Santa is on the INTERNET for the Child in all of us.
@http://santalivenow.ning.com
Celebrate Christmas in July
Have an inkling to see Rudolph before December comes around? Why not celebrate with the Christmas in July tradition? Learn about the history of this Australian introduction, and how you can participate!
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/38181/celebrate_christmas_in_july.html
”Ho-Ho-Ho!” It’s in the middle of July, and the temperature is 77 degrees Fahrenheit, yet the laughter of Santa Claus resounds over hundreds of children and adults. Allthingschristmas.com has visited the World Santa Claus Congress that takes place each year in the old amusement park Bakken in Denmark.
Besides Christmas itself, this is their most important event and the only time they can meet to discuss important issues such as better rooftop parking conditions and standards of chimney-cleaning. And of course they have to fix the date for Christmas Eve.
The congress is a proud tradition that makes Santas from the whole world gather, and this year they are celebrating the 50 years anniversary. Allthingschristmas.com meets them in their grand parade through the Danish amusement park.
In front, the largest Santa Claus walks with a huge crown on his head. Just behind him there is a large horn orchestra of Santas Clauses followed by a lot of smaller Santas with their helpers. Small signs show from which part of the world they are coming from. There are Santas from Canada, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany and even Japan and Australia. Especially the last two countries are far from the coldness of the North Pole, but this doesn’t disturb the Australian Santa, David Downey.
“Santa Claus belongs to all cultures, so there is no problem in Santa coming from Australia. I have a secret identity as Santa in December, and in the summer I participate in the congresses,” says David Downey while he greets the children around him.
Click on the link above, but be prepared, there is more there than you can handle during Christmas in July. This will be a long term exploration and delight for me.Posted by printersdevil at 7:50 PM
According to the weblog, there is a 2009 tour across the US with stops planned in major cities and it is linked to raising money for juvenile diabetes. Caution: I have NOT checked this out. Please do not click and send money or sign up for things without investigating this thoroughly. I am going to try to check this out, but in the meantime, the site has a marvelous wealth of Santa and Christmas information.
It shows that the fun starts on July 10 at 10:30 a.m. I will be checking back to see what all this is about.
@http://santalivenow.ning.com
In many western countries, July has few marketing opportunities, so to justify sales, shops will sometimes announce a “Christmas in July” sale. Christmas and December are generally equated with colder temperatures and the average temperatures in July are higher than those in June, thus the name Christmas in July is appropriate.
In some parts of Australia, where Christmas falls in the summer and July is the one of the coldest months, Christmas in July parties are held to mimic the traditional northern Christmas. Some traditional Christmas activities are difficult to have in the December summertime (such as a heavy meal with roasted meats and heavy sweets like plum pudding), so these may be held in July instead. In Australia this celebration is also called “Half-Christmas.”
Over the years many Australian families and organizations have opted to have an addition Christmas dinner in July celebration, in the middle of winter when it’s nice and cool and great for tucking in to a sumptuous big feast. This Christmas tradition is so well entrenched in Australia that most restaurants, clubs and dining halls, have an official advertised annual catered menu for Christmas in July, and are often booked in advance.
It’s always a great excuse for work teams to get together and party, and at a time when they don’t have to battle to reserve a table and pay premium prices. It is the Australian snowfields however, where Christmas in July traditions really come into their own. July being the peak season for the snowfields they all have special events connected with their Christmas in July celebrations. The main Australian snowfields resorts are at; Thredbo, Perisher Blue, Mt. Buller, Charlotte Pass, Mt Selwyn, Falls Creek, Hotham, Baw Baw, Mt. Buffalo, Ben Lomond TAS and Corin Forest ACT. Of course all of the young revelers love to build a snowman when they are in the snowfields, Santa skiing on the slopes is a quite a treat and, since everyone that is there, is on holidays, the nights are full of dining and cheer and merriment, so it is a perfect scene for Christmas in July celebrations. Many families make the brief excursion to the Australian snowfields just for the Christmas in July celebrations.
McMurdo Station in Antarctica celebrates Christmas in July, as well as in December. Its origins there appear to be how deliveries were made. July is in the middle of winter in Antarctica; high winds and ice once made it too dangerous for planes to land with supplies. Instead, planes parachuted deliveries (such as food and mail) to the ice; the sudden arrival in July of presents from the sky reminded some people of a “visit from Santa.”
