Fighting Diabetes as a Family
For the Middleton family, diabetes is their normal. JC (dad), Kara (big sister) and Max (little brother) all live with type 1 diabetes. Lisa (mom) is the only member of the family who doesn’t have the disease. It’s a condition they all manage together, as a family—with a little help from the team at Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center.
“Our health care team has been critical,” Lisa said. “They respond to emails immediately, they are available for any issue, and both Angela and Deb always reassure us that we’re doing a good job. They are really important for handling those things I just can’t fix on my own. They really have become like our extended family.”
Advances in diabetes monitoring technology have helped the Middleton family better handle their diabetes. Max, Kara and JC all manage their blood sugar levels through insulin pumps, and Max and Kara both use Dexcom continuous glucose monitors. If either kid’s blood sugar levels go off balance, their monitors send alerts to Lisa and JC’s cell phones. The automatic monitoring and insulin pumps have allowed Max and Kara to live a more carefree childhood, and inspired JC to get a pump himself.
“My children got the pumps first, and I saw that they were able to continue to do everything and didn’t have to carry with them a bag that’s got insulin, syringes and alcohol swabs—all of this extra stuff that I was packing with me all of the time,” JC said. “With a pump, it’s all self-contained; it gave me back so much freedom.”
That freedom has allowed JC, Max and Kara to pursue their favorite activities. JC is a long-distance cyclist, regularly enjoying 30- or 40-mile rides. Nine-year-old Kara loves sports and plays volleyball, soccer and horseback riding. Max is an excited, active five-year-old, playing tee ball and roughhousing with his family. Diabetes doesn’t slow any of them down.
“Diabetes is a lot of work,” said Angela Hepner, an educator at Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center. “There are times it’s not fun and it’s frustrating, but the good news is your child can be healthy and normal. You just have a few extra steps to make that happen. Kids are resilient. If you give it all you’ve got, they’re going to be OK.”
Despite the work involved, and the seriousness of the disease, the Middletons maintain a positive outlook. Armed with knowledge, education, technology and a team of experts, even five-year-old Max understands how to live with diabetes.
“Miss Deb and Miss Angela are super nice,” Max said. “I like that we eat sugar and defeat sugar. When I’m high, I dose. When my Dexcom beeps, I’m too low, so I eat. When I crash, I eat lots and lots of candy.”
