Boston to Dublin Marathon for Type 1 diabetes cure
Brian Callahan is a friend of mine from Massachusetts, who's working to cure type 1 diabetes. He tried to talk me into taking part in a marathon in Dublin, Ireland, but I decided it was too much for me - hence my triathlon last month.
Brian, part of his family, and over 11,000 others, will be running the Dublin Marathon on October 27. But he's working to raise funds for Dr. Faustman's research. Please consider supporting his efforts. More details below. (And no, Brian isn't going to bring me back any Irish sausages in exchange for this posting.)
Dear Friends & Family:
On October 27, 2008 my wife Ann Marie, brother Dennis & I will be running the Adidas Dublin Marathon [and my daughter Benna will be running the half-marathon (13.1)]. We will run each step of the 26.2 miles knowing that it is much more difficult for a child with juvenile diabetes (type 1 diabetes) to take insulin shots each day, to count each carbohydrate that she or he eats and to finger prick for blood sugars around the clock than it is to complete a marathon.
Three years ago we ran (along with Ray DeRosas) the 2005 New York City Marathon to raise funds for Dr. Denise Faustman and thanks to your generosity we raised almost $20,000.00. We will again run in honor of daughter/niece Grace Callahan and friends Alex O’Donovan, Jared Darnell, Lian McDonough, Oona Sullivan, Merry Morrison, Reilly White and Nicholas Killoran, all children who have juvenile diabetes.
People with type 1 diabetes require daily injections of insulin and blood glucose monitoring many times a day to try and control their blood sugar levels. High blood sugars levels increases the risk of diabetes complications like blindness, kidney disease and other health issues.
Thanks to donations and support from folks like you Dr. Faustman started a phase 1 human clinical trial on her approach for a diabetes cure. In 2009 she is planning to start phase 2 trials for this possible cure, and that phase will cost about $25 million.
Please consider making a donation to support Dr. Faustman's human clinical trials. There is no dollar amount that is too big or too small. Every penny goes directly to Dr. Faustman's exciting research.
You can sponsor us for any amount in one of two ways.
1. Make out a check to Massachusetts General Hospital and put Dr. Faustman Type 1 research in the memo field. Then send it to me at Brian Callahan, 77 Dover Street, Medford, MA 02155
I know there are lots of demands for your charitable dollars especially in tough economic times so any help you can provide us will be truly appreciated. One way you can help is to forward this email to anyone who may have a diabetic in their family.
Last Saturday dawned as a beautiful if chilly day in Portland Maine. I was up around 6:15 AM (45 degrees C) to put my triathlon gear into the car and by 8 AM I was on the road to beautiful Biddeford for the first ever Mainiac triathlon.
I put all my stuff at the transition area and talked with some other folks before the race started. As I wanted to keep my blood sugar under control, I'd decided not to eat any carbs for breakfast and I reduced my basal to 50% for 2 hours about 2 hours before race time. Thanks to my Dexcom, I was able to watch my BG creep up until it was around 215 before the swim started. So I ended up taking a small bolus before removing the pump and zipping into my wetsuit.
Then off to the beach with other triathletes to wait for the pep talk before race time.
After a recap of the rules and a lovely rendition of The Star-Spangled Banner, we all walked down the beach to the official starting point.
There were four swim waves separated by 3 minutes. I was in the third wave, for the over-40 men. So we got to see the first wave rush towards to the water while we waited nervously. As someone said, it was a beautiful photo moment.
After a few minutes of smalltalk it was our turn to rush towards the cool blue Atlantic water. Let me just say that the swim was a lot harder than I'd expected. Although I'd done several miles of swim training overall, the combination of the colder water and the slight current made this part a lot more difficult than I expected. So I made slow progress in completing the 1/4 mile, and I was fairly worn out when I did make it back to the beach. (Note to self, I need to learn to do front crawl!)
Then it was a 100 yard dash up the beach to the transition point. I dried quickly and got my pump back on as I changed into my bike gear. My blood sugar had gone up slightly, so another minor correction and a quick drink of some electrolyte mixture before getting on the bike.
The bike ride was 14.7 miles and it was really flat with nice scenery all along the way. Much of it hugged the coast and the breeze was gentle enough that it neither helped nor hindered. But I did notice my legs cramping up during the last few miles. I stopped twice to get a look at the Dexcom and drink some extra fluids, and my blood sugar was finally getting closer to a normal range.
Getting back to the transition area, my blood sugar was around 150. A relatively quick change into running shoes and top and I was off on the last 3.2 miles. Now the weather was a good deal warmer, so no long sleeves were needed.
One of the things that the run (really an extended jog/walk) taught me was just how hard it is to do even a short triathlon like this one. I appreciate much more how hard an Ironman event must be, especially with diabetes. By the time I got to the first water stop, my blood sugar was dropping faster so I drank some energy drink and walked on. At some stage I passed the 1-mile marker and was very disappointed that it didn't have a big 3 on it!
But I made it all the way home to the big timer and a "Bernard Farrell is now a Mainiac" announcement from the DJ.
The organizers did a great job. There were several folks from a local college who were training as masseurs, so I managed to get some relief for my brick-like calf muscles. That helped a lot.
