Mashantuckets Back Diabetes Research

In fact, given its resources, the tribe that owns Foxwoods Resort Casino considered it "almost an obligation to help find a solution," according to Rodney Butler and Richard E. Sebastian, chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the Mashantuckets' tribal council. In 2006, they founded Drive for Diabetes, an annual charity golf event that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for diabetes research and prevention.

A couple of years after the inaugural event, Sebastian himself was diagnosed with signs of the disease.

"I learned I was a borderline diabetic," Sebastian said Monday during a ceremony marking the tribe's distribution of proceeds from last month's sixth Drive for Diabetes, which was held at Lake of Isles. The tribe presented a $20,000 check to the American Diabetes Association and a $20,000 check to the Joslin Diabetes Center and its local affiliate, Lawrence Memorial Hospital in New London.

"I ignored it," Sebastian said of his initial diagnosis. "I pushed it to the side and went about living."

Eventually, though, he noticed changes in his vision. Frequent nighttime trips to the bathroom disrupted his sleep, which in turn made it hard for him to withstand the rigors of the day. Blood tests that revealed high blood-sugar levels confirmed he had the disease.

"Over the last two-and-a-half years, I've lost 20 pounds," he said, looking fit. "I'm staying on top of it."

According to Chris Boynton, executive director of the American Diabetes Association's New England chapter, many diagnosed with diabetes react the way Sebastian did at first.

"It's all too common that people wait to act on a diagnosis," Boynton, who represented the ADA at Monday's ceremony, said, noting that 79 million Americans have "pre-diabetes," a condition marked by blood-sugar levels that are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.

"At that point," Boynton said, "you can change your diet, lose weight, exercise and fall out of that category. But once you're diagnosed with diabetes, you have it.

"Our goal is similar to that of the tribal nation's," he said. "We want to promote a sense of urgency."

Also on hand at the ceremony was William Stanley, vice president of development and community relations for LM, which was a recipient of the tribe's largesse for the second year in a row.

"We're delighted to have established this relationship with the Mashantucket Pequots to help raise awareness about diabetes not only on the reservation but throughout the community," he said. "We want to provide a higher level of care for those afflicted with the disease and a higher level of precaution among those who potentially could be headed in that direction."

b.hallenbeck@theday.com