Spare a Rose

I reorganized my daughter's insulin this morning. I discarded a vial of Lantus which expired two years ago- a vial we had on hand only in case her insulin pump failed and we needed to give her an injection. We had never opened it. We have a new container of long-acting insulin on hand, which we also hope never to use. 

I took the oldest vial of her usual fast-acting insulin out of the refrigerator so that we can start using it to fill pump cartridges, and then I reorganized the butter compartment with several more vials, enough for a couple of months.

I also restocked the diabetes supplies in her room: test strips, lancets, insulin pump paraphernalia, and the stash of juice boxes we keep on hand for overnight lows.

What a hassle all this acquiring, organizing and using diabetes supplies is. And how fortunate we are to be able to do it.

The International Diabetes Foundation's Life For a Child Program helps families who live in places where having a butter compartment full of insulin and a drawer full of lancets and test strips is unheard of. There are children in underdeveloped countries around the world whose lives have been saved by this program. Children who would otherwise have no access to insulin or any other diabetes care supplies. Per the organization's website,

The program currently supports over 18,500 young people in 42 countries. There is so much work still to be done, we estimate that over 100,000 young people still need our help. Together we can achieve our vision that no child should die of diabetes.

This will be the 5th year that 'Spare a Rose' will be part of our Valentines' celebration.

Sparing one rose from a bouquet of a dozen and donating that $5 cost to Life for a Child provides a month of insulin, syringes, and diabetes education to a child in need. Donating $60 and foregoing roses altogether provides a year of life.

Want to learn more, or participate? This is the link!

Happy Valentine's Day!