First of all - wooooo hooooo, it's on to the Senate. House Bill 3, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007, passed the House. Why am I so passionate about this? Stem cell research is currently the only true hope that we have for a cure for diabetes in Chase's life time. It's also the hope for a cure of a host of other autoimmune disorders . I would love to see my parents' neighbor, Judy, be cured of MS. Or my friend Wynn's Grave's Disease go away. Or my former co-worker, Loren, live a life free of Parkinson's. And then there is my friend Kathleen who just finished up a year's worth of chemo and radiation in a brave battle against breast cancer. It's not just about Chase, but a host of other people I know and love.

Following Chase's pump appointment on Friday, I had an interesting conversation with his nurse Maysil. She said that North Dakota has the highest rate of type 1 diabetes in the nation. They think that it may be due to the fact that we are exposed to more cold and flu viruses since a virus attacks the pancreas resulting in the diabetes. I've also read about a lack of vitamin D, which would definitely be a problem up here in the Arctic (current temp, 2 degrees). Because of that conversation, baby #2 is on my mind. I plan to place him/her out in the sun a lot this summer since they will have a 5% chance of developing the disease, too. It doesn't sound like a high statistic, but I know of a mom from Minnesota that has 3 children with diabetes and, coincidentally, Chase's doctor treats a family from Devils Lake that has 3 girls with diabetes.

Speaking of the baby (and to change to happier topics)....we made some major progress with Chase coming to accept a baby moving into the house. We watched a video with a baby in it and he told us that we could have a baby, "Just like that." Granted, we were watching a tape of HIM as a baby, but hey, it's progress.