The Birth of Fundacja CUD

My name is Monika Chrzanowski and my daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on August 2nd, 2007, she was 11 years old. The illness took us by surprise while vacationing in Europe. This proved more difficult for our family to deal with, as we all felt displaced being so far away from home. I had very limited knowledge about Diabetes in general, so I had no choice but to search all over Warsaw and the internet for any local support group which I expected to help me with obtaining general information about DT1. Any supplies, books or other visual aids would have been helpful. Needles to say, I found NONE OF THE ABOVE! Any n parent caught in this spiral downfall which happens immediately following their child's diagnosis is swimming in very deep water completely on their own. No written materials, tutorials are available in Warsaw, and what's more disturbing in Poland in general, which has one of the fastest growing economies in the World at this point in time.

The fact that I am a curious animal by nature, computer savvy and bi-lingual proved to be my asset, but what about the other parents that have no internet access and live outside of the mainstream Poland? They are in trouble plain and simple. It was a very sad thing to witness.

Our family is lucky to have friends in various medical research communities, and once they learned of Lisa's illness, they immediately began infusing me with the newest research information, ongoing medical trials, reports to FDA etc, etc... When I began to discuss these new developments with my daughter's medical team they simply ignored it, as if they were not interested in what's going on in the World of Juvenile Diabetes and what's more they tried to discourage me from seeking further information.
I personally have a problem with physicians who assume that parents of recently diagnosed youngsters are not interested in entering trials, receiving information about new treatments currently available all over the World. Such treatments may prove not suitable for them after all, but if nothing else information contained within will provide them with in depth knowledge about the disease, and this in turn may help them deal with the post diagnosis trauma. It helped me. I became well informed about Juvenile Diabetes, the differences between Type 1 and Type 2, and this has assisted me in making educated decisions about Lisa's treatment. I stopped feeling helpless, inadequate and confused.

Children's Memorial Hospital in Międzylesie, Warsaw has an excellent Endocrinology Unit with highly skilled physicians, but only one CDE parent/child educator and one overworked and underpaid clinical psychologist. While going through the motions just like any other newly diagnosed parent, I found that the time spent with us, combined with our state of mind of being in shock was not enough. This small team cannot possibly handle the load effectively dealing with few new diabetic cases each day.  The sessions are fast paced and very demanding on both the team, the parents and the kids.  Few sharp minded individuals managed to absorb, and retain the endless amounts of information pumped into our bloodstream, but for others who had perhaps more difficult time coping with the new situation, the tempo and data proved too fast and too difficult to comprehend.

I left the program thinking.... There has to be a better way to learn all this, there has to be some other outlet for obtaining practical information about Juvenile Diabetes, Carb Counting, Protein/Fat Exchanges, fat, but most of all great deal of support for parents and children.  We have to provide all this in an informative, uplifting, non-threatening way that is serious enough, so the disease itself isn't taken lightly.

With this in mind I decided to launch Polish Juvenile Diabetes Foundation known as Fundacja CUD "Cukrzyca U Dzieci " in short  PJDF.  Fundacja means Foundation, and CUD means Miracle, CUD is also an abbreviation of  "Diabetes in Children".  We are officially registered as Fundacja CUD ''Cukrzyca U Dzieci" and for international purposes as Polish Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. Our headquarters are in Warsaw, Poland

Education, Support and Public Awareness Campaigns are the Key in Making Lasting Changes;

Unified Diabetes Symbol to be recognized by Police, Fire and Rescue Squads, and by General Public;

24-HOUR INFORMATION helpline that parents can call for any valid reason, day or night;

Pressure on NFZ to offset costs of analog insulin & supplies for daily maintenance of Diabetes such insulin pumps, infusion sets, supplies & injection pen needles. Children are forced to use one needle multiple times a day for few days, this is unhealthy and it causes scar tissue which over time inhibits insulin delivery;

Public Awareness Campaigns about DT1 and DT2;

24-HOUR HOTLINE with live Pediatric Diabetic Specialist. Parents are often out of luck, when calling the phone number at he Endocrinology Unit of the hospital where their child  was treated. The line is seldom answered. They have to deal with the problem at hand using  trial and error approach, or request ambulance that in many cases is unnecessarily dispatched and may  be used to save lives elsewhere;

Awareness campaigns for schools to end discrimination against diabetic youth, and promote tolerance for B/G testing and meals during classes;

Awareness campaigns to promote health and active lifestyles for everyone with diabetes. diabetes doesn't inhibit anyone from becoming a world class athlete or simply enjoy sports as part of daily life;

Medical Alert Bracelets/Necklaces that help save lives and need to become a part of anyone  with living with a chronic illness;

Diabetes Friendly environments in schools, camps, sports clubs and training centers;

Juvenile Diabetes Education Centers;Diabetes Education materials for kids and parents;