In the United States it is more often used as a marketing tool than as an actual holiday celebrated by ordinary people. Television stations may choose to re-run Christmas specials, and many stores have “Christmas in July” sales. Still, some individuals do choose to celebrate the time themselves, typically as an intentionally transparent excuse to have a party.
Christmas in Copenhagen starts as early as in July. On the 24th of July exactly five months before the day the World Santa Claus Congress takes place at Bakken, Copenhagen This is besides Christmas itself – the most important event for the Father Christmases of the world, and the only time when they can meet. This year app. 100 Santas from 10 different countries participated. Important issues as better rooftop parking conditions and stronger ropes for roof-elves are discussed during the 4-day congress.
@http://santalivenow.ning.com
Mrs Clause, my dear wife, had the brilliant idea that I should write down the history of the village and all of its inhabitants so that children could enjoy all of the wonderful stories of how we came to be as we are today. There certainly is never a dull moment here in the North Pole! You will even hear about the time Santa met the Queen of England and landed on the moon by mistake. I bet you would all like to know how I became Santa in the first place and how my village was founded.
1) Santa as a little boy.
@http://santalivenow.ning.com
COVER’S APPLE RANCH BREAKFAST
Cover’s Apple Ranch is your destination for family fun and great food. Take a ride on our steam train through tunnels and around the pond afterwards you can play in the treehouses or visit the many barnyard animals. Then head up to the main ranch house for home style food from the deli and delicious homemade baked goods from the bakery, and don’t forget the cider to go with it. Take a stroll through our gift shop with many unique gifts and many locally made items that are available individually or we can assemble selected items into beautiful gift baskets suitable for any occasion.
@http://santalivenow.ning.com
Finding a Cure.
If I have one regret in life, it is that I am the only person in the world that cannot write a letter to Santa. However if I could I would not ask for toys, I would ask that every child in the world could be happy and healthy.
I know this is not yet possible and there are diseases such as Type I Diabetes that need to be eradicated first. I only wish I was clever enough to find a cure for this disease that affects so many young people on our planet in so many countries. This life crippler has no boundaries and is taking its toll on every race.
Let me tell you a story about a clever man I once met and the advice that he gave me.
It was a long time ago and it was autumn time “The fall” and I decided to get the sleigh out and have a practice run around the world. I hitched up the sleigh and told Rudolph we would practice taking off and landing.
As we flew over the UK I looked down and saw a beautiful orchard in the city of Cambridge.
“Land there,” I commanded Rudolph, so we started to make our decent.
The sleigh sped towards the ground causing the apple trees to shake and the apples to fall from the trees and hit the ground. Just then I noticed a young student studying, sitting under the trees when an apple hit him on the head. As I landed I jumped off the sleigh and ran over to him to apologize.
“Are you OK?” I asked, “I am so sorry, my name is Santa”
He replied “I know who you are. My name is Isaac”
I then remembered him as a little boy and all he ever wanted for Christmas was books so he could learn and there he was, now studying at Cambridge University. I commented on how clever he was and modestly he had become. Isaac replied,” If I saw further than others it’s because I am on the shoulders of giants”, meaning he had been taught and learned so much from others.
I wished him well and took off, he continued with his studies. I looked around and heard him muttering “Gravity! That sleigh is defying gravity”.
See children, you are our future and as Sir Isaac Newton said, if we learn together and share our knowledge, one day someone will find a cure for Diabetes but we must all try and help, even if it just means funding a student in their research.
One day Santa’s dream will happen and all children will be happy and healthy thanks to these great people and their dedication to their studies.
While we wait for this so important cure, boys and girls…moms and dads…grand moms and grand dads, we must be healthy…eat right and exercise.
Most of all everyday give the ones you love a cuddly hug.
LOVE SANTA
@http://santalivenow.ning.com
NORTH POLE, SANTA’S VILLAGE SC- Were half way to Christmas 2009 and it’s time to reflect on Christmas 2008. It was the two days before Thanksgiving when I received word that one of my Santa helpers who had been a Mall Santa for some time had been ran over by a tractor on his farm in Arizona.
I was called upon to replace him in the last moment. I got together with my counsel (the Head Elf and Mrs. Claus) and decided the only thing to do was to go and become the Mall Santa. I headed off the Serramonte Mall in San Francisco.
I realized instantly 2008 was a very tough time in America. Families were falling apart with foreclosures to the loss of jobs it was almost impossible to enjoy the Spirit of Christmas. I WAS ON A MISSION TO RESTORE TO FIND THE CHILD IN ALL WHO CAME TO VISIT ME AT THE MALL.
