Type 1

With permission from my brother Greg, I'd like to share his story. Greg was 10 years old when his life changed forever. Greg was having mood swings, drinking a lot of water, and was constantly having to urinate. No one knew for sure what was going on with him. My mom called the doctor one day and told them about Greg’s symptoms. The doctor told my mom that he needed to be seen right away. My dad was with Greg on a field trip, and as soon as the field trip was over my dad took Greg to see the doctor. When they got to the doctor’s office they started running tests. At home we didn't know what was going to happen to Greg. My dad finally called and told my mom that Greg was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. I remember thinking that only old people had diabetes. My family’s thoughts were how this could have happened. We now know that it was no one’s fault because Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease.

We all had to learn to help Greg. We learned what we needed to watch out for when his blood sugar was too high or too low. My family started packing snacks to take with us wherever we went, and made sure we always had his insulin on-hand to help adjust his blood sugar. My parents would set alarms to wake in the middle of the night to check on him and to make sure that his blood sugar wasn’t getting too low. 

Greg went to clinical studies to help find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. My parents thought it would be good to help with finding a cure. He went to the Humphrey’s Diabetic Center in Boise, Idaho for two weeks. He was administered a drug through his veins in his arm and he would give blood sample every day for the two weeks. While under the study he would take movies and video games to the center to help pass the time. I remember that he would come home very sick!  Because the medicine made Greg so sick he had to be taken off the study.

Greg had a hard time coming to grips with why he was the one in five hundred to get this disease. I remember that he would say that he was done dealing with his diabetes and get mad and would not want to take anymore shots. It was not only hard on him but all of us, seeing him go through this. My other brothers and I had to get tested for diabetes as well. Every year we went in the doctor's office to be screened for diabetes. My younger brothers hated going and being tested.

Several years after Greg was diagnosed with diabetes he went to a diabetic camp. While at this camp Greg came to realize that there are many other kids dealing with this same disease. He also realized that several of them had other auto-immune health problems at the same time. After he attended several of these camps Greg started to become more accepting of his disease and he realized that it could be a lot worse. These camps were also great at teaching him ways that he could care for his diabetes by himself. 

I wish that I could say that it has gotten easier for Greg.  Greg does have a better attitude about his disease but most days he still wishes this hadn’t happened. Greg and my family are still looking forward to the day when a cure for this awful disease is found. In the meantime, I am so proud of Greg’s courage through this difficult challenge.