Music Album for T1 Diabetes
Donation protected
Humans of the world,
My name is Alexandra Laliberte. I’m an actress and an artist living in New York City. Some of you may not already know, but I was Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 13.
Here’s a small story of my life and why I would be SO grateful for your help!
Type 1 Diabetes.
Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels are too high. Glucose comes from the foods you eat. Insulin is a hormone that helps the glucose get into your cells to give them energy. With Type 1 Diabetes, your body does not make insulin. With Type 2 diabetes, the more common type, your body does not make or use insulin well. Without enough insulin, the glucose stays in your blood which can be dangerous. Insulin is also a very important hormone that is needed for many biological processes in the body. As a result, we Diabetics have a lot of health risks. If our glucose levels aren’t tightly controlled we can promote the onset of liver, kidney and eye damage amongst other problems.
Ever since my diagnosis, I have been insulin dependent. I have had to prick my fingers about 8 times a day to help regulate my levels. I started off by manually injecting insulin into my body about 5 times a day and I did this for 10 years. Technology in T1 Diabetic research had not advanced itself for treatment to be any different.
Nevertheless, my creativity started blooming during my childhood. I danced almost four hours a day and competed nationally and internationally from Spain. I won awards and went on TV shows and performed all the time. But having Type 1 Diabetes has made everything so difficult and exhausting. All I wanted to do was dance! But many times I would have to sit out. I would always have to make sure my levels were good before the rush of nerves, adrenaline and physical activity were to commence on stage.
During College, where I studied Biomedicine, I had the urge to express myself even more. I picked up the saxophone and started writing lyrics. I started raping and singing and combining the rhythm I gained from dance into words. I soon noticed the deep concentration I experience was affecting my sugar levels! Another interesting barrier when learning the saxophone. Meditation dropped my sugar levels and creating is a form of it. It was fascinating but also very challenging to continue my new creative curiosities. There were more risks to be aware of.
After University, I moved to NYC. I gained 2 full years of extensive acting training. Each day was a fight. Learning lines and generating imagination is driven by energy. It burns the sugar in your body. Even the emotional adventures I experienced during certain scenes from plays were affecting my sugar levels. I learnt that Acting school ALSO came with even more diabetic challenges that I would have to accumulate.
Only 3 months ago, I was granted an automatic diabetic insulin pump. Back in the day, these were not advanced enough for patient use. But thanks to the progress of biomedical research, technology has been able to develop these amazing automatic monitoring devices that have literally changed my life. CHANGED MY LIFE. My glucose levels have drastically improved within the last month and I no longer need to make my fingers bleed after an acting class. I just look at the pump. And now I wish all Diabetics to have one! Because the quality of life improves so beautifully. In other words, less stress is gained. I don’t need to worry or plan as much as when I didn’t have a pump. I don’t have to think so much. Less thinking means more doing, and more doing means more creating.
So Why am I raising money?
Well, it’s pretty simple. Firstly, it’s been a creative goal of mine to make an entire Album of songs, but music production is expensive. It’s also been my goal to help the Diabetic community. That’s why I gained my biomedical degree. I wanted to enter Medicine through my Diabetic eyes. Fortunately, I soon realized that my heart belonged to the Arts. I now reside in NYC, acting and creating to my hearts content. However, living and creating are both obstacles in itself. Especially when you have another entity like Diabetes to look after. But I don’t want to make my living the obstacle for creating.
If I can raise money towards this Album, it will allow me to create a platform on which I can raise more money! When the Album is made, 40% of proceeds will be going towards Type 1 Diabetic Research at the JDRF Foundation.
http://www.jdrf.org/
I have joined forces with a talented team of music producers and musicians. Together, we aim to have this project finalized before Christmas 2018. But before I can start, I need to be able to support the baseline production costs. I have dedicated my first Album to my biggest struggle in life and have titled it; Type 1.
To the one thing that stops me from moving but also keeps me going. I want to inspire other diabetics to reach their goals and I want to donate all that I can to Type 1 Diabetic Research to help get closer to finding a cure. I want to make a change but first, I need your help.
