Before you get too excited, read the post and then decide what you think.

First of all, this post was my wife’s idea.  She’s the brains of the operation, so I follow suit.  She and I were watching TV the other night when a Susan G. Komen commercial came on.

I have to hand it to Breast Cancer supporters.  The Susan G. Komen Foundation has done a great job in raising awareness and money for breast cancer.  My wife said something to the effect of, “JDRF should have this kind of exposure”.  She’s right, it should.  And as a JDRF supporter, that kind of exposure is what I want for T1D.

Why are they so successful, and why am I so jealous?  My title states the obvious, but let’s review the numbers.

The 2011 census states that there were 311,591,917 people in the United States.  50.8% women.  Who’s going to say no to their mother, their wife or their daughter?  I sure don’t.

But for the T1D community, you have to pay attention to this next statistic.  2.6 million women were living with breast cancer in 2008.  Approximately 3 million Americans were living with T1D in 2011.  Similar numbers of prevalence, however, nothing is going to change in terms of the vast numbers of people involved in Breast Cancer Awareness and fundraising.  Pancreas VS. Boobs.  Yep, Boobs wins.  Every time.  Now, I say this in jest because we are not competing.  But the idea is that the pancreas does not draw the same amount of attention…..  Let’s face it, how many of us truly know exactly where the pancreas is?

So what does that mean for those of us dealing with T1D?  We just have to continue to work hard.  The AP study last weekend proves that JDRF is funding research that is improving lives of those with T1D.  Those families with T1D have to be more determined now than ever, to continue in the fight to cure T1D.  We are a small part of the population, with very low curb appeal to those outside of the T1D world.

So don’t get frustrated by that fact there is a lot of pink ribbons in the community.  We have to work harder.  Wear blue.  Talk to your friends and family.  Thank them for their donations and their volunteer hours.  Share with them the research information, showing them the progress that is happening because of their help.  And if you live with T1D, we need you.  Now, more than ever.

All stats were gathered from the following websites:

American Cancer Society Website: www.cancer.org

JDRF:  www.jdrf.org