Fighting Juvenile Diabetes
Washington,
Jan 28, 2008 -
By Congresswoman Michele Bachmann
"This disease controls our lives with all the pricking of the fingers, shots, high and low blood sugars; it's like being on a seesaw. Without a cure, we will be stuck on this seesaw till the day we die."
- Tre Kawkins, 12, Michigan
"I want to live someday without thinking about my diabetes. It's a lot for a little kid to keep up with."
--Luke Varadi, 11, South Carolina
Luke and Tre and are just two of the three million kids in our nation suffering from juvenile diabetes. And another than 15,000 children across America are diagnosed with this heartbreaking illness every single year.
Suddenly these young kids – who should be enjoying their most innocent, carefree years – are thrust into an unrelenting daily barrage where one forgotten shot, prick or test, one dietary misstep, can put their very lives at risk.
No child should have to carry this burden.
And that is why I, like so many Minnesotans, am committed to fighting juvenile diabetes.
To help raise crucial funds and much-needed awareness, I was proud to again participate in the annual Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Walk to Cure Diabetes. Held in the Mall of America, 18,000 Minnesotans came together for the largest indoor walk in the world and raised invaluable funds in the search for a cure.
And to further aid that search, I supported the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 [S.2499] which allocated $150 million dollars to fund research that could bring an end to this anguishing disease once and for all.
Because not only must these children endure a lifetime of injections just to stay alive, but the sad reality is that they must also face shortened life expectancy, reduced quality of life and the threat of debilitating medical complications – from kidney failure to amputation to blindness.
But the reality of today does not have to be the reality of tomorrow.
In the early 20th century, America was plagued by Polio outbreaks which brutally afflicted countless children. Determined to defeat this devastating disease, scientists joined a “great race,” for a vaccine and in 1952 American biologist Jonas Salk succeeded in doing just that. Soon, Polio would be on the path to eradication.
My faith in American ingenuity, and the compassion and dedication of her people, leave me with no doubt that a cure for diabetes will be found. But each of us has the power to bring the cure another day closer to realization. Each of us has the power to save one more life, to liberate one more child from suffering, to help lift this burden from the shoulders of our most vulnerable.
Today forty more children will be diagnosed with this illness. And forty more children will start dreaming of a day when they can be cured.
With just a little time, a little effort, a little more awareness, each of us has the power to make that dream real.
"If they find a cure then we won't have to worry about the long-term stuff, like blindness. We won't have to worry about what could happen, because it won’t happen."
--Riley Wern, Age 12, Minnesota
