Dana's Disease

About the Book

The reader meets five-year-old Dana, her dad, and her family on Wednesday November 13, 2002. A few things become obvious within the first few pages. Dana is sick, apparently with the flu, but something doesn't feel right with this diagnosis. There's something more sinister about this flu. Dana has Type 1 diabetes and this is complicating the already difficult situation involving her care. Dana's dad is disillusioned with God, but something in his relationship with Father Wes and in this troubled situation is drawing him to God. The reader is then taken back to Sunday January 16, 2000, before any of the troubles that Dana and her family now face have taken hold. The story reveals Dana and her family through her dad's perspective, from happy and carefree beginning through a three-year journey of suffering, quiet triumph, and personal awakening.

Dana's Disease is based on the true accounts of the struggles of Dana Kanerva to be a healthy normal child, from soon after her third birthday to days before her sixth birthday.

About the Author

Jim Kanerva is a Director of the Alberta Diabetes Foundation and is Co-Chair of the Annual Alberta Diabetes Foundation Fun Run Relay. Jim is a member of the Sturgeon Valley Cosmopolitan Club and works closely with the St. Albert and Edmonton Cosmopolitan Clubs. These clubs form a part of Cosmopolitan International ("The Club that Fights Diabetes"). He is a long-term employee and the Shop Operations Manager at Waiward Steel Fabricators Ltd. He holds an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Engineering degree in Engineering Management from the University of Alberta. He is passionate about being part of finding a cure for diabetes.