My Hopes

Not only is it physically demanding to ride 100 miles, but it requires a lot of fundraising - between $2,000 and $4,000!  The amount alone has put it off because I wasn't sure if I could raise that much money.  But I'm at the point now where I look at it as "Yes, it's a lot of money to raise, but that is $4k that will do a lot of research!" There are two areas that I would like to see them apply that money towards the research, development, and FDA approval of.

My hopes for the future of Type 1 Diabetes:
1). Prevention. If T1D is not triggered by genetics then it is caused by a virus that triggers the immune system to attack the beta cells.  It's hard to figure out what virus causes it because by the time T1D is diagnosed, the virus is long out of the system.  The best way to cure something is to prevent it.

2). Islet Cell Transplants.  There are many reasons why I am all for this transplant and to me, this is the greatest hope of a cure for current T1Ds.

First reason is because of promising successes that they've had so far such as this one! The cells can come from a variety of sources.  It use to be that they had to have two donated pancreases for one transplant, but now they are doing it as long as they can get enough viable cells from one!  They are working on the feasability of using cells from pigs!  Read more about the Spring Point Project here.

Second is that it seems like it wouldn't have such drastic consequences if there is rejection.  The body could easily dispel the cells, rather than having to have surgery to remove a whole organ.

At any rate, any progress is better than none!  And having heard of the progress that they have made with treatments over the past 50 years, I'm optimistic.  Above anything else, I hope that Ellee sees some kind of relief in her lifetime!