Walk to Cure Diabetes 2008

We can't believe that a whole year has passed since we last walked in the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes. Seems like yesterday!
Once again, we write on behalf of our Son, Aaron, who has type 1 diabetes. This year we are also walking for Gloria's Father (who goes by the name of Pop), who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a couple of years ago.
As most of you know, at the age of 11 months, Aaron was diagnosed with juvenile (type 1) diabetes. He is required to check his blood sugar levels by pricking his fingers about 6 times a day. Aaron is on an insulin pump, which replaces injections, but we have to change his infusion sight every 2-3 days, which involves poking him with a long needle. Aaron wears this insulin pump 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We have to count all the carbohydrates that Aaron ingests, and account for them with insulin from his insulin pump. We have to account for the exercise that Aaron does, because blood sugars normally drop when a person is physically active. When he is sick, there is no way to predict how that will affect his blood sugars. In short, Aaron and us have to always think how will this affect my blood sugars? This is something that Aaron will deal with for the rest of his life, unless a cure is found. Worst of all, this disease carries with it the risk of life-threatening complications. At age 9 diabetes is part of Aaron's everyday life. To this point, he has endured 17,520 finger pricks in his young life. But as you probably know, insulin is not a cure for diabetes-it's merely life support.
As parents, we try from the moment our children are born to protect them from harm. For our family, that means doing our part to help find a cure for diabetes by supporting the work of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). JDRF's mission is constant-to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Since 1970, JDRF has provided over $1.1 billion to diabetes research-more than any other non-profit, non-governmental agency in the world!
On Sunday, September 14, 2008, we will participate in JDRF's annual Walk to Cure Diabetes. Please help us make a difference for Aaron (and Pop) and the millions of other people living with diabetes. There are 3 ways you can join us in the fight against this disease:
1.Join our Family Team, which consists of family, friends, neighbors and co-workers who collect pledges and walk with us on September 14. To register, visit http://www.jdrf.org/ , then click on the green sneaker. When registering, please be sure to select Pop and Aaron's Aces as your team name from the pull-down menu.
2.Send a tax-deductible donation, made payable to the JDRF, to us.
3.Make an online credit card donation in support of our team. Go to http://www.jdrf.org/, click on the green sneaker, and then donate to our team by searching for Aaron Feuer under the heading Support a Walker.

You can also check out the local JDRF website at jdrfdetroit.org.

Our goal this year is to raise $2000 for diabetes research. Every dollar will help bring us one step closer the the cure. Thank you in advance for your support and we hope to see you at the Walk on September 14, 2008 between 9 and 10 A.M., at the General Motors Tech Center in Warren, Michigan.

With Thanks,
Gloria and Jeff Feuer and Family