It became apparent to me that the most important thing about young and old who came to visit me was not the picture at all. It was more important to have a real encounter with the Spirit of Christmas thought the conduit of such myself.
Here is such an experience I going to share with you in this video the Elves made with me during a visit last Christmas at the Mall;
Here are some of my favorite photos taken last year at the Serramonte Mall. Oh yeah I’m the jolly real bearded Santa in the photos.
@http://santalivenow.ning.com
SC SANTA’S VILLAGE NORTH POLE- This Christmas is going to be the best ever! The head Elf is putting together a very special tour for Christmas 2009. Santa will be bringing “THE SPIRIT OF CHRISTMAS” to 25 cities in 25 days beginning December 01, 2009. This year Santa has chosen, “TYPE 1 DIABETES” for his cause.
Santa by proclamation of the Head Elf will bring awareness, education and free screenings for TYPE 1 DIABETEST for children in these 25 cities.
The jolly old Elf will be spreading the Spirit of Christmas as only he can. Here is a brief message from Santa about the BEST present a child can give to their parents this Christmas:
Send your Christmas list to Santa at santalivenow@hotmail.com and you might get a one of a kind personalized video card back. Be sure to visit Santa at http:www.santalivenow.com/
Here is Santa’s theme song for 2009
@http://santalivenow.ning.com
Father’s Day is a celebration inaugurated in the early twentieth century to complement Mother’s Day in celebrating fatherhood and male parenting, and to honour and commemorate fathers and forefathers. Father’s Day is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide and typically involves gift-giving, special dinners to fathers, and family-oriented activities.
The first observance of Father’s Day is believed to have been held on July 5, 1908 in a church located in Fairmont, West Virginia, by Dr. Robert Webb of West Virginia at the Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South of Fairmont.[1] [2] The church still exists under the name of Central United Methodist Church.
Sonora Smart Dodd of Washington thought independently of the holiday one Sunday in 1909 while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon at the Central Methodist Episcopal Church at Spokane,[3] and she arranged a tribute for her father on June 19, 1910. She was the first to solicit the idea of having an official Father’s Day observance to honor all fathers.
It took many years to make the holiday official. In spite of support from the YWCA, the YMCA and churches, it ran the risk of disappearing from the calendar.[4] Where Mother’s Day was met with enthusiasm, Father’s Day was met with laughter.[4] The holiday was gathering attention slowly, but for the wrong reasons. It was the target of much satire, parody and derision, including jokes from the local newspaper Spokesman-Review.[4] Many people saw it as just the first step in filling the calendar with mindless promotions like “Grandparents’ Day”, “Professional Secretaries’ Day”, etc., all the way down to “National Clean Your Desk Day.”[4]
A bill was introduced in 1913,[5] US President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea in 1924,[citation needed] and a national committee was formed in the 1930s by trade groups in order to legitimize the holiday.[6] It was made a federal holiday when President Lyndon Johnson issued a proclamation in 1966.
In addition to Father’s Day, International Men’s Day is celebrated in many countries, most often on November 19.
The Associated Men’s Wear Retailers formed a National Father’s Day Committee in New York City in the 1930s, which was renamed in 1938 to National Council for the Promotion of Father’s Day and incorporated several other trade groups.[6] This council had the goals of legitimizing the holiday in the mind of the people and managing the holiday as a commercial event in a more systematic way, in order to boost the sales during the holiday.[6] This council always had the support of Dodd, who had no problem with the commercialization of the holiday and endorsed several promotions to increase the amount of gifts.[7] In this aspect she can be considered the opposite of Anna Jarvis, who actively opposed all commercialization of Mother’s Day.[7]
The merchants recognized the tendency to parody and satirize the holiday, and used it to their benefit by mocking the holiday on the same advertisements where they promoted the gifts for fathers.[8] People felt compelled to buy gifts even though they saw through the commercial façade, and the custom of giving gifts on that day became progressively more accepted.[8] By 1937 the Father’s Day Council calculated that only one father in six had received a present on that day.[8] However, by the 1980s, the Council proclaimed that they had achieved their goal: the one-day event had become a three-week commercial event, a “second Christmas“.[8] Its executive director explained back in 1949 that, without the coordinated efforts of the Council and of the groups supporting it, the holiday would have disappeared.[8]
Although the name of the event is usually understood as a plural possessive (i.e. “day belonging to fathers”), which would under normal English punctuation guidelines be spelled “Fathers’ Day”, the most common spelling is “Father’s Day”, as if it were a singular possessive (i.e. “day belonging to Father”). Dodd used the “Fathers’ Day” spelling on her original petition for the holiday,[3] but the spelling “Father’s Day” was already used in 1913 when a bill was introduced to the US Congress as the first attempt to establish the holiday,[5] and it was still spelled the same way when its creator was commended in 2008 by the U.S. Congress.[9]
The officially recognized date of Father’s Day varies from country to country. This section lists some significant examples, in order of date of observance.
