Alli was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes on June 12, 2010. She was 3 years old. I noticed her diapers got increasingly heavy with urine, and she started shying away from activities that I knew she loved, only to go lay on the couch. She came down with what I thought was a horrible diaper rash, but it was a yeast infection. Before Alli's doctor appointment, I narrowed down what would cause a yeast infection in a 3 year old. I couldn't rule out Diabetes. The doctor wanted to send her home with cream. I insisted that someone check her sugar and when they did, the results read "HIGH". After three days in the hospital, we were released with our "new" child and everything as we knew it was gone.
Three years later, we are making the best of it. She has great people looking out for her and her well being, and has formed relationships with some that wouldn't have been possible if she weren't T1D. She also has just started checking her own sugar which has given her INDEPENDENCE! Among the many lessons we are learning, we realized early on that no matter how hard we fight to take care of this disease, sometimes it has a mind of it's own. We just have to be strong and keep plugging away. We also have to trust our instincts and stand up for what we know to be true.
Alli feels pretty special being the only kid in the neighborhood with T1D, but she gets frustrated when a shot hurts, when she can't get enough of a blood sample to put into her monitor, or eat what everyone else is having (cake, popsicles, etc.) at the moment, and when she doesn't feel good. She said once, "Mommy, I wish I was like you." I told her, "You are like me." She immediately corrected me and said, "No. You don't have diabetes." When she says those things it tears at my heart strings. But, most days, it's a non issue. It's life. We are living it and loving each other.
Westerville, OH
