Dear Family and Friends –

Well, hello everyone.  It’s Drew Bogdan.  It has been awhile since I have reached out, and quite a lot has happened that I would like to share with you.

First after the longest summer ever, I started high school.  Finally, I’m done with middle school!  My parents commended me on this achievement when I started school this year by saying, “Congratulations son you’re in high school.  This is the first year that really counts.”   While I think I somehow already knew that, I did appreciate my parents making it absolutely clear.  

Much to my mother’s chagrin, I am still wrestling.  I absolutely love the sport.  I love the workouts, skill training, matches, hanging with the team, and travel.  Did I say I love wrestling?  I really love wrestling.  I wrestle almost all year around. Last year, I wrestled varsity as an 8th grader and did well for my first varsity season.  I cannot wait for the season to start in November. 

I have learned how to better manage my Type 1 diabetes. I now wear an insulin pump, that I call Bob, which adheres to my skin, and communicates with its controller via Bluetooth.  We have even figured out how to sport tape the pump to my leg when I am wrestling.  I can’t take it off because I am completely dependent on insulin and my practices go on for hours.

Unfortunately, my insulin pump is not smart.  None of the pumps are.  It only does what you tell it to do.  The pump does not read blood sugar.  It does not know if I have eaten.  It does not know that I am exercising. It cannot figure out how much insulin I need.  It does not work like a pancreas but someday with more research and development I am sure that it can.

There is good news since I last wrote. I now have a continuous glucose monitor.  I have a sensor, which implants under my skin, which can read my blood sugar levels continuously.  I have had diabetes for 11 years and this advancement really helps. I call the sensor Betty.  I had to give her name as she nags me constantly.  I mean 24/7.   I still need to do finger stick blood tests at least 5 times per day but the sensor gives me important information that I can use to adjust my insulin doses, and catch blood sugar lows and highs as soon as possible.   Betty (my monitor) doesn’t tell Bob (my insulin pump) what to do yet but with more research and development the two of them can be taught to work together to make an artificial pancreas.

This year I am participating as a Student Ambassador of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) in Fund-A-Cure.  My mom volunteers with JDRF.   JDRF funds ongoing research to develop better ways to treat Type 1 diabetes like the artificial pancreas project and to find a cure for this 24/7 disease.  One of the other exciting research projects they are working on is the encapsulation of insulin-making cells in “nano-suits” of armor to protect them from immune system attack.  If they are able to find a way to protect insulin-making cells in my body, I could be cured of this disease.  I wish for the day when I can stop carbohydrate counting, injecting insulin, and constantly monitoring my blood sugar levels.     

Please consider making a donation to Fund-A-Cure.  The donation is 100% tax deductible as the entire donation goes directly to research.   The total amount of Fund-A-Cure donations I raise will be presented at the JDRF Ball that will take place on November 7, 2015.  The Ball is always a great event because everyone comes together and has fun while raising money for a cure.  Both Martin, Harding & Mazzotti and Bogdan, Lasky & Frazier are sponsoring the event. 

There is a link to make a donation on this page, or you can send a check made payable to JDRF in care of my mom, Rosemarie Riddell Bogdan, at Martin, Harding & Mazzotti, 1222 Troy-Schenectady Road, Niskayuna, NY 12309.  Every dollar raised makes a difference!

Drew Bogdan, Age 14