Susan Anderson’s twin girls were born healthy and happy in the middle of 2011. Just after celebrating their first birthday, she found herself worried about Audrey who was irritable, wetting through her nighttime diaper, eating and drinking like crazy and losing weight. Her mother-in-law suggested she and her husband, Tim, take Audrey to the doctor as it sounded like she had symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes. Once at the doctor, a simple finger stick confirmed their fear as Audrey’s blood sugar was five times the normal limit. The Andersons were rushed to Children’s Hospital, where they spent three days learning about their new life which involves constantly testing and monitoring Audrey’s blood sugar levels, administering insulin shots five times a day, counting carbohydrates in the foods Audrey eats and managing her activity and stress levels very closely.

Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is an auto-immune disease where the body destroys cells which release insulin in the pancreas. It affects children and adults, is unpreventable and has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle.

Once settled at home the Andersons were sent a Bag of Hope from Breakthrough T1D and saw they were hosting a 5k in their area and signed up as Audrey’s Army. Weeks before the walk, Audrey’s twin sister, Blair, was diagnosed at 23 months old and their team name changed to Twin1D, a play on T1D. The family rushed to make team t-shirts and gathered family and friends to join in their first Breakthrough T1D One Walk.

Susan recalls, “Our first walk was filled with emotion as I saw for the first time so many other families navigating T1D. I left that morning amazed by the T1D community who was full of hope and on a mission to find a cure.”

This year, on Sunday, May 21, Twin1D embarked on their fifth Breakthrough T1D One Walk, held in Brambleton Town Center. With a new route and fresh location Breakthrough T1D has raised over $180,000!

Team Twin1D has grown over the years and this year included over 50 walkers made up of family, friends, co-workers, neighbors and classmates. The Anderson family chooses to fund raise and walk each year because they have seen firsthand how Breakthrough T1D’s work has helped their daughters in their T1D management.

In 2014, due to Breakthrough T1D’s lobbying, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved continuous glucose monitors for children ages 2 – 17. Previously only available for adults, the Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) system is a physical medical device that is worn on the arm/stomach/buttocks and inserted just under the skin. Worn for seven days, it displays estimated blood sugar readings every five minutes, their direction and rate of change.

“Audrey and Blair wear CGMs because they are a wonderful tool for tracking, trending, and determining patterns in glucose levels and for alerting me when glucose values are approaching potentially dangerously high (hyperglycemic) and/or dangerously low (hypoglycemic) levels,” Susan says.

JDRF, the Andersons and other T1D families in the area urge others to consider walking and fundraising next year as it’s a great way to get family and friends together.

Susan continues, “Our girls, who have endured so much over the years, love walk day as it’s a way to celebrate all they have accomplished, how brave they are and how much support our family has.” Audrey and Blair don’t go without noticing the support as well. “We love having our best friends from class and the neighborhood walk with us” says Audrey. “We play music while we walk to find a cure!” reiterates Blair.

Breakthrough T1D has received incredible support from the community and individual supporters who have made donations to Breakthrough T1D, allowing them to reach 66% of their Loudoun County One Walk goal of $280,000; donations enable Breakthrough T1D’s mission to one day turn Type One into Type None. Local corporate partners for the One Walk Loudoun County VA included The Meltzer Group, NB+C, Kings Dominion, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Tandem Diabetes Care, Advance Auto Parts, Ford, Lilly Diabetes, Marshalls, Novo Nordisk and Walgreens.

If you know someone with T1D and/or want to support the Breakthrough T1D mission volunteers are always needed. Tax deductive donations can be made online at https://bit.ly/2hCt41v or sent to Greater Chesapeake and Potomac Chapter 1400 K Street NW Suite 725 Washington, DC 20005.