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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, October 28, 2016 | 12 Starlight Soirée boosts research into type 1 diabetes by Julia Le Oakville Beaver Staff When you've lived with diabetes most of your life, it can take its toll, says Oakville resident Joanna Jackson. "There's never a holiday from it, which can really get you down after 38 years," said the 43 year old, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) when she was five years old. "It's just a part of my life, it's just part of my routine, but every once in a while, when I do a finger prick that really hurts or my blood sugar is really high and I don't feel well or I'm off to another doctor's appointment, I sometimes think, ugh, it would be nice to have a break." At those times, she draws on support of family and friends and hopes advancements in research will help. T1D is an autoimmune disease in which a person's pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone people need to get energy from food, according to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Canada. It strikes at any age -- and suddenly. Its onset, states JDRF Canada, has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. "The day that cure comes, I'm going to be so excited for it," said Joanna, who has vigilantly managed her condition for 38 years. As a result, though her two pregnancies were considered highrisk, she had two healthy babies now four and six years old. Joanna and her mom, Bonnie Jackson, will share their personal stories of living with and caring for someone with T1D at the fifth annual Starlight Soiree for JDRF Thursday (Nov. 3) at the Oakville Conference Centre, 2515 Wyecroft Rd., from 7-11 p.m. Tickets cost $100 and include restaurant tasting stations, cocktails, entertainment and silent and live auctions. The fundraiser supports JDRF which aims to cure, better treat and prevent TD1, which affects more than 3 million Canadians. Through the JDRF Canadian Clinical Trial Network (JDRF CCTN), a partnership with the Government of Canada, a $33.9 million investment will help bring new technologies and treatments to the marketplace and ensure Canadians with the disease are among the first to benefit from the latest research. Joanna and Bonnie will speak during the Fund A Cure portion of the evening, which enables guests to hear about living with T1D, and the support and advancements JDRF has made. Joanna Jackson, left, and her mom, Bonnie Jackson. | submitted photo Afterwards, guests bid to help `Fund A Cure' and in return, receive a specially designed teddy bear from a JDRF youth ambassadors. Bonnie, who was honoured last year with the Governor General's Caring Canadian Award for her 37 years of charitable work with organizations such as JDRF , told the Oakville Beaver how the T1D diagnosis was life-changing for her family. "Joanna was diagnosed Sept. 19, 1978. It's a day you just never ever forget. It's a day that is indelible," she said. "To me, diabetes was for older people. I didn't know any children with diabetes." Bonnie, also of Oakville, noticed her daughter drinking more fluids, an unusual amount, in fact, which prompted a visit to the doctor. Hours later, she received a call advising her to take Joanna to the children's hospital. Joanna received her first shot of insulin before seeing any doctors because her blood sugar was very high. Bonnie, who continues to volunteer with the JDRF , noted the real fear of having a child with diabetes is having to constantly regulate their blood sugar so that it's not too high and not too low. "If it goes too low then there's the fear of them passing out and of going into a coma because the blood sugar is too low and if the blood sugar is too high then the person can feel it in their eyes, they're going to the bathroom a lot as their body is trying to flush out this excess sugar and then it is having detrimental effects on the major organs of the body..." she said. "It's a balancing act trying to keep that blood sugar at a normal level, not letting it go too high and not letting it get too low and diabetes is a balancing act between stress, between eating and how much insulin you give back and forth," Bonnie said. Advancements in how diabetes is managed have come a long way since her daughter's diagnosis, which is promising, she said. "At that point in time, there was no home blood sugar monitoring system and so we had to measure how much sugar was spilling into her urine, so we were doing urine testing, which was very labour intensive." Now, Joanna uses a battery-operated insulin pump to regulate her blood sugar levels. "Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, heart disease and kidney disease and we're trying our best to lessen the chances of these complications from occurring and the longer a person has diabetes and is playing with their blood sugars up and down, up and down, it takes its toll," said Bonnie. That's why it's so important to fund research, said Joanna, noting she wants to live a long and healthy life and be there for her children as they grow up and her future grandchildren. For information about the Starlight Soiree, visit starlightsoiree. com. For more on JDRF , visit www.jdrf.ca. potential. Since 1988 FALL PROMOTION 15% off refinishing Fall & Winter start dates are still available! antique hardwood flooring 290 Speers road, oakville Love for the arts lives on and off the stage for HSC actors Grace and Ethan. 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