WILMINGTON — For those living with type 1 diabetes, especially children, having a “normal” day-to-day life can be nearly impossible. The disease requires constant monitoring, from finger prick blood tests to watching what you eat; and one slip can have detrimental side effects.
But, Wilmington resident Mark Loudermilk is working to change that. This past year, he teamed up with the Coastal Carolina Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) to raise money and awareness through music, helping fund research that will help those afflicted “live better with this disease.”
Working toward a better life
Loudermilk knows first hand just how difficult type 1 diabetes can be. At age 10, he was diagnosed with the disease. When his daughter turned 10, she was diagnosed with it as well.
“Basically, your pancreas stops producing insulin, and insulin is what converts your sugar into energy,” Loudermilk said. “For juvenile diabetes, it can happen anywhere from when you’re a baby, up until your early 20s even. I’ve heard of people being 30 years old having their pancreas shut down, and while that’s unusual, it can happen.”
This can have numerous side effects, from fainting due to lack of energy, to the restriction of blood vessels in the eyes and extremities.
According to Loudermilk, a diagnosis like this can force a kid to grow up fast, essentially putting their life in their own hands at a very early age.
“When I was diagnosed in the 70s, they didn’t have insulin pumps back then, they just had injection, and you had to check your blood sugar a lot,” he said. “The whole lifestyle is trying to balance the insulin, with the amount of carbs that you’ve eaten.”
But, that is slowly changing. According to Loudermilk, in the last 15 years technology has taken huge steps forward. Through funding from the JDRF and other organizations like it, advancements have seen diabetic treatments go from a manual process, to almost fully automated.
Loudermilk said that the foundation’s number one goal is to help fund a cure. But, until that happens, they’re working to make individuals lives as smooth as possible.
“This year, the FDA approved a device that does both of those things at once. It reads a patient’s blood sugar, and it talks to the pump, and they call it a ‘bionic pancreas,’” he said. “It’s a really cool thing, and the first ones are just now coming out, they still have to work out some things, but within five years everyone should be able to get one.”
According to Boston University, the “bionic pancreas” is designed to “reduce the impact of diabetes for people who have to use it,” ultimately allowing the device to make decisions about insulin and glucagon dosing every five minutes.
“It’ll read your blood sugar 24 hours a day, it’ll give you insulin as you need it, it almost takes the manual part completely out of it, it just does it all for you in bionic fashion,” he said with a laugh. “I hate to use the word ‘bionic,’ but that’s what they call it, a ‘bionic pancreas,’ and it’s really cool.”
fab4JDRF
In an effort to accelerate this research, and provide more tools like the bionic pancreas, Loudermilk developed his own non-profit, fab4JDRF, which looks to raise money for research through special events, hosted by his band, the Moondogs.
The Moondogs are a Beatles cover band, created by Loudermilk and a few friends. The group plays complete Beatles’ albums, “front to back,” offering an “authentic” Beatles’ sound, the way the band played in their heyday.
“Me and my friend Bill, we just came up with the idea, ‘hey, why don’t we play a Beatles’ album from beginning to end, and wouldn’t that be cool?’ We thought that could be our event to raise money,” he said. “And it sort of just snowballed from there.”
Loudermilk then teamed up with downtown Wilmington’s Brooklyn Arts Center, which helped him organize a “groovy” evening for the band’s first ever event.
“Rich Leder, with the Brooklyn Arts Center, he told us either ‘do it right, or don’t do it at all,'” Loudermilk said. “When we heard those words, we knew this was going to be big, we’re going for broke here.”
At their first and what they hope becomes annual concert event, The Moondogs will be performing The Beatles’ 1965 album “Rubber Soul,” as well as the double A-side single released the same day, called “Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out.”
“We’ll have a DJ playing music at the beginning, as well as a silent auction going on throughout the night,” he said. “Catering will be provided by Middle of the Island, and the other thing we’re encouraging is for folks to dress in 60s attire. As soon as you walk into the hall, there’ll be a photographer there to take your picture.”
The concert will also feature the band Falling for Tuesday as an opener, in addition to a raffle filled with items provided by local businesses.
“It’s going to be fun, and even though it’s our first year I’m pretty excited about how it’s all coming together,” he said.
The concert will be held on Friday, Sept. 22, at the Brooklyn Arts Center, located at 516 N. 4th Street in downtown Wilmington. Doors open at 7 p.m., tickets cost $25 in advance, and $35 at the door.
All proceeds from the event will go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Coastal Carolina.
For tickets, more information, or to find out how you can get involved, visit the fab4JDRF website at fab4JDRF.org, or follow them on Facebook for the latest on the event.
Get in touch with Reporter Cory Mannion: follow him on Facebook, Twitter, or send an email at cory@localvoicemedia.com.
