Done with Klass

This has been a fairly normal week at our house. Samantha Grace has been full of energy this week keeping Mommy and Daddy on their toes! She is learning more words everyday.

Mommy was talking about being productive to Samantha Grace. Then SG just shouted out the word "ductive" trying to say the word "productive". Mommy was quite amazed. Then Mommy asked her to show her what she thought productive meant. After this she proceeded to pick-up all of the measuring cups that she had gotten out of the cabinet. Mommy praised her and was quite amazed! :)

Another amazing thing happened this week. For those of you that don't know, next Saturday, January 30th our family along with 30+ of our closest friends from church, area schools, and local gyms will join together for Montgomery's Diabetes 5K at the Capitol. We have formed a team called "Samantha Grace's Sugar Busters". (Thanks to Mrs.Ruth for our name!) We all have t-shirts made running/walking in her honor! We are pretty excited!

Not only are we going to be raising awareness about Type I diabetes, but a new friend that works for the sports section of our Montgomery Advertiser so graciously agreed to interview our family about SG's story. Kym Klass's article will run in tomorrow's paper. Unfortunately not all of our blog readers are in our area, so I have posted the article that will appear tomorrow below. Tomorrow I will post the actual article link from the paper!

If you would still like to support our team by giving to JDRF please e-mail me at cdukerunner@hotmail.com. I will be turning in our donation on February 1. I have a lofty goal of sending in $2,000 from t-shirts and other donations, but I know nothing is impossible with God's help! Thank you in advance to all our supporters!

Carri Duke has run five marathons, too many half marathons to remember the number and her share of shorter-distance road races.¶ But despite the miles she has run, and the time dedicated to training for each race, she learned her biggest challenge isn’t on the roads.¶ Her biggest challenge came when her then 12-month-old daughter, Samantha Grace, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.¶ A marathon is easy in comparison.¶ Duke will continue her fight for a cure for Type 1 Diabetes at Saturday’s House Leadership Race for Diabetes, which starts at 8 a.m. at the Alabama State Capitol on Washington Avenue. She will join a group of women -- her friends -- who will wear shirts with "Samantha Grace’s Sugar Busters" on it. There will be about 30 of them — women from Duke’s Montgomery church, First Baptist Church (where her husband Joshua Duke is the associate minister of music), as well as some of her running partners from Metro Fitness.¶ In Alabama, there typically are only four cases each year of a child under age 1 are diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Usually at this age, the disease is genetic. In Samantha Grace’s case, it was viral. When the then-12-month-old was weighed at her 1-year check-up, she only gained 9 ounces from her 9-month check up. Duke attributed that to her daughter’s metabolism. But soon, every time she started putting her down to sleep, her screams were piercing.¶ She ate a lot, and Duke -- assistant director at Trinity preschool -- thought maybe her daughter had stomach issues.¶ Samantha Grace would only sleep in 30-minute increments. Check-ups at the pediatrician office came back normal. But there was weight loss, chronic ear infections, and fever viruses. And doctors started taking more blood tests.¶ And when her blood sugar level was found to be more than 600, she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. There’s no cure for Type 1.¶ Before she was life-flighted to Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, Samantha Grace's level reached 914, and doctors didn’t know how she was still alive.¶ Normal levels for anybody is between about 70 and 120.¶ Samantha Grace takes gymnastics classes — she will have opportunities in sports just like any other child. She has a pump that pumps insulin into her every 10 minutes. Look at her, and know nothing will hold her back. There is an intensity in Duke when she talks about her daughter, about her condition and about every way it has affected her family of three. Ask Duke about her running, and she speaks with the same passion as she does about her daughter. She loves marathons for the challenge. To her, running is a drug. As many runners will say, it’s a stress reliever. ¶ She will be out with her friends on Saturday, with her daughter’s message on her shirts. She won’t give up until a cure has been found. Duke describes her now 22-month-old as a ball of energy, the light of her life. She said Samantha Grace has not been slowed down by the diabetes. "The days you are frustrated, and she says, ‘Mommy, I love you,’ you realize it’s not about only the diabetes," Duke said. It’s about loving your child."