*Officially, as the name suggests, the holiday celebrate people who are serving or were serving the Russian Armed Forces (both men and women). But the congratulations are traditionally, nationally accepted by all fathers, other adult men and male children as well.[citation needed]
**In China (under the title of Republic of China, still under Nationalist rule at the time), Father’s Day on August 8 was first held in Shanghai in 1945.
In a few Catholic countries, it is celebrated on the Feast of St. Joseph.[citation needed]
Father’s Day in Argentina is celebrated on the third Sunday of June, but there have been several attempts to change the date to August 24, to commemorate day in which the “Father of the Nation” José de San Martín became a father. [11]
In 1953 the proposal to celebrate Father’s Day in all educational establishments on August 24, in honor of José de San Martín, was raised to the General Direction of Schools of Mendoza Province. The day was celebrated for the first time in 1958, on the third Sunday of June, but it was not included in the school calendars due to pressure from several groups. [23]
Schools in the Mendoza Province continued to celebrate Father’s Day on August 24, and, in 1982, the Provincial Governor passed a law declaring Father’s Day in the province to be celebrated on that day. [23]
In 2004, several proposals to change the date to August 24 were presented to the Argentine Camara de Diputados as a single, unified project. [23] After being approved, the project was passed to the Senate of Argentina for final review and approval. The Senate changed the proposed new date to the third Sunday of August, and scheduled the project for approval. However, the project was never addressed during the Senate’s planned session, which caused its ultimate failure. [24]
In Costa Rica the Unidad Social Cristiana party presented a bill to change the celebration of the day from the third Sunday of June to 19 March, the day of Saint Joseph.[25] That was in order to give tribute to this saint, who gave name to the capital of the country San José, Costa Rica, and so family heads will be able to celebrate the Father’s Day at the same time as the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker.[12] The official date is still third Sunday of June.
Hiking/drinking tour on Herrentag
In Germany Father’s Day is celebrated differently from other parts of the world.[26][27] There are two terms and/or events of an older origin that while similar in name, have entirely different meanings. Vatertag, is always celebrated on Ascension Day (the Thursday forty days after Easter), which is a federal holiday. Regionally, it is also called men’s day, Männertag, or gentlemen’s day, Herrentag. It is tradition to do a males-only hiking tour with one or more smaller wagons, Bollerwagen, pulled by manpower. In the wagons are wine or beer (according to region) and traditional regional food, Hausmannskost, which could be Saumagen, Leberwurst (Liverwurst), Blutwurst (Blood Sausage), vegetables, eggs, etc. Many men will use this holiday to get very drunk, to the point of having gangs of drunk people roaming the streets, causing much embarrassment to more conservative German people who don’t participate.[27][28] Police and emergency services are in high alert during the day, and some left-wing and feminist groups have asked for the banning of the holiday.[28]
Some parts of Germany (such as Bavaria and the northern part of Germany) call this particular day “Vatertag”, which is the literal equivalent to Father’s Day.
In the Philippines, Father’s Day is not an official holiday, but is widely observed on 3rd Sunday of June. Most Filipinos born in the 60’s to 70’s and so on, did not celebrate Father’s day but due to being under the influence of the United States as seen on television, the Filipinos most likely imitates this tradition and other American holidays. The advent of the internet also helps in promoting this holiday to the Filipinos.
In the Roman Catholic tradition, Fathers are celebrated on Saint Joseph’s Day, commonly called Feast of Saint Joseph, March 19, though in certain countries Father’s Day has become a secular celebration. [29]
In Singapore, Father’s Day is celebrated every third Sunday of June but is not a public holiday.
In Taiwan, Father’s Day is not an official holiday, but is widely observed on August 8, the eighth day of the eighth month of the year. In Mandarin Chinese, the pronunciation of the number 8 is bā. This pronunciation is very similar to the character “爸” “bà”, which means “Papa” or “father”. The Taiwanese, therefore, usually call August 8 by its nickname, “Bābā Day” (爸爸節).
