This spring will be my family’s 5th year participating in the Maryland Walk to Cure Diabetes with our team, Bella’s Battalion. My daughter, Bella, was diagnosed in November 2009 at age 7, and we participated in our first Walk that April, just 5 months later. During our first four years participating in the Walk Bella’s Battalion has raised about $100,000 for T1D research… and new treatment options on the horizon and promising findings are the fruits of that labor. It’s really something to be a part of that and we’re excited for the 2014 Walk season!

Walk Day has become a celebration of hope for Bella, our family and friends. After Walk Day, Bella still has diabetes. But, she gets up anyway, continues her ritual of finger pricking, site injections, and insulin…only with enough hope and flat out fun bottled from Walk Day to sustain her until next year. We are now counting the days until April 5, 2014!

By keeping active for the cause, Bella shows everyone in her life that this disease will not control her. In many ways, Bella has topped my hero list as I watch her day after day manage this menace of a disease each time she puts food into her mouth. Since November 20, 2009, there have been no weekends, no holidays, no time off. Each good morning begins with sticking her finger and checking her blood glucose level. Each night ends the same, with many other sticks, carb counting and monitoring in between. But Bella is so much bigger than this disease. She is bright eyed and energetic, smart and athletic. She feels intensely and deeply, loves life around her. She has a great laugh. She is sunshine to others. She has hope for a future without T1D. JDRF and the Walk have grown to be a huge part of that hope, so we’ll keep working to turn Type One into Type None!

Written by Angela Cavallaro