Page 8 - Dinuba Sentinel 11-22-18 E-edition

A8 | Thursday, November 22, 2018
Community
The Dinuba Sentinel
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Daniel Rocha, far right, and his son Daniel Jr, 7, leads a procession on Saturday morning to raise awareness for Diabetes. Both Rocha snd his son have Type 1 Diabetes and he uses the annual walks to raise awareness and funds. The funds he raises goes towards sending families to Diabetes Youth and Family camps to better help them cope with the disease.
Cutler-Orosi walk raises awareness
By Rick Curiel
walk. She continues it to this day for the sake of children like Daniel Jr.
Daniel’s father remembered hearing from his daycare provider that the toddler had been showing signs that were concerning.
“She called us and said, ‘Hey, he’s been urinating quite a bit, you may want to check him'.”
Having lived with Type 1 Diabetes himself, Daniel Sr. admitted he lived with the concern of his son being diagnosed with the same disease. He used his own blood sugar monitor to check his son’s levels. What he read was alarming. His son’s blood sugar was over 500.
The normal range for blood sugar is between 80 and 120.
Daniel raced his son to Valley Children’s Hospital where he was subsequently diagnosed with the disease formally known as “juvenile diabetes.” So began a life-long treatment that involves insulin and a change in lifestyle.
Part of that treatment involved a diabetes camp that helped facilitate that lifestyle change, something Rocha says was very beneficial. The Diabetes Youth and Family Camp takes place near Hume Lake and has become a strong advocate for families dealing with the effects of the disease.
For Daniel Jr, the camp helps him relate to others like him. He attends Palm Elementary School, and on campus he is
one of a kind when it comes to the disease. At the camp, however, Daniel sees that he’s not alone and, perhaps more importantly, he learns how to live with the disease.
Daniel’s father now uses the walks as opportunities to help other children, and their families, who may be also dealing with their new life with diabetes. Raffle items at the event help pay the way for other families to experience the DYF Camps.
As for Daniel Jr, he’s now seven. And though some days he voices his frustrations by asking his father questions such as, “Dad, when does this end?” he has adjusted well.
Of the six years of the Cutler-Orosi Diabetes Walk, Rocha has helped raise funds for the DYF Camp the last five years. Assisting him with the fundraising has been the Cutler-Orosi Lions Club. All the money Rocha raises at the walks goes towards DYF.
“When I see the families who benefit from the camps, it makes all this worth it,” said Rocha.
The walk commenced at the Orosi Memorial Hall Building, where the public was able to have their blood checked and learn about better dietary health choices.
Type 2 Diabetes, unlike Type 1, is an adult onset disease that takes place when the body loses its ability to metabolize sugar. Most studies show that the disease is manageable, and in many cases preventable, with proper dietary and lifestyle choices.
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“It takes just one more test during a physical,” said Daniel Rocha before embarking on the nearly one-and-a-half mile trek from Ledbetter Park in Cutler to the Orosi Memorial Hall.
Joining him in the walk was his son Daniel Jr., who just before turning two was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Also joining were dozens of citizens from the Cutler-Orosi area to help raise awareness in the Sixth Annual Cutler-Orosi Diabetes Walk on Saturday, Nov. 17.
Orosi’s Romelia Castillo organized the event. She got the idea after an eye-opener several years back. Castillo was in her final year on the Cutler-Orosi Joint Unified School Board when she was told by her doctor that she had developed Type 2 Diabetes. “We don’t have it in my family,” said Castillo. “My parents never had it, so it scared me.”
Castillo said she realized that she needed to change her lifestyle in order to manage her life with the new disease. And then it occurred to her as a school board member that the district has over 4,000 students who may not know about diabetes, and who have parents who may not know as well.
With the blessing of then-superintendent Carolyn Kehrli, Castillo organized her first
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Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
Said Faerber of the odds, “One out of every 500 people who joins ends up being a match with someone. So it’s very low probability, but that being said we have over 17 million people now on the registry.”
In cases where a match is made, once the stem cells are implanted, the patient then takes on the blood type of the donor. In addition, explained Faerber, the patient will also take on any allergies the donor has or even chocolate cravings.
“So what you’re doing is you’re creating a new immune system for the patient,” he further explained.
City of Hope is a world leader in the research and treatment of cancer, diabetes, and other serious diseases. The hospital’s Be The Match program has been doing stem cell research for over 25 years and, according to Faerber, has saved over 6,000 lives so far.
Because the Figueroa family is devoting so much time in hospitals, with her mom having to leave her long-time position with the Dinuba Unified School District, the drive also served as a fundraiser to help the family financially. Various clubs and organizations were on hand at the event selling t-shirts and temporary tattoos to raise funds.
Taking part in the fundraiser
Saturday morning was none other than Dinuba High School Principal Dr. Michael Roberts. Though reluctant at first, Roberts was persuaded when Kiwanis’ member Maria McElroy offered to donate an additional $100 to the cause.
With that, Roberts is now the new owner of a black dragon tattoo on his right shoulder. The tattoos, according to McElroy, normally last a couple of weeks but can be removed faster with a little bit of effort.
Roberts was not the only Dinuba Unified staff member to get tattoos during Judi’s drive. Other staff members also partook, all for a good cause.
Judith Maria is currently receiving treatment at Stanford Medical Center. After beating one cancer, and a rare cancel- related disease, last year, Judi is now battling a rare form of cancer called Acute Myeloid Leukemia or AML.
Dinuba’s HOSA will be holding blood and bone marrow drives throughout the school year, and are planning to do another one in December.
“We just want to help Judith out,” said Diaz, one of the four HOSA students putting on the event. “We just want to be able find a match for her. At the end of the day, our goal is to help her.”
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