Posted 11:09 pm Sunday, April 01, 2012
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Area Type 1 Diabetes Group Forms National Organization
The Type One Diabetes Foundation in Tyler is expanding its good work.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body destroys insulin-producing cells. The vast majority of people who have diabetes have Type 2, which is sometimes associated with being overweight.
Those with Type 1 must take insulin their entire lives. It never goes away.
To encourage kids (and adults) with Type 1, the Type One Diabetes Foundation in Tyler was formed.
"I often say when I'm sharing about this disease that because it only affects 5 to 7 percent of the diabetes population, it is often hidden and overshadowed," says Margie Boyd, the foundation's executive director. "Part of my mission is to see that Type 1 is defined and the kids and adults who live with it get a chance to shine.
"They are amazing and endure quite a lot just to stay alive and healthy after they are diagnosed with this rarer and more severe form of diabetes that is unpreventable."
After a story about the Foundation appeared in the Tyler Paper and on the Internet, the emails started pouring in.
"We had so many who discovered us on the Internet and then wrote us asking how they could have a local support group like Tyler in their hometown that we decided to start a national organization called Type One Diabetes Foundation," says Mrs. Boyd who also serves as director of the national group.
"Through this new national organization our mission is to mentor and equip leaders to build a similar support system in their local communities using our branded look and core services. We provide everything they need to get up and running to meet their local needs."
They recently started support chapters in Bakersfield, Calif., Santa Barbara, Calif., Collin County, Texas (reaching Plano, Allen, Frisco and McKinney) and Longview.
More chapters will be launching soon.
"We are all about local support," explains Mrs. Boyd. "We want to help children and families have the support they need to today to minimize or even eliminate complications today so they will be healthy when the cure is found one day. We fill the gap between the moment of diagnosis and the day we are no longer needed."
Information about the organization can be found at the website, todf.org.
"We are eager to see that local support is the norm and not the exception for those diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes."