In Thailand, Father’s Day is set as the birthday of the king. December 5 is the birthday of current king, Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX). Thais celebrate by giving their father or grandfather a Canna flower (Dok put ta ruk sa) which is considered to be a masculine flower. Thai people will wear yellow on this day to show respect for the king. This is because yellow is the Color of the day for Monday, the day on which king Bhumibol Adulyadej was born.
In the US, Father’s Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in June. The first modern Father’s Day celebration was held on July 5, 1908, in Fairmont, West Virginia[30][31] or on June 19 of the same year, in the state of Washington.[32] Since then, Father’s Day is celebrated on the 3rd Sunday of June.
In West Virginia, it was first celebrated as a church service at Williams Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South,[33] now known as Central United Methodist Church. Grace Golden Clayton, who is believed to have suggested the service to the pastor, is believed to have been inspired to celebrate fathers after the deadly mine explosion in nearby Monongah the prior December. This explosion killed 361 men, many of them fathers and recent immigrants to the United States from Italy. Another possible inspiration for the service was Mothers’ Day, which had been celebrated for the first time two months prior in Grafton, West Virginia, a town about 15 miles (24 km) away.
Another driving force behind the establishment of the integration of Father’s Day was Mrs. Sonora Smart Dodd, born in Creston, Washington. Her father, the Civil War veteran William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who reared his six children in Spokane, Washington.[3] She was inspired by Anna Jarvis’s efforts to establish Mother’s Day. Although she initially suggested June 5, her father’s birthday, she did not provide the organizers with enough time to make arrangements, and the celebration was deferred to the third Sunday of June. The first June Father’s Day was celebrated on June 19, 1910, in Spokane, WA, at the Spokane YMCA.
Unofficial support from such figures as William Jennings Bryan was immediate and widespread. President Woodrow Wilson was personally feted by his family in 1916. President Calvin Coolidge recommended it as a national holiday in 1924. In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson made Father’s Day a holiday to be celebrated on the third Sunday of June. The holiday was not officially recognized until 1972, during the presidency of Richard Nixon.
In recent years, retailers have adapted to the holiday by promoting greeting cards and male-oriented gifts such as electronics and tools. Schools and other children’s programs commonly have activities to make Father’s Day gifts.
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@http://santalivenow.ning.com
The information of the Tour can be found at http://www.santatour.ning.com
NORFOLK
Sarah Piscitelli had barely gotten used to the idea she had an incurable disease – diabetes – before she was sitting in a Norfolk clinic having an experimental solution infused into her vein.
Was the liquid – in an opaque IV bag so she couldn’t see it – a potent mixture of stem cells or a powerless placebo?
She won’t find out for two years, but what she does know is she’s part of a clinical trial that has the potential to change lives.
The 23-year-old Virginia Beach woman was older than the norm when she was diagnosed in February with Type 1 diabetes, the less common variety usually diagnosed in childhood.
The timing of Piscitelli’s diagnosis placed her in a position to enroll in a national clinical trial to see whether infusions of stem cells can kick-start her body’s ability to make insulin.
She’s one of 60 people across the country who will test the idea. If successful, it could eventually change the lives of people in the early stages of the disease. Some 30,000 a year are diagnosed with Type 1.
She received her third and last infusion at an Eastern Virginia Medical School clinic Friday. The amount of insulin she’s had to use each day since the first dose in April has dropped.
But here’s the rub:
Neither she nor the researchers will know whether she’s getting the real deal or a placebo until the end of the two-year study.
Does she need less insulin because she’s in the so-called “honeymoon” period that new diabetics often experience after starting insulin?
Or are stem cells doing the hoped-for job of rejuvenating her pancreas?
“My mom tells me to pretend it’s the real thing,” she said, “because positive thinking itself can help.”
The study is being conducted by a Maryland company called Osiris Therapeutics that is developing stem-cell therapy to treat ailments such as Crohn’s disease, arthritis and heart disease.
The injectable solution the company is testing – Prochymal – is made of stem cells from bone marrow donated by adults, not human embryos.
The Strelitz Diabetes Center at EVMS is one of 20 sites recruiting volunteers with Type 1 diabetes for the trial.
Dayna Buskirk, director of clinical development for Osiris Therapeutics, would not reveal how many of the 60 are enrolled so far, nor how much the study costs.
However, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has seen enough promise in the idea that it donated $2 million to the effort last June.
Typically, if such a trial shows good results, it would be followed by another phase that would involve a larger number of people at even more clinical sites.
In Type 1 diabetes, a person’s immune system attacks and destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Insulin controls blood sugar, and poorly controlled levels can lead to heart disease, stroke, blindness, amputations, kidney disease and nerve damage.
