardian Angel Service Dogs for $182.80. I want to extend a very special public thank you to Jessica Seitz Grim for offering to have a party for us with 20% of proceeds going towards Corinne’s diabetic alert dog. She is not only an amazing teacher, but also a very caring person and dear friend.
What are the chances? It is a question I have been hearing and thinking a lot lately.
What are the chances that my daughter who has been perfectly healthy up to now would be diagnosed with T1D? (According to Wikipedia the incidence in the United States varies from 8-17 per 100,000 per year.)
And the next question I ask myself, the one that is constantly nagging in the back of my head AND the one I hear the most from family and friends…
What are the chances this could happen again to one of my other children?
Despite receiving initial reassurances from our pediatrician that my other children were not at increased risk and that T1D was not hereditary, my internet research has led me to some different conclusions.
First – Although T1D is NOT exactly hereditary, it is influenced by genetic factors. It is thought to be a result of a genetic predisposition combined with an environmental trigger. AND…
Second – Since my daughter has been diagnosed with T1D my other two children now have a 10% chance of developing T1D before they reach the age of 50 (JDRF provides an excellent resource for more information).
I REALLY don’t want to be a paranoid, hypochondriac, obsessive compulsive, Mom BUT one in ten is not comforting to me. These are not odds that I like where my children are concerned. Despite trying to remain positive and focused on the things I can actually control, I still find that I can’t help myself from occasionally going into panic mode.
So here goes my confession…
The past several weeks, my son has been eating a ton. He has been drinking LOTS of water and going to the bathroom more frequently. My rational mind tells me, he is probably going through your run of the mill growth spurt. I know his activity level is higher since he has been playing baseball. I keep telling myself that he has been thirstier than usual because of the heat and that it is COMPLETELY normal. But this past weekend, my irrational mind took over.
On Friday morning, I checked his urine for ketones, which admittedly, I have done before. But this time there were trace to small amounts in his urine. This time I had a REAL reason to go into panic mode. Although, I am no diabetes expert, I do know that the first thing that they did when my daughter was diagnosed was to check for ketones in her urine. So given the test findings, I tried to remain calm while I frantically emailed and called my daughter’s endocrinologist, nurse on call, and nurse practitioner. Then I tried to hold it together while I searched the internet and waited for a response back from someone. I prayed HARD that I was a CRAZY, PARANOID, HYPOCHONDRIAC, OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE Mom because the alternative was not something I was prepared to handle.
When my daughter’s school nurse called to check-in with me at lunch time, I questioned her. She reassured me that ketones alone do not indicate T1D and she even offered to check my son’s blood sugar if it would ease my mind. At that point, I started to breathe again but I was still on the edge. Then 7 and a half hours later I got an email from my daughter’s nurse practitioner and certified diabetes educator. She explained that I should test my son’s blood sugar first thing in the morning and then two hours after a meal and she gave me guidelines for normal low and high blood sugar levels.
SO…I prayed some more and spent a sleepless night waiting until the next day.
Saturday, my prayers were answered…at least for the time being. My son’s blood sugar levels were in the normal range and I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief. I prayed a prayer of thanks for my son’s good health and then I said a prayer for all of the families who have multiple children with T1D for the courage and strength to face each day.
For now I am just a crazy, paranoid, hypochondriac, obsessive compulsive Mom whose daughter has T1D.
My heart goes out to all of the Moms who cope with the daily challenges of T1D and the fear that this could happen in their family again. I feel for every sibling of a child with T1D who is trained to help look for signs of hypo and hyperglycemia and who must learn how to give shots of insulin and test blood sugar levels at a time when they should only have to think of shots associated with the occasional trip to the pediatrician. It breaks my heart to think of my two other children and others out there living under a Mother’s watchful eye, undergoing repeated tests to check for T1D.
After all, what are the chances…
t1dhopeisgood 