Meet Miles. He is 11 years old, a CDF Advocate and a type one diabetic. January marks his 6th year diagnosis anniversary. We want to celebrate his courage, strength and life by sharing his story…

“Leading up to his diagnosis, Miles had a cold around the holidays but he didn’t seem that sick to us. When I think back to that time, I do remember that he was looking pretty thin during those few weeks. I assumed he was growing taller and losing his baby fat.

It became apparent that something was wrong when we picked him up from preschool his first day back after winter break. His teacher told us he had gone to the bathroom an unusual amount of times and drank many bottles of water (too many to count). My mind went racing because I had some knowledge that those were symptoms of diabetes, but I couldn’t fathom that was the problem. I did what any mom would do (that you’re not supposed to do) and googled his symptoms. Loss of appetite, lethargy, bed-wetting, thirsty…it pulled up “Type 1 Diabetes.” I had a lump in my throat as I called our pediatrician and she said, “Come to my office as soon as you can.”      It was 6pm on Miles’s 5th Birthday. 

Our doctor immediately did blood and urine testing, and she came in to tell us the devastating news. “Miles has Diabetes. I don’t have a meter that will read his number because it’s so high, so you need to go to Children’s Hospital immediately.” She saw the fear and shock on both of our faces, and even offered to drive us herself. I tried to pull myself together as a mom (hiding my tears back) and held Miles tightly to comfort him. We thanked her for meeting us so late and drove ourselves to the hospital.

Soon after being admitted Miles was being poked and prodded and given saline to rehydrate him. Lots of new words like ketoacidosis, insulin, and bolusing were being thrown around as we followed their directions. As I finally called my husband and cried in the hallway, I looked through the hospital room window at Miles who had now been given insulin, and was watching a movie, laughing. All the color had come back to his face and you could tell he felt so much better. Wow! How could I not have known that he was suffering this much?

Everyone at the hospital was wonderful to us that night, comforting us, and even bringing wrapped birthday gifts into the hospital room for Miles. At 1:30AM we were released to go home. They told us to go to the Barbara Davis Center the next day where we would learn about our “new normal” and how to care for our boy. I was relieved (and terrified) to take him home. When he fell asleep that night, I slept on the floor next to him and have dozens of times ever since. I never knew you could feel that much fear until then.”

Miles says, “I’m finding the good stuff in it…opportunities like being an advocate and meeting cool people who have diabetes too.”

Story by: Holly Scott, parent