It Takes an Army

If you read my blog, I'm sure that you know my friend Meri who blogs at Our Diabetic Life.  She is a beautiful person, with a beautiful family, fighting her husband's cancer with everything they have.  Please read her update below and consider joining us in prayer this Sunday.  We need an army!

 

Dear Friends,

We received the news last week that our most recent brain scan shows a new army of tumors.   Ryan no longer qualifies for radiation, or any trials.   We will begin our last med option tomorrow morning.   Urvoy is a medication given once every three weeks for 12 weeks.   The medicine works on a small number of patients and takes a good 5 to 6 weeks to make any improvement.   As things are progressing fast and furious, that is a very scary timeframe for us.   Despite the odds, Ryan remains convinced that he will be ok.   More than ever we need your prayers, as Ryan's body is so very weak right now.   Our family is setting aside this Sunday as a day of prayer and fasting on Ryan's behalf.   If you feel as though you would like to join us, we would sincerely appreciate each and every prayer offered.   Thank you so much for all the good thoughts, love and prayers you have directed towards our family.   It is now time to ramp up our prayers again.   An army of believers has to be stronger than cancer.   It just has to be.    

Much love ~Meri

With this update from Meri, we (the SFM Admin) have decided to begin raising funds once again for this family.  Please don't feel obligated, but if you can, please donate to the Schuhmacher family to help with continuing medical expenses.  Any amount is appreciated.  We have the goal set at $15,000 and a 2 week timeline.  This will allow the money to get to Meri and Ryan as quickly as possible.

Continuing prayers are also VERY much appreciated.

Here is the link to donate if you can, and please feel free to share with your friends and family: http://www.giveforward.com/schuhmacherfamilymiracle2
 
Thank you ♥

A Very Special Thank You

Yesterday was a special day.  We were lucky enough to celebrate three special occasions in one day. First, it was Jessi's 7th birthday!  While we are planning her party for another day, we did celebrate with chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and a couple of gifts to open!

The second event was the wedding of a beautiful young lady who I babysat for when she was a little girl.  (So far, both were special events, although both have made me feel old!)

The third of these special events was the wedding of my cousin, Joe, to his beautiful bride Miranda.  I have to share with you their most special way of saying "Thank you".

(Please excuse the plain photo.  I'm so mad at myself for not taking a picture of this note card while it was sitting on the table at the reception.  The centerpieces were beautiful and this shimmering card was sitting in front of them, reflecting the glow of the candles.)

Isn't that the coolest thing ever?  Instead of spending money on trinkets for the guests to take home, they donated the money that they would have spent to JDRF in honor of Ally.  It made me cry, but it made my heart smile too.  What a completely selfless act, on a day that should be all about the newlyweds!

Ally told Miranda "thank you" and her response was, "Thank you for being so strong in dealing with your diabetes."  She also told me that she hoped that other guests at the wedding would read it and think about making a donation as well.

A few people around the DOC have been writing about the days when diabetes just makes us feel alone.  We get that.  But today we feel the opposite.  What a beautiful thing for our family to advocate for Ally and for her future through their support of JDRF!

So, thank you to Joe & Miranda, for making us feel special on your special day!

Diabetes Can't Stop Me!

Ally's thoughts on Friends For Life:

If you know anyone with diabetes, you should go to FFL!

It's so much fun!

If you don't have diabetes, you can learn more about it and how to take care of people with diabetes.

You get to meet other people who understand everything you do. Everybody is checking their blood sugar at the same time. I didn't have to be the only one.

Sugar, Ally and Brianna doing a group BG check.

If you do have diabetes, you can have more sleepovers because people understand how to take care of kids like me with D! 

(There may have been a FFL sleepover in our hotel room :)  Stay tuned for the scoop on that!)

It is one of the only places you can go where people don't ask you what is that on your arm?  Or ask why you go to the nurse all the time.  Or say things like, 'Ummm...you have a phone in school.  I'm gonna tell!'

Friends for Life is awesome!!  It makes you feel like diabetes isn't that bad after all.  Now I know that I can still do anything that I want even though I have diabetes.

As soon as we got back home from our trip to Orlando, Ally made this sign for her bedroom. 

I want to say thank you to all of the People With Diabetes (PWDs) for being an inspiration to my daughter.  You taught her that...

"Diabetes Can't Stop Me!  You can do anything even with diabetes."

So thank you to Ironman Triathlete Jay Hewitt, NFL Player Kendall Simmons, and Indy Car Driver Charlie Kimball and thank you to Novo Nordisk for sponsoring their participation.  Thank you to Snow-boarding World Cup competitor Mike Fisher and to LifeScan, Inc. for sponsoring his participation at FFL.  Thank you to Phil Southerland and other members of Team Type 1 (and to Sanofi-Aventis for their sponsorship).  It was a bonus for us to pass members of Team Type 1 on the road as we traveled home from the conference.

Thank you to Crystal Bowersox! My kids are walking around singing "Live Life First!" 

Thank you to Kim for showing our kids that You Can Do This!

Thank you to Lee Ann for encouraging our kids creativity through Diabetes Art!

Thank you to Kelly for helping the kids feel the meaning of SAME! 

And thanks for just plain having fun with us!  We  you!

More than anything else, this is why we went to FFL!  I agree with Ally, it was awesome!