Eight Years Ago Today

Exactly eight years ago today I received a telephone call from my daughter Karla. “Our pediatrician told me to immediately take Oliver to the ER at Children’s Mercy Hospital,” Karla said. “They checked Oliver’s blood sugar, but it was too high to register on the instrument they had in the office.”

The specialists at the hospital found that Oliver’s blood sugar was more than 400 percent higher than normal. Oliver was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. A new routine was quickly introduced: finger pricks, test strips, counting carbs, insulin injections.

The doctor stated that Oliver probably had been malnourished for up to three months since his body lacked the insulin with which to convert the food he ate into energy. “Give him anything he wants to eat,” the doctor instructed the nurses. On one day at the hospital Oliver had twelve waffles and nine pieces of bacon. It got to where the nurses didn’t even have to give the kitchen a room number; the kitchen staff knew where to send the waffles and bacon.

Just a few weeks after the diagnosis, Team Jolly Ollie stepped out for our first JDRF One Walk. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundations raises funds used to find a cure for T1D. I wrote about that experience (link). As I just re-read what I wrote in 2010, the way I closed the essay may speak more loudly today than it did then. Eight years ago, I said:

“We live in a media-deranged period that elevates a few personalities to cult status. The person for whom celebrity is a thin veneer does little to construct a better world. We’ve seen too many examples in recent years where persons have commandeered financial systems for self-enrichment, used political power to form a pseudo dynasty, or abandoned spiritual authority for sexual perversion. Too many twisted individuals get too much publicity.

“The fabric that knits our society together, however, consists of thousands of ordinary people who care deeply about the well-being of others. They hear of a need and immediately respond with acts of compassion and words of hope. They recognize that linking arms creates strength exponentially greater than standing alone.

“The goodness of the United States cannot be summarized in a few biographies of key people in this experiment called democracy. No, it is by the people, for the people, that decency and righteousness prevail. The vigor of the community will overcome obstacles and challenges.

“I saw that clearly as I held the hand of a two-year-old wearing a blue cap when we found our place in the procession.”

I invite you to find your place, too. Walk with us on September 22 if you are in the KC area. Make a donation to help fund a cure for T1D. Our team’s goal is $10,000; we’re currently at $1,285. Follow this link to my JDRF page, read the whole essay, and click on the orange button to make a contribution. We, the people, can make a difference in the lives of those with T1D. Thanks for being part of Team Jolly Ollie.