My name is Alexandra Laliberte. I’m an actress and an artist living in New York City. Some of you may not already know, but I was Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 13.
Here’s a small story of my life and why I would be SO grateful for your help!
Type 1 Diabetes.
Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels are too high. Glucose comes from the foods you eat. Insulin is a hormone that helps the glucose get into your cells to give them energy. With Type 1 Diabetes, your body does not make insulin. With Type 2 diabetes, the more common type, your body does not make or use insulin well. Without enough insulin, the glucose stays in your blood which can be dangerous. Insulin is also a very important hormone that is needed for many biological processes in the body. As a result, we Diabetics have a lot of health risks. If our glucose levels aren’t tightly controlled we can promote the onset of liver, kidney and eye damage amongst other problems.
Ever since my diagnosis, I have been insulin dependent. I have had to prick my fingers about 8 times a day to help regulate my levels. I started off by manually injecting insulin into my body about 5 times a day and I did this for 10 years. Technology in T1 Diabetic research had not advanced itself for treatment to be any different.
Nevertheless, my creativity started blooming during my childhood. I danced almost four hours a day and competed nationally and internationally from Spain. I won awards and went on TV shows and performed all the time. But having Type 1 Diabetes has made everything so difficult and exhausting. All I wanted to do was dance! But many times I would have to sit out. I would always have to make sure my levels were good before the rush of nerves, adrenaline and physical activity were to commence on stage.
During College, where I studied Biomedicine, I had the urge to express myself even more. I picked up the saxophone and started writing lyrics. I started raping and singing and combining the rhythm I gained from dance into words. I soon noticed the deep concentration I experience was affecting my sugar levels! Another interesting barrier when learning the saxophone. Meditation dropped my sugar levels and creating is a form of it. It was fascinating but also very challenging to continue my new creative curiosities. There were more risks to be aware of.
After University, I moved to NYC. I gained 2 full years of extensive acting training. Each day was a fight. Learning lines and generating imagination is driven by energy. It burns the sugar in your body. Even the emotional adventures I experienced during certain scenes from plays were affecting my sugar levels. I learnt that Acting school ALSO came with even more diabetic challenges that I would have to accumulate.
Only 3 months ago, I was granted an automatic diabetic insulin pump. Back in the day, these were not advanced enough for patient use. But thanks to the progress of biomedical research, technology has been able to develop these amazing automatic monitoring devices that have literally changed my life. CHANGED MY LIFE. My glucose levels have drastically improved within the last month and I no longer need to make my fingers bleed after an acting class. I just look at the pump. And now I wish all Diabetics to have one! Because the quality of life improves so beautifully. In other words, less stress is gained. I don’t need to worry or plan as much as when I didn’t have a pump. I don’t have to think so much. Less thinking means more doing, and more doing means more creating.
So Why am I raising money?
Well, it’s pretty simple. Firstly, it’s been a creative goal of mine to make an entire Album of songs, but music production is expensive. It’s also been my goal to help the Diabetic community. That’s why I gained my biomedical degree. I wanted to enter Medicine through my Diabetic eyes. Fortunately, I soon realized that my heart belonged to the Arts. I now reside in NYC, acting and creating to my hearts content. However, living and creating are both obstacles in itself. Especially when you have another entity like Diabetes to look after. But I don’t want to make my living the obstacle for creating.
If I can raise money towards this Album, it will allow me to create a platform on which I can raise more money! When the Album is made, 40% of proceeds will be going towards Type 1 Diabetic Research at the JDRF Foundation.
http://www.jdrf.org/
I have joined forces with a talented team of music producers and musicians. Together, we aim to have this project finalized before Christmas 2018. But before I can start, I need to be able to support the baseline production costs. I have dedicated my first Album to my biggest struggle in life and have titled it; Type 1.
To the one thing that stops me from moving but also keeps me going. I want to inspire other diabetics to reach their goals and I want to donate all that I can to Type 1 Diabetic Research to help get closer to finding a cure. I want to make a change but first, I need your help.
Organiser
Alexandra Laliberte
Organiser
New York, NY
