Life after 60 – Adventure

Archive for May, 2010

Terrell Heritage Jubilee and Festival

by on May.04, 2010, under Life in General

I recently attended the Heritage Jubilee in Terrell Texas. This is an annual event that is HUGE. I have plenty to blog about from this event. Stay tuned for photos of David Cline and is really cool motorcycle “Big Slick.’ I will also talk about his CD that is full of Texas Hold Em songs. Just try listening to that if you’re from the DFW area while you are headed east into LA for the gambling boats. There is a historical train car at the park in Terrell. I’ll have information about it with pictures. There will also be other posts about a very interesting “charming home for elegant senior ladies” in Terrell called Jefferson Manor. So be sure to come back and see the posts. If you see yourself in any of the photos be sure to leave your info in the comments section………….

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Cedar Creek Lake 2nd Annual Car Show and Kiwanis Krawfish Boil

by on May.04, 2010, under Life in General

I attended this event on Saturday. It seemed larger that last year’s event. There will be a photo post on the event with plenty of photos sometime this week. Stay tuned and be sure to come back – you may be in the photo! If you or your car is shown, be sure to leave a comment with your info so everyone will know which vehicle or crawfish face is yours…….

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Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

by on May.01, 2010, under Good Causes

Please visit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and learn how you can help

(Editor’s note – this is a press release taken from jdrf.org shown in its entirety for educational purposes. Please visit their site for additional information.)

Type 1 Diabetes (Juvenile Diabetes) Facts

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. While its causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers are involved.

Affects Children and Adults
Type 1 diabetes usually strikes children, adolescents, and young adults, but it can be diagnosed in adults as well. It comes on suddenly, causes dependence on injected or pumped insulin for life, and carries the constant threat of devastating complications.

Needs Constant Attention
To stay alive, people with type 1 diabetes must take multiple insulin injections daily or continually infuse insulin through a pump. They must also test their blood sugar by pricking their fingers for blood six or more times a day. While trying to balance insulin doses with their food intake and daily activities, people with this form of diabetes still must always be prepared for serious hypoglycemic (low blood sugar) and hyperglycemic (high blood sugar) reactions, both of which can be life-limiting and life threatening.

Not Cured By Insulin
While insulin injections or infusions allow a person with type 1 to stay alive, they do not cure diabetes, nor do they necessarily prevent the possibility of the disease’s devastating effects, which may include: kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage, amputations, heart attack, stroke, and pregnancy complications.

Difficult to Manage
Despite paying rigorous attention to maintaining a meal plan and exercise regimen and always injecting the proper amount of insulin, people with type 1 diabetes face many other factors that can adversely affect efforts to tightly control blood sugar levels. These factors include stress, hormonal changes, periods of growth, physical activity, medications, illness/infection, and fatigue.

Statistics

  • As many as three million Americans may have type 1 diabetes.
  • Each year, more than 15,000 children – 40 per day – are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the U.S.

Warning Signs
Warning signs of type 1 diabetes may occur suddenly and include:

  • Extreme thirst
  • Frequent urination
  • Drowsiness or lethargy
  • Increased appetite
  • Sudden weight loss
  • Sudden vision changes
  • Sugar in the urine
  • Fruity odor on the breath
  • Heavy or labored breathing
  • Stupor or unconsciousness

What is it Like to Have Type 1 Diabetes?
Ask people who have type 1 diabetes, and they will tell you: It’s difficult. It’s upsetting. It’s life-threatening. It never goes away.

“Both children and adults like me who live with type 1 diabetes need to be mathematicians, physicians, personal trainers, and dieticians all rolled into one. We need to be constantly factoring and adjusting, making frequent finger sticks to check blood sugars, and giving ourselves multiple daily insulin injections just to stay alive.”

– JDRF International Chairman Mary Tyler Moore

“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 ’til the day we die.”
– Tre Kawkins, 12, Michigan

“I never realized how much of my day would be spent dealing with
this disease and all of its challenges.”

– Patrick Lacher, 13, Connecticut

“A cure would give us freedom to carry on a normal life without
taking a break to check our blood or have a snack.”

– Asa Kelly, 16, North Carolina

Type 1 Diabetes, 2004; KRC Research for JDRF, Jan. 2005

For more information, visit the JDRF Web site at http://www.jdrf.org/ or call 800-533-CURE.

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