Old Stories

Because I am just launching this site, I decided to post some of the stories that I have shared with others over the past few years.

What About Now?

Being diagnosed with Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes at the age of 15 was one of the most difficult times in my life. I was an active teenager who was scared out of my mind. Was I going to die? Do I have to quit playing sports? Are all of my friends going to make fun of me? The uncertainty of what was now going to be my new lifestyle had both my parents and I concerned. In my 18 years of living with juvenile diabetes, I had some tough times. Hospitalizations, high and low blood sugars, eye surgery and even a heart attack to name a few. Nothing compared to what the future had in store for me.

On Mother’s Day 2009, my youngest daughter, Micheala was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. She was 4 years old at the time. Previous studies had indicated that parents with juvenile diabetes had a minimal chance of passing along diabetes to their children. Recent studies have shown that children that have a father with juvenile diabetes have a 50% chance of contracting the disease. I have given my daughter juvenile diabetes and I owe it to her to fight for a cure.

We fight together. We both wear insulin pumps to help manage our diabetes. Insulin pumps are not the cure, but it makes everyday life a bit easier for the both of us. We still have our difficulties, but manage to work through them together with the support of each other, our family and friends.

I get up every morning and stare at this beautiful girl who has to fight this battle on a daily basis and think to myself, I am responsible for her daily struggles. I have been waiting for a cure for 18 years and I have finally just asked myself the simple question, “What about now?” Why not a cure for juvenile diabetes now? I have dedicated my efforts to all of those children like Micheala, who didn’t ask for this, yet continue to fight each day.

Diabetes is everywhere. An estimated 24 million American children and adults have diabetes. They are your neighbors, your children and your friends. IT IS US! Help me cure my Micheala and the million other Michealas out there.
We have become actively involved with the Eastern Iowa Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and have made priority out of raising money to fund the cure for juvenile diabetes. We want you to join in our cause and become a member of “Pump Princess”. Over the past 2 years, Team Pump Princess has donated over $15,000 to JDRF for the purpose of funding a cure. This year we hope to add much more to that total. With your help, we WILL achieve this goal!

For more information on how you can help, donate or become part of our team, contact Mike Schrock (mschrock@cbsforyou.com) or Heather Schrock (schrockh@yahoo.com).

More information to come regarding the different fundraising activities we have planned.

The Kool-Aid Stand

As parents, there are certain times that we couldn't be more proud of our children. This just happens to be one of those moments for me.

As we near the end of our fundraising efforts for JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), I have been stressed out to the max. Friday evening, Heather and I were having a conversation about what to do to raise the final bit of money that we need to reach our team goal of $10,000. We had already raised quite a bit of money and were really close, but close doesn't cut it as I made a promise to Micheala to do everything that I could to raise $10,000. Micheala and I were both suffering from a virus; she had a temp of 103 and I was not feeling the greatest. Heather and I went back and forth; we've exhausted all of our friends and family, had a silent auction, sold t-shirts and even cleaned carpets for a day. What else was there to do? How were we going to meet our goal? As our discussion ended, I got up and took our dog outside to go to the bathroom.

After 10 minutes, I came back into the house to be greeted by Micheala; who was once laying down but now was sitting upright. She says to me, "Dad, I have an idea how to raise money to make me undiabetic!" I said, "Ok Micheala, let's hear it."
She proceeds to tell me that tomorrow she can build a kool-aid stand and sell our kool-aid in our driveway to people and that will raise money for kids to be undiabetic.

I left the room and was followed out by Heather. I am man enough to admit that this put me in quite an emotional state. Here lays my 5 year old diabetic daughter, with a fever of 103, barely with enough strength to get up and use the bathroom, wanting to build a kool-aid stand and sell kool-aid to help out. How does a 5 year old have so much unselfish perspective?

We told K'la that she could do this if she wanted to and she quickly got her older sister Dylanne on board. So we purchased 2 pieces of poster board and some plastic cups and told K'la that if she was feeling better by Wednesday that she could follow through with her idea. She was excited.

I gained a great deal of perspective from this. Micheala knows only through her experiences, what diabetes is about. She doesn't understand that this disease is killing her dad and may cause her complications in the future. She doesn't understand what "research" means nor does she have a total grasp on the importance of the JDRF Walk for the Cure and why we raise money. To her it is simple.....raise money to be undiabetic. What she knows or feels is that she needs to do something to help and this is the best way in her mind to do just that. A cup full of pennies is a lot of money to her, which brings me to understand that it's not entirely just about raising money, but about being part of something special...being part of the cure.

So Wednesday night, in 40 degree weather, K'la, Dylanne, Heather, myself and some friends were in our driveway, in Urbana Iowa, selling our sugar free Kool-Aid to raise money for Team Pump Princess and JDRF. In one hour, they raised $343! The real victory was watching my 2 girls contribute to a great cause, not because they were told to do so by some adult, but because they understand what a cure for Juvenile Diabetes would mean to millions of kids and decided to do something about it.