Claire was diagnosed with Leukemia in September 2011, and part of her treatment involved steroids, which work with the chemo. She immediately developed steroid-induced diabetes, which we were told would go away between steroid pulses; and it did, for the first year. And then in August 2012, we found her bgl no longer returned to normal...some testes were done and we found out her A1C was 6.1, and they also found she had the GAD65 antibody. We were crushed...all signs pointed toward T1, on top of Leukemia...and she was only one year into her 2.5 year chemo treatment. We managed to get Claire into an NIH trial for cancer survivors who develop Endocrine issues as a result of treatment, and they did a whole series of tests. She tested positive for THREE genetic markers for T1; that coupled with the fact that T1 is inherent on Claire's father's side of the family was pretty discouraging. But at least we had a good idea of what to expect. 3 January 2014 marked Claire's last day of chemo; so now we wait and watch. In September 2013 Claire started using the Omnipod pump, and loves the normalcy it has restored for her, especially after 2 long years of injections. Claire has always pushed on though, and always lives her life to the fullest, despite all obstacles. In August 2012 she had her port removed from her chest (even though she still had 1.5 years of chemo left), so that she could return to playing travel soccer. Regardless of the fatigue and sickness she felt from chemo, and recurring ketones, and bouts of extreme hyper and hypoglycemia, she never stopped playing, and proving to herself that she is strong enough to face whatever comes her way. She is my hero!

Stephanie Broadhead
California, MD