Posted by Sandy Donchess on June 02, 1999 at 11:07:52:
Diabetic boy to help raise awareness
Sunday, May 30, 1999
By Jessica Brown
Dispatch Staff Reporter
Three-year-old Carter Gadd of the West Side receives insulin injections twice a day, knows how to test his own blood glucose level and can easily explain it all to an adult.
His young life has been spent learning how to cope with juvenile diabetes.
But he faces a lifetime of tedious routine and high medical bills. He and his mother, Ivena, would like to see a cure.
A letter written by Gadd resulted in her son being selected as one of 100 diabetic children representing the 50 states to travel to Washington next month for the first Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Children's Congress.
"I think that because diabetes victims don't look sick or act sick most of the time, it's a disease that kind of gets brushed aside,'' Gadd said.
The purpose of the Children's Congress June 20-22 is twofold.
It aims to raise national awareness of diabetes and to encourage Congress to increase funding for diabetes research.
Using the theme "Promise to Remember Me'' the delegates will speak to Congress on behalf of 16 million American diabetics.
Carter was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 16 months old.
In her letter to the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, Gadd, who deals daily with diabetics in her work as a nurse, wrote about how families live with the disease.
"Our daily routine starts out with an insulin shot,'' she said.
"Sometimes he hides under the table or in the living room, sometimes he runs or just screams.''
She has to regulate what types of food Carter eats and how long he exercises. She never knows if nightmares or tantrums or hunger are just natural or if they are symptoms.
"If he's being mean I don't know if it's because he's low, or just because he wants to be mean. It's a very complicated disease'' she said.
Juvenile Diabetes Foundation spokeswoman Julie Kimbrough says the group hopes the gathering of the children will clear up some misconceptions about the disease and make an impression on Congress.
"Most people think diabetes is overweight old people. People have to realize that there's this whole other type of diabetes. We want America to realize the seriousness of this type of disease and why we need a cure,'' she said.
She also thinks associating a child's face with the disease will have a strong impact.
"People are going to remember these kids forever. How could they not?''
Gadd said she hopes the event will persuade Congress to provide more money for research.
"It scares me to see so many sick and so many die because of (juvenile diabetes),'' she said hugging her son.
"Hearing people talk about it can only help.''