
Hayden Simmons, age 4, was diagnosed with Juvenile (type I) diabetes in March 2006 when he was 20 months old. He had been sick for 2 weeks with the flu and then bronchitis, so his increased thirst and urination were attributed to the infections/fever. On that Friday afternoon in March, our world was turned upside down in a matter of hours. We soon learned that we would be cramming for a test, but that test will be the rest of his life.
Right now, there is no cure for juvenile diabetes, and insulin is his life support. Every bite that he puts in his mouth has to be accounted for. Because his pancreas does not produce any insulin, we have to manually give him insulin to allow his body to use the sugar he eats. When he was first diagnosed, he got 2-4 shots of insulin every day. When he turned 3, we convinced his doctor to let us try the insulin pump, and he has been on it ever since.
We check his sugar 8-10 times daily by pricking his finger, then according to what his blood sugar is, we adjust his pump. He is a very happy, athletic child and to look at him play, you would never know anything was wrong. In reality, because of this horrible monster, his risks of eye, heart, and kidney problems are greatly increased. He can't spend the night away from home with friends, and we can't just call up any babysitter, because only certain people know how to take care of him and what to do in emergencies.
One night in July 2008, he had his first trip to the emergency room since diagnosis. His blood sugar dropped to 17, and the normal is 80-120. He was lying in the floor of our bedroom (because we are afraid to leave him alone is his own room at bedtime) and woke us up having a seizure. Usually we can correct low sugars by feeding him, but he could not speak or follow commands. We gave him a shot of glucagon and went to the emergency room, but that was one of the scariest days of my life. As a parent, the only thing in life I want more than anything is for my children to be healthy.
I am a proud sponsor of the
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (
JDRF), because their main objective is to find a cure for diabetes, and also help find ways to decrease the risks diabetes imposes on its victims. Every dollar raised by
JDRF goes to research in finding a cure, and that is what Hayden needs as soon as possible.
The best day in my life would be for me to be able to tell Hayden he could eat whatever he wanted, and we did NOT have to stick his finger to check his sugar. I can only imagine a cure, but with the help of friends, and God's strength, we just take one day at the time.