Sea Cliff Village Administrator Bruce Kennedy had only one request for his 25-year-old son, Alex, to go to the doctor.
Alex had lost 80 pounds in 18 months. Kennedy remembered telling his son, “dude, this is not normal. I’m scared. There is something not right.” He added that he told his son that he must get back to the doctor. Alex was told that he might be pre-diabetic at a follow-up doctor's appointment.
Kennedy remembers missing a call from his son during a meeting the next day. Shortly after texting his son that he would call him after the meeting, Alex told his dad that he had gotten the results of his blood test back and had to go to the hospital immediately. He would be treated for what turned out to be a severe episode of diabetic ketoacidosis stemming from Type 1 diabetes.
Following the text from his son, Kennedy got into his car and began driving to Mount Kisco, where Alex was going to graduate school and working full time. “It was scary as hell,” Kennedy added.
Kennedy has been named the honoree of the 19th annual Cooking for a Cure fundraiser for the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation on Wednesday, April 9, at the Crescent Beach Club in Bayville.
Throughout its run, Cooking for a Cure has raised more than $1 million for the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation, which leads the world in cure-focused research.
The 19th annual gala will feature live music by Craig and the Good Causes and dozens of raffle and silent auction prizes.
The dinner has taken on an even more significant meaning for Kennedy due to his son.
Following the diagnosis, Kennedy recalled the extreme anxiety he felt worrying about how his son would adapt to his condition.
Kennedy would wonder if his son can function independently, if he needed to be following alongside his technology to monitor his sugar, and would visit him three times a week to check in on him, among the numerous concerns that parents have after news of a type 1 diabetes diagnosis.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition where the pancreas doesn't make insulin or makes very little insulin. Insulin helps blood sugar enter the cells in your body for use as energy, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Without insulin, blood sugar can't get into cells and builds up in the bloodstream. High blood sugar is damaging to the body and causes many of the symptoms and complications of diabetes.
It can take months or years before symptoms of type 1 diabetes are noticed, according to the CDC. Type 1 diabetes symptoms can develop in just a few weeks or months. Once symptoms appear, they can be severe.
Some type 1 diabetes symptoms include frequent urination often at night, feeling persistently thirsty, losing weight without trying, constant hunger, and blurry vision.
Untreated diabetes can lead to very serious, sometimes fatal, health problems; such as heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, and nerve damage. It can also cause vision loss, foot amputation, and even death.
During the last two years Alex has been able to effectively manage his diabetes while finishing his final semester of graduate school for his Masters degree in school counseling.
Kennedy had been familiar with the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation because of his friend, Nassau County Legislature Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton, whose daughter Amanda was diagnosed with the condition in October of 2000 and has lived with it since.
“I’ve been supporting the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation for years because of Delia,” Kennedy said. “I’m showing support for her, her daughter and my friend Tony Jiminez,”
Prior to Alex’s diagnosis Kennedy explained that he was familiar with the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation on a personal level, but not as personal”.
However, following his son's diagnosis, Kennedy recalls his immediate thought being “we need to fix this, there is potential for a cure. I have to do whatever I can do to ensure the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation raises the money they need to find a cure.”
While Kennedy appreciates the recognition, he believes that those most deserving are type 1 diabetics.
“The recognition should go to the people that suffer from diabetes,” he said. “Who get up every morning and do all the things they got to do despite the disease,”
Kennedy and DeRiggi-Whitton are both confident that a cure for the condition will eventually be created.
”I believe in my heart as a mother that they are going to cure it and that they have the technology to keep you healthy until there is a cure,” DeRiggi-Whitton said. “I believe that they will cure it,”
