A Bump in the Road

While speeding along life's highway, we were slowed down recently by what we like to call "a bump in the road". Our youngest son, Jack, was diagnosed on Friday, the 13th of March, with Type 1 Diabetes. He was drinking constantly and going to the bathroom about every 10 - 15 minutes. Mike said out of the blue, "that's a symptom of diabetes." We called our doctor, and they advised us to take him into the Urgent Care Center to be tested. A normal person's blood sugar level is between 70 and 100. When they tested his blood sugar, it was 609. So the diagnosis was immediately made, and we were sent to Children's Mercy Hospital to be admitted for the next three days.

We have learned a great deal in the last few weeks about this disorder. It is an auto-immune disorder where the body kills off the beta cells in the pancreas which make insulin. Insulin is a hormone which the body makes to breaks down sugars and turn them into energy. People with Type 1 Diabetes will be insulin dependent for the rest of their lives. Right now, he has to test his blood about nine times a day, and we have to count every carbohydrate he eats, and dose him with the correct amount of insulin. The great news is that we live in a day when technology has made this disorder very manageable, which we are so grateful for. One hundred years ago Jack would not have survived, but today he can live a long, normal life thanks to the medical knowledge of today. And many researchers believe that a cure is less than a decade away!

Jack has adjusted to this like a champ!! He is giving himself insulin injections already, and has competely come to terms with it! He is still playing football, and cartwheeling everywhere. Soon he will be on an insulin pump which makes managing diabetes even easier. He is back to full speed on life's highway after this little bump in the road!

To find out more, or to help find a cure, visit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation website at: http://www.jdrf.org/