Stem cells have characteristics particularly promising in treating autoimmune diseases such as diabetes.
One, they have the ability to transform into any type of tissue without the body rejecting them, and two, they travel to sites of inflammation. Once they get there, they can prevent further damage and even repair tissue.
“They sense where in the body something is going wrong, and they move in to see what they can do,” said Dr. Aaron Vinik, the Strelitz center’s scientific director, who’s overseeing the local part of the study. “If they find inflammation, they can mend the process if it’s early enough. They’re like subterfuge cells. They get in under the tent flap, and the body doesn’t recognize them as foreign.”
The trick is to call in those cellular troops soon enough. If it’s too late, the insulin-producing cells have already been destroyed.
The study is looking for people who are within two to 16 weeks of diagnosis. The peak age for diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes is 14, but because of consent and safety issues for still-developing children, the researchers are restricting this phase of the trial to adults 18 to 30.
And Vinik can tell you they’re tough to find.
During the past six months, Vinik’s team has contacted endocrinologists and family practice doctors and, more recently, doctors at emergency rooms, where people with undiagnosed diabetes might seek help.
He’s had families of young children with Type 1 ask if they can participate but had to turn them away. Adults have volunteered only to discover they’ve had the disease too long.
Vinik and his team have interviewed about 10 people, and so far only one, Piscitelli, has fit the criteria.
Piscitelli noticed her symptoms in January but kept finding reasons to explain them away.
She was tired all the time, so much that she’d take a three-hour nap during the day. But she’s a junior in communications at Old Dominion University and works at a restaurant, so she had plenty of reason for fatigue.
Then other symptoms surfaced: She’d drink enormous amounts of water and still feel thirsty. She was urinating more often, getting up three times during the night. Her skin itched and her vision blurred at times. She also lost 20 to 30 pounds during the course of three months.
Though the weight loss pleased her, she sensed something was wrong. When she started getting leg cramps in the middle of the night, she decided to see her doctor in late February.
By that time, she had looked up her symptoms on the Internet and come up with a diagnosis herself.
Her doctor confirmed her hunch with a blood-sugar test, and Piscitelli joined an estimated 3 million people in the country who have Type 1 diabetes, including U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, who was diagnosed at 8.
While Type 2 diabetes usually develops gradually, in people middle-aged or older, the symptoms of Type 1 often arise more quickly, in children and young adults. Type 2 diabetics can sometimes control their blood-sugar levels through diet and exercise, but Type 1 diabetics must take insulin.
That meant shots every day for Piscitelli. Pricking her finger to test her blood sugar. Being aware of everything she ate to balance carbohydrates with the amount of insulin she’d taken.
And knowing, at 23, the list of complications she could face in her older years.
Then a nurse practitioner at her endocrinologist’s office told her about the stem-cell study at EVMS.
“I thought, ‘Why not?’ ” Piscitelli said. “The best-case scenario is I’ll use less insulin. I figured if it doesn’t work, I’m still going to have diabetes the rest of my life.”
The enrollment process brought what seemed like a never-ending list of possible risks she needed to be aware of: stomach pain, heart palpitations, indigestion.
“It was kind of scary because by law they have to tell me every single symptom I could have,” she said.
So far, the worst has been a headache after the infusion and some hair loss. And even though she doesn’t know whether she’s receiving the stem-cell solution or the placebo, she’s grateful her use of insulin has gone down.
She takes one long-lasting type of insulin before she goes to bed and a shorter-acting version before meals.
Several weeks after the first infusion she began using less of the short-acting insulin and now uses it only before one meal rather than three.
Vinik said the difference in her use of insulin has been impressive, along with monthly blood tests he’s taken, but he also knows to beware of what’s called “the honeymoon effect.”
When diabetics first use insulin injections, the pancreas gets a break from having to produce it, which can stimulate cells to produce insulin again. Eventually, though, those cells can revert.
Piscitelli knows about the honeymoon phase and realizes that she’s getting better at balancing what she eats with the amount of insulin she takes. But she’s also hopeful the liquid that flowed into her vein may be preserving her body’s ability to make insulin.
And if it’s good for her, it could be good for more people.
“I want to do what I can to help others with diabetes,” she said, “because when you’re first diagnosed, you feel so alone. Just helping researchers understand the disease is going to help people coming behind me.”
Elizabeth Simpson, (757) 446-2635, elizabeth.simpson@pilotonline.com
