Matrix - have you seen the eyelet transplant going on at University of WA? I have a guy at work that got a transplant and almost 100% cured.
Thanks, Piffka, jjorge* and Husker...
My daughter is doing okay, she's healthy, but this disease changes the way one has to live their life in so many ways. The word spontaneous is almost completely erased from your vocabulary. You have to plan out everything you're going to do each day so you can time your BGL tests and injections and meal schedules (including what you can eat, in what amount, and at what time). She could wear an insulin pump, but doesn't want to because she doesn't like the idea of having a device cathertered to her body all the time. When her friends want to go do something or have something to eat after school, her being able to participate all depends on what her Diabetes is acting like that day...and, with this disease, everyday is different. Just planning her school class schedule can be a nightmare. It robs children of some of the most simple and wonderful pleasures of childhood.
Husker...Yes, I have kept up on the Islet transplants going on at the U.W. and elsewhere, and while they are being done, they are still only in the experimental stages. They don't know how long they will last, yet, and because they are a transplant, you are exchanging one type of problem for another. It's exciting research, and hopefully someday something concrete will come out of it. I hope everything works out well for your co-worker!
I know of a Diabetic who had a complete pancreas transplant and that removed their symptoms of Diabetes. Nice, but now they will need to forever live with the consequences of having a transplant, and those can be difficult to live with, too. Doctors generally only do the transplants on patients who have Diabetes that is so out of control that they are running out of treatment options. (I'd suspect that your co-worker was maybe having trouble keeping his Diabetes under good control, and that's why he was chosen to try the Islet transplant.)
I think that Phoenix has the right idea when she talks about stem cell research. That is probably the ONLY way that diseases like Diabetes and Cancer will ever be truly cured.
As for the $50 million not going very far...if it is received by researchers at the right time, it just might be the help needed to push the research being done into the cure.
Matrix - Has your daughter actually run with anyone on the pump for a lengthy period of time? My daughter has been using the pump for the last 4 years or so and LOVES it. A lot of the issues about time you mention go away and they tend to find a little more freedom.
It's obviously a very personal decision but if she hasn't I'd encourage it. It does seem a little spooky at first when you see the infusion set inserted but not much more than it was watching the insulin injections the first few times.
Hi, fishin...
Yeah, she knows people who have pumps, she just doesn't like to have things attached/hanging on her. It's not a matter of being afraid of using the infusion set, she just want to be hooked up to anything. Even jewelry bothers her. She'll wear her Medic Alert thing and her pierced earrings, but can't stand to have anything else attached to her. As soon as she gets into the house, her shoes come off as does anything else that's not required to be decent. She's always been that way.
There is a newer insulin called Lantis and I'm going to ask her endocrinologist about it next time we see him. I think that it might make things a bit easier for her, but still, with Diabetes nothing's really easy.
Hey, how's your daughter doing? Has she heard anything more about that thing she was checking into?
Matrix - he also had a kidney transplant the same week.
Husker...
I hope your friend does well. Had your friend been on dialysis before? I'm closely related to someone who used to work for the NW Kidney Center, so I know a little bit about that and the procurement of organs.
The person that I know of who got the pancreas also received another organ during the transplant. They came from a young person who was murdered in Seattle. A well known case around here.
Matrix500 wrote:Hey, how's your daughter doing? Has she heard anything more about that thing she was checking into?
She's doing fine. She's off in her 1st year at college and living on her own. She's got a new b/f so I'm hoping she's actually getting some studying done.
It looks like she may be a go for the Islet transplant program in the spring. They have to run her through some tests and get a few evals before they'll do anything but barring problems things look like a go.
That's so cool, fishin...you must be very proud of your daughter. I hope things work out for her with the transplant program. You'll have to keep us posted!
I don't know him real well, he's an engr. type - in his cube alot and very introverted.
Phoenix, like so many other posters, my first instinct is to rebel against having to choose just one entity for a donation.
I guess I would donate it to the poor because of the increasing gap between the rich and the poor. It seems their options are fewer and their needs are ignored more than ever.
Matrix and Fishin' good luck to your daughters. They are fortunate to have loving and knowledgable parents such as you.
The thing about giving to the poor is that you want to do it in a way that helps them up vs. enabling them to feed off benefactors
I"m fascinated to hear all about this new research for Diabetes. I can also understand about not wanting something "attached". Maybe some day they'll find one sub-dermal that would work. One of my old friends, now in Colorado was diabetic. She and I rode horses together for years and years. Watching her adjust to herself with insulin, testing and food, while leading such an active life was amazing. We would go on long trail rides, sometimes for the entire day. Good grief, she had a kit to bring with her, and little cans of OJ, always.
OK. I give $30 million to your research, but I still want to help the Nature Conservancy.
I've been on the inside at the N.C., and know how much the fund-raiser getting credit for your donation would get, so they are a definite no-go for any funds from me.
I considered taking the money and buying a large tract of land and donating it to the National Park system here.
Then I realized I'd rather see the money go to the arts, in particular an arts in education program. Arts programs are being cut from school programs at a frightening rate. I believe that students can learn as much from music and art as they can from math and physics, so I'd set up a foundation to invest the money and make donations to school boards (similar to Setanta's idea) - specifically for arts programs for elementary schools.
I was just listening to a fascinating program about an orchestra made up of local health professionals - many of them give credit to their interest in music for their later medical careers - I'll get my medical investment kick that way.
I would set up a trust and hand it over to a certain Educational Institution I know very well. I like the philosophy these schools are based on.
My daughter says, "Thank you, Piffka!" Me, too.
There has been work on sub-dermal devices, but again, all is experimental and probably years away from being anything that the general population can use. Someday, there will be a magic device perfected for people with Diabetes, but the best possible thing would be to cure it and to PREVENT it completely. Someday...
Until then, those "kits" as you referred to will have to be carried around by most Diabetics. Even Diabetics who use the pump must carry around a syringe and insulin if they will be far from home for any length of time in case the tubing on the pump clogs, etc. And, even if we travel someplace like Seattle or Tacoma (or even someplace like Southcenter Mall-even closer) we have to pack enough food for a meal or two incase we get stuck on the freeway...a common occurence when driving through Tacoma! You can't always count on being able to get off of the freeway to buy something, so you have to pack for the trip. When we go spend the day at the zoo, the backpack I wear with supplies for her can be quite heavy, but if I don't take the stuff, that's when we'll need it...
Really, ehBeth??? The middle-man for the N.C. really gets that huge of a cut, huh? That's really disappointing...(there better not be any middle-man getting a cut from our clicking!!!). Would you change your mind and donate your funds to the N.C. if there were no middle-man? Just curious...
Hi, ul...It's good to see you here
!
I still love the Nature Conservancy. They've got a good plan... to lock up certain natural areas in ways that even the government cannot touch.
I have stayed at N.C. inns -- they were nice and my kind of spot. The inroads made on "fussing" with National Parks, National Forests and even Wilderness areas has me all in a dither.
Having briefly considered "Republicans Dismayed By Rude Statuary", I too have decided to throw money at education (ehBeth...it's getting ugly here too, our new premier following the same game plan as your last fellow...but our local civic elections were very heartwarming and Vancouver will very shortly have a safe injection site with medical people, counsellors, clean needles, etc....I'm quite proud of this city suddenly) but my education funding would be directed towards a Socratic initiative in the elementary grades (read...arming them with capable bullshit detectors).
