Editor’s Note: November is National Diabetes Awareness Month. ENN’s Ivy Scott is in our Junior High Journalism Course and wanted to share her family’s journey with T1D.
Around 10,000 children are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes every year in the United States, yet many people have no idea what it is. I hope this article and my family’s experience with the lifelong autoimmune disorder will help change that.
Type 1 diabetes, or T1D, is an auto-immune disease that occurs when a person’s pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin or stops working altogether. The pancreas has the important job of producing enzymes to help your body digest the food you eat. Your pancreas also regulates blood sugar by making insulin. When you eat food, your pancreas also knows how much insulin to give in response. In diabetics, this process is slowed or completely nonexistent. Because of this, diabetics have to take insulin shots by self-injection or by machine. The machine must then be taken from the person after a few days, disposed of, and a new machine reattached somewhere else on the body. Most people would agree this is a cumbersome, potentially uncomfortable process, but it’s one diabetics deal with daily.
A common misconception is that Type 2 diabetes – so-called Adult-Onset Diabetes – is the only kind of diabetes. As any Type 1 diabetic can attest, that’s not true. The two have some similarities, but they’re fundamentally different. While the pancreas in a Type 1 diabetic has stopped working, the pancreas in a Type 2 diabetic is somewhat functional and has worked well in the past. This means that a T2D can manage their diabetes through diet and lifestyle choices, while a T1D has to guess or estimate how much insulin to give 24/7. If a diabetic doesn’t get their insulin, they could have high blood sugar, which can lead to severe issues, such as a diabetic coma or organ failure. Low blood sugar or too much insulin can lead to seizures, a coma, cardiac arrest, and brain damage.
For Diabetes Awareness Month this November, I thought I’d share my family’s story. My 7-year-old brother, Epic student Jensen Carter, was diagnosed with T1D in 2021, the day after Christmas. When Jensen was diagnosed, he had a blood sugar of over 1100. For comparison, a blood sugar of 250 is considered dangerous and can lead to a coma if not quickly treated. Any time a child is sick, it’s terrifying, but it’s doubly so when it’s potentially as serious as diabetes.
Jensen uses oranges, juice boxes, and smarties to manage his blood sugar lows, and he loves to jump on the trampoline or play tag with his three siblings for his highs. Jensen currently wears a Tandem insulin pump and a Dexcom G6.