Total time was a big disappointment, a little over 2:07. But looking at the biking time, I realize that it was the tiring swim that really messed me up. During the entire triathlon my blood sugars ranged from 230 to 130, which is a little high but a great range overall.
The good news was that I finished the triathlon and was still able to walk/get around for the rest of the weekend. Along the way, thanks to many friends, I managed to raise over $4,700 to support Dr. Faustman's research into a type 1 cure. (And I'm happy to take more donations if you're feeling generous.
By a strange coincidence I met Dr. Faustman on Monday, when I was giving another blood sample for her research. The news there is all great. In August her team published a paper showing that their approach kills the bad T-cells that destroy our insulin-producing beta cells. They also showed that this approach did not kill any important cells in the healthy blood samples. To my mind, that's important proof that this is unlikely to produce unwanted side effects.
Dr. Faustman also told me that she was interviewed recently and asked which venture capitalist was funding her research. She told the interviewer that it was being funded by lemonade stands and bike rides. He was amazed that this level of research could be funded in that way.
Those of us in the D-community understand the importance of this research for ourselves or our children. And we're doing whatever we can to keep it going, though it seems like an impossible task at times.
Thank you all for your support in my triathlon attempt. Next year (hah!) I plan to get to the finish line much more quickly and in better shape.
Attribution: The great photos were taken by my sister-in-law, Marie Mersereau.
He's going to post the interview once he's had a chance to transcribe it (be patient, this will take time).
Dr. Faustman did an excellent job of explaining how they arrived at the approach being trialled, to use BCG as part of a possible type 1 diabetes cure. The current trial (and remember that many trials fail) is to determine whether a low dose of BCG has any effect on the bad T-cells. The trial completion and trial results won't happen until sometime next year. Remember, these are phase 1 trials and many phase 1 trials fail.
I asked her how much it would cost to complete phase 2 trials. The price tag is $25 million. That's a lot of fund raising and asking people for support.
They can't do trials in multiple centers because the equipment they've developed for testing results is not portable. In one case they moved a piece of equipment across the lab. It took 9 MONTHS to recalibrate it and get it working again.
We saw the equipment (no photos allowed). It's complex and large. The size of a full sized fridge on its side. To take a blood sample and extract the T cells takes an entire day. This is not fast work. They're doing it in a methodical and painstaking ways. At the same time she's taken some bold steps to move forward when others might have held back.
Each time I've met Dr. Faustman I've been impressed by her ability to clearly explain complex processes and experiments in layperson terms. She clearly understands the urgency of this work, but she needs to do it 'the right way' so that the results cannot be questioned. Remember when her original work was published in 2001, 2002 a lot of scientists did not believe the approach would work. It's now been replicated in several other labs.
I know the timescales aren't fast enough for any of us. This type of scientific experimentation takes time and a lot of effort. The lab has had delays in the past because they were waiting for funding. The best way we can speed the process up is to continue to fund the work.
I'm hoping to run in a triathlon later this year and use that for fund-raising. I also use the (small) ad revenue from my diabetes search engine to support the lab. There are many other ways to sponsor the work of the lab.
Once David blogs about the interview, I'll update this post with a pointer to it.
Spring. When a young man's thoughts turn to fund-raising bike rides
Oh no, I hear you say. It can't be that time again.
Well it is.
I had a lot of fun in September of last year taking part in the Bike the Miles event to raise money that supported Dr. Faustman's work at Mass General Hospital.
The ride itself is on Sunday, September 9th. It will be starting in Danbury, CT. If you want to ride with me, we could make a D-Bloggers team!
This time I'm starting sooner and aiming to raise a huge amount of sponsorship.
"How much sponsorship?", I hear you say.
Well why not click on my fund-raising page now and find out. Go on, just one click is all it takes. I'll be here when you get back.
And hey, if you hurry you might be my first sponsor. And I'm going to need lots of them.
Here's my promise (this is a bit like public radio fund raising), I'll stop mentioning it on my blog once I hit my target. And this year, I won't be revising the target amount.
Wish me luck. Tell your friends and family. I have no shame.
Updated to add information about the date and place.
I just heard today that the cycle ride to directly support Dr. Faustman's research at Mass. General is happening this year in September.
The full details are on their website. The ride itself will be in New Canaan, Connecticut on Saturday September 9th, so you've lots of time to get ready to participate.
How about d-bloggers? Wouldn't this make the ideal place to get together? We could all take part in (say) the 20-mile ride, enjoy ourselves, and raise funds for this research?
Imagine being able to say to someone in 2015 "You remember Dr. Faustman and how she figured out a cure for diabetes? Well I actually raised money to support that research, so in a way I helped develop that cure."?
The Diabetes Technology Blog is focused on using technology to live life to the full with diabetes. I review new diabetes technology including: blood glucose monitors; continuous glucose monitors; blood sugar meters; diabetes software and living with diabetes.
About Me
Name: Bernard Farrell
Location: Massachusetts, United States
I was born in Ireland and now live in the US.
I have had Type 1 diabetes for over 36 years. I struggle with my blood sugar, the same as most people with diabetes.
I wear a Cozmo 1800 insulin pump and a Dexcom SEVEN Plus CGM to track my blood glucose levels.
I'm blessed by God, and every day brings the possibility of a cure.
