Our family could not have been more blessed.  My husband, Brian, and I had two beautiful, healthy children, a boy and a girl.  We had the perfect family and everything was so wonderful – until I began noticing an alarming change in my son, Hunter.

  He had always been a happy, energetic little boy, and shortly after he turned three and his sister, Payton, was born, he gave up his afternoon naps.  So I was surprised to find him getting lethargic and suddenly falling asleep on the couch in the middle of the day.  But what shook me the most was the amount of liquid he was consuming and the frequency of urination.  Hunter was almost fully potty-trained but he was regressing quickly, having accidents at preschool and wetting during his naps.

  Something told me there was something seriously wrong, and I knew right away what it was.  I have a good friend who was diagnosed with Type I Juvenile Diabetes when she was around 13.  I remember going to the mall with her shortly before her diagnosis and watching her drink pop after pop and complain of being so thirsty and having to use the restroom so much.  Once she was diagnosed, she told me the constant thirst is a big symptom of diabetes.

  So when Hunter was going through nearly a container of juice a day, I knew we were going to face a devastating change in our perfect family.  Despite the hope his pediatrician gave me, stating that Hunter was a healthy boy and that we would have noticed weight loss if he was diabetic, I asked during a visit to get a flu shot if he would test Hunter’s sugar.  When the doctor came back to the room with the results, I knew by the look on his face that my worst fears were confirmed.

  Hunter’s blood sugar was at 519 and we were instructed to pack an overnight bag, find a sitter for Payton, and get Hunter to the DeVos Children’s Hospital.  My heart was beating a million miles an hour on our drive there, and although I wanted to cry, I had to be strong for Hunter.

  He endured blood draws and finger pokes and to my surprise he was amazingly brave for a three-and-a-half-year-old.  Once we were admitted he was actually excited to be spending the night at the hospital, and loved the playroom and the selection of videos the hospital had.  I was so grateful to have a place like DeVos Children’s Hospital that was so reassuring and comforting for my little boy.  But while Hunter was playing, a doctor came in and explained that Hunter had diabetes.

  Even though I suspected it, hearing the doctor explaining the diagnosis shocked me.  I went numb.  I spent the night next to Hunter, my heart breaking when the nurse had to come in during the night to wake him for blood sugar checks and shots.  He was crying during those times, and I remember thinking that he must be so confused; he had the ideal childhood, with no pain or fear or worry, and now strangers were poking his fingers and injecting needles into his arm.  When he fell back asleep I would leave his room and sob quietly in the hallway, praying to God that the doctors had made a mistake.

  The next day Brian and I sat through six hours of intense diabetes education.  I tried to be strong, learning how to set the Novolog pen and how to fill the syringe with Lantus for his bedtime shot.  But I would breakdown often, still in disbelief that I was learning how to care for a child – my child – with a chronic disease.

  We were sent home that day, and our first few days were rocky at best, but soon days turned into weeks and weeks into months, and just before the one year mark of Hunter’s diagnosis (Nov. 10) he went on the insulin pump.  He is now almost five (his birthday is March 16) and he is still the perfect, happy, active little boy he was before his diagnosis.

  If anything Hunter and his diabetes has made our family more wonderful.  We have all grown stronger, have more faith and hope, and realize how fragile life is and how things can change in an instant.  Hunter loves to tell his friends about his pump, and he knows all about carb-counting and how he feels when he starts to go “low.”  I had a woman tell me recently that she heard children with diabetes are more intelligent and more responsible than most children, and I knew exactly what she meant.  Hunter shines.

  Our family is also so proud to be a part of the JDRF family after participating in the 2006 Walk to Cure Diabetes.  We were so surprised and elated when we found out we were the top family team in terms of fundraising for the Grand Rapids walk.  Our team, Hunter’s Hope, raised approximately $17,000 toward research that will find the cure for Hunter and the millions of other boys and girls (and adults) affected by this heartbreaking disease.  Hunter was so proud to receive his plaque at the award ceremony and now has it hanging on the wall in his playroom, where he “can see it while I’m playing and remember all the people that walked with me to find a cure

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