Cortlandt Woman Strives to Raise Awareness for Juvenile Diabetes
A Cortlandt woman is looking to raise money and awareness for a life-threatening autoimmune disease that affects about three million individuals.
Jennifer Pagano was first diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 10 years old and has been coping with it for the last 34 years.
“Once you have the disease, you have it for your entire life,” Pagano said. “Managing the disease is a full-time job. How you are feeling, what and when you are eating, if and when you are exercising, stress level, illness…so many things impact your diabetes control and it is never easy. While the disease far from defines me, it is a huge part of my life.”
Type 1 diabetes occurs when a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone essential to the ability to get energy from food. It strikes infants, children and adults suddenly, with about 30,000 people diagnosed annually.
“Type 1 diabetes is an invisible illness. Often times no one can tell from looking at you that you are affected,” Pagano explained. “Additionally, many people have no idea what is involved in order to minimize the complications from the disease.”
Daily attention to the disease can involve 10 to 12 manual blood glucose checks daily, giving five to eight insulin injections a day, dealing with hypoglycemia and frequent doctor visits.
“Unfortunately, technological advances such as the insulin pump and continuous glucose monitors which can mimic an artificial pancreas are not foolproof, are uncomfortable to say the least, and do not allow those with Type 1 diabetes to live a life as someone without diabetes,” Pagano said. “These people still have to monitor food intake, still experience side effects from medications, still require constant medical intervention, and are still very much at risk for complications down the line such as heart disease, kidney malfunction, blindness, and limp amputation. None of this stuff ever goes away.”
As part of her personal mission to spread the word on the disease, Pagano is training to run in her first half-marathon in January to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the largest non-governmental supporter of Type 1 diabetes research.
To date, Pagano has raised about 80% of her personal goal of $2,000. Anyone interested in helping Pagano cross her financial finish line can visit http://www2.jdrf.org/site/TR?px=11458309&fr_id=6932&pg=personal or mail a check to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to: Jen Pagano, 27 DiRubbo Drive, Cortlandt Manor, NY 10567.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
