Friday, August 28, 2009

Skidaddle bags story

Like many of you, I have a story of how diabetes disrupted my family’s life. I remember the fear and uncertainty that gripped me the moment we learned of our daughter Maiya’s diagnosis. I could have never imagined checking a 4 year-old’s blood sugar—on her toes—let alone giving her an injection every few hours. It ripped my heart out every time I had to look into her tear-filled eyes and tell her it was time for another shot. With each injection I felt like I was stabbing her. I would have gladly taken her place. Angry and afraid, I knew I had to be strong for Maiya.
Type 1, Juvenile Diabetes is not a part-time condition; it’s a lifelong challenge. I knew that I would do whatever it took to keep my daughter healthy, but I needed a shift in my thinking. The road ahead was going to be difficult and I knew that my positive attitude could pave the way to a happier life for my daughter. So we changed our approach.
My husband and I confronted the situation head on. We educated ourselves and learned as much as we could about diabetes. The more we learned the more confident we felt. Before long were prepared to do everything possible to make Maiya’s life easier. That meant finding the best medical care, the best insulin pump, the thinnest needles and even the best skin numbing cream. We would stop at nothing to help make our daughter’s life with diabetes as comfortable as possible.
One day my daughter told me, “I only wish I could have a happy bag to hold my supplies.” I was devastated. Not only did my child have this terrible condition, she had an ugly diabetes supply case that made her sad and she was embarrassed to use. So I decided to do something about it.
I’ll never forget my daughter’s face when I showed her a design for what her diabetes supply bag could look like. She was ecstatic! The new design was practical and fashionable and exactly what she wanted. Finally we had some hope on our journey, something we could fix. And we haven’t looked back since.
I launched Skidaddle Bags in 2007 with the hope that I could share this feeling with all of you. I hope Skidaddle’s designer diabetes bags allow you to express your love of fashion and make your life with diabetes a little more colorful.
Wishing you all the best of health!
Maria Lester
Founder/CEO
Skidaddle Bags, Inc.

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