After his daughter’s unexpected diagnoisis, Jet Linx Indianapolis Base President Casey Blake and his family have learned to embrace life with type 1 diabetes – while working toward a cure.

When Casey Blake woke up on Sept. 7, 2012, he was planning to enjoy a PGA golf event with his wife. By 6 p.m., his family was in the hospital, learning that his four-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a disease that will affect her entire life.

Every year, 30,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D). Ruby Blake joined the ranks without much warning. “My wife, Leslie, and I had been invited to attend a PGA championship event at Crooked Stick Golf Club, and we were excited about the opportunity. We had arranged for my mother-in-law to watch the children so we could attend,” Blake said. Blake and his wife also have two sons: Oliver, now 8, and Henry, now 3.

“That morning, as we were getting ready, I said I thought Ruby had lost weight. She was drinking a lot of fluids, and wasn’t eating much, so I thought something was going on. We had been noticing these behaviors increasing over the previous week. We shrugged it off, attributing it to an illness earlier in the week, but asked my mother-in-law to take her to the doctor,” Blake said. The Blakes went on to the event, and while watching the tournament and enjoying the day, the phone rang.

“Our doctor called and said Ruby had type 1 diabetes, and that we needed to come pick her up to take her to the hospital immediately, or else she’d be placed in an ambulance,” Blake recalled. “We didn’t know what it was or how serious it was, we just knew we had a doctor telling us we had to take our child to the hospital. It was terrifying. We went home, packed a bag, picked her up and had her in the hospital by 6 p.m. that evening.”

Doctors at the hospital confirmed the family physician’s diagnosis: Ruby had T1D. “We learned over the next several hours, it’s something Ruby was going to have to live with her entire life, and currently, there is no cure.”

Standing in the hospital, Blake didn’t know where to begin. “Most people don’t know the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Leading up to the day that Ruby was diagnosed, I couldn’t tell you either,” he admitted. Today, he speaks knowledgeably on the ins and outs of the disease, and sits on the board of the Indiana chapter of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, or JDRF.

“With type 1 diabetes, your pancreas stops or slows down the secretion of insulin. Insulin is what is released into your stomach to dissolve and break down carbohydrates you digest and turn those into energy. Without insulin, carbohydrates start tearing apart muscle and tissue in your body, which leads to major issues,” Blake explained. Type 1 has been known as juvenile diabetes. “Most people that are diagnosed with type 1 are diagnosed prior to 30 years old,” he noted.

Today, with the help of an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor (CGM), Ruby and her family are able to keep her diabetes under control. “To Ruby, it’s just a natural part of her life. She knows that her brothers don’t currently have type 1 diabetes and she understands that she has a disease with no cure,” Blake said. “She’s not ashamed; however, there are times when she is around people she doesn’t know and is embarrassed because she doesn’t know how to effectively communicate.” In the two years since her diagnosis, Ruby and the Blakes have learned on a steep curve, but they’re making the best of a difficult situation. “There are a lot of successful people who have had type 1 for 20 years or more, and we try to help her understand that it doesn’t mean she can’t reach for the stars and enjoy her dreams. I personally believe that there is a reason for everything, and I think that there is a reason our family was put in this situation,” Blake said. “Every situation you come into contact with you have to say what am I going to get out of this and how am I going to participate. We are a type one family.”

Blake’s participation includes sitting on the board of the Indiana chapter of JDRF, an organization that raises funds for T1D research. “JDRF is involved with an organization that puts on camp for kids, and the mission of The Double ‘Q’ Foundation is to established financial assistance for underprivileged children and allow them to attend diabetic camps and learn about their disease,” Blake said. “It’s really special. You have local endocrinologists who attend camp alongside these kids, and the kids get to attend camp like every other kid can. Every one of the counselors knows how to deal with diabetes. The kids can be kids because someone else is taking care of them.”

The impact of this camp is not lost on Ruby. “There’s something gratifying to a 6-year-old girl who has to wear these devices and live with this disease. When she can walk into a room and see another child wearing the same devices and make a connection, it’s magical,” Blake said. JDRF puts on a number of activities for children to participate in. “Through these activities, Ruby has made friends – together they do art projects and make ornaments to auction off at the JDRF Promise Gala.”

The Promise Gala will be held April 25, 2015, and funds raised will help a variety of research. “It’s a not-for-profit organization that raises money to find a cure for diabetes. Better managing type 1 via technology, or an artificial pancreas – these projects may one day change my daughter’s life.”

“The JDRF Promise Gala will be the best gala in the city,” Blake said. “The name Promise Gala represents the promise JDRF made 40+ years ago to parents, like myself, to find a cure for type 1 diabetes. This is a special event because it brings together business and community leaders for an evening that includes cocktails, dinner, one-of-a-kind silent and live auctions, late-night dancing and most importantly raising money for a great cause.” The 2015 event will be themed ‘Tires and Tuxes for Type 1,’ and will be held at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis.

Blake speaks powerfully to the power of organizations like JDRF. “Knowing what I know now, I would say to get involved with the local JDRF chapter sooner,” he said. “We didn’t know that it was out there. Now, if I had a chance, the day after her diagnosis, I would check Ruby’s sugars and go out there and ask what to do next. It’s really important when you are going through that first week or two, not understanding how it’s going to affect her life. The physical aspects aren’t that bad, but the mental involvement you have as a parent is overwhelming,” he admitted. “Being able to call and ask someone, ‘How do you dose for pizza?’ Just learning how to take care of these daily challenges would be easier with that support and expertise.”

For other parents facing this diagnosis for their children, Blake’s advice is simple. “Call me. Call my wife. Talk to us, any question you’ve got,” he said. “Find your local JDRF chapter. You’ve got to have people that you can talk to who are going through the same thing, and have gone down this road and seen what is at the end of the tunnel. It’s really hard to see when you’re in the throes of diagnosis, but some great things will come out of it.”

If you are interested in learning more about JDRF, purchasing tickets to the 2015 Promises Gala or making a donation visit www.indiana.jdrf.org.

Read more about the Blake family’s story in the Winter 2015 issue of SOAR, online now.