A Letter from Dr. Wise

At some time in our lives, every single one of us will leave a doctor’s office with news of a diagnosis that will change our lives forever.  That has happened in my family on several occasions, but the most recent two were when Scott, our youngest son, was diagnosed in 2005 with type I diabetes at age 26 and again when Andy, our oldest son, was diagnosed also with type I diabetes in 2007 at age 31.  As a parent, having your children diagnosed with a disease that has no cure, at least for now, is a devastating blow.  We are most vulnerable when something happens to one of our children and there is nothing that we can do to make it better for them.

Fortunately, both of my sons are stable and are holding the disease at bay with daily insulin injections.  Unfortunately, many of the foods that most of us can eat daily such as pizza, pasta, rice, potatoes and most other carbohydrates, are off the list of things to eat without paying the price of another injection of insulin.  Being insulin dependent requires a great deal of discipline and robs the diabetic patient of a lot of freedom that most of us enjoy and take for granted.

There is a tremendous amount of research being done on diabetes and great strides are being made in the treatment and cure for the disease.  But like everything else, it takes money to fund the projects.  That is why we at Knowles Animal Clinics are launching the first annual cutest cat and dog award contest.  Every penny donated will go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund (JDRF).  There will be one dog and one cat winner and they will reign for one year in that role.  It should be fun and will raise money for a worthy cause at the same time.

With all of your help, my sons and millions of diabetic patients all over the world will be given the gift of health and a return of many of the freedoms that they lost to diabetes once a cure is found.

Thank you in advance for helping us support this cause.

Dr. David T. Wise