Our February Hero: Noelle’s Type 1 Diabetes Diagnosis Story
Jennifer Schulz, Mother of a T1D Child • February 21, 2019
TL;DR
After weeks of symptoms that were initially mistaken for the flu, four-year-old Noelle was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes with a blood sugar level over 700 mg/dL. Her mother shares the fear, heartbreak, and overwhelm that followed, as well as the education, resilience, and hope that helped their family adapt to life with T1D. This story highlights the importance of recognizing diabetes symptoms early and the strength families discover after diagnosis.
Recognizing the Early Symptoms of T1D
On Christmas Day 2016, Noelle was four years old and struggling with bouts of what her pediatrician thought was the “flu.” She showed all the signs of your typical bug and yet it would come and go. I was nervous because she wasn’t staying well, but I tried not to be that helicopter mom that worried over every little ailment my child came down with; After all, her doctor reinforced “she is okay, there is nothing wrong.” So, I tried to let it go. However, after a few more days of her being lethargic, overly hungry and thirsty, I made a call back to the pediatrician. I asked if they would run some blood tests and check for anything and everything. My beautiful, sweet energetic girl was not herself and I needed a better answer to her bouts of sickness.
After fasting for 12 hours we had her
blood drawn. Then we waited patiently in another room for the results. While we were waiting, Noelle started to fall asleep on us. Her eyes started rolling backwards and her lips turned blue. I FREAKED OUT! I ran into the hallway screaming for help. The nurse came and tried to help my baby girl, but she had no idea what to fix. She didn’t know what was wrong! I was shocked that the medical staff had no idea what was happening. So, I began to do everything I could. Thankfully, after we began to force-feed her juice and crackers, she started to come to.
Receiving a Type 1 Diabetes Diagnosis
The doctor immediately revealed that her blood sugar was over 700 and she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. He instructed us to go immediately to Children’s Hospital because Noelle needed to be admitted for treatment. My heart sank and my grief came in full force like a crashing wave. I knew her life was about to change forever and she would have a very hard time living a care free childhood again. I knew I would now have to be that helicopter mom that I hoped she would not grow up to hate. The thought of the future made me bawl my eyes out the entire way to the hospital.
The following day we were released from the hospital to go to the Barbara Davis Center in Aurora, CO. They educated us on what life looked like with a child with type 1 diabetes and how to care for her properly. We spent the next two days in intense learning about how to help manage this horrible disease. The most shocking part of all the education is how tedious, yet vital, the different aspects of care there is to keep my daughter alive. It was overwhelming!
Adjusting to a New Normal with Type 1 Diabetes
Today, we acknowledge two years of diagnosis. Each day is different from the other. We have days where we struggle to manage her diabetes and we have days were it’s a complete “unicorn” day and we are in target.
My daughter is an amazing young girl, her happy outlook on life gets me through each and every day; and her strength helps me to help her fight and overcome those nasty blood sugar days.
I am proud to be a parent of my type 1 child and we hope for a cure for this life changing disease.
