|
Family learning to deal with diabetes |
|
|
|
Written by Richard Amery
|
|
Thursday, 13 November 2008 |
Every month is diabetes month for the Toles family, although November holds the official designation on the calendar and today marks World Diabetes Day.
Liz and Greg Toles’ 14-month-old daughter, Peyton, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes on Mother’s Day, a month after she was born.
The Toles are grateful for the tremendous support they’ve received from family, friends, colleagues and the day home where Peyton attends. They’ve also fielded a lot of questions from those curious about their daughter’s condition and admit it was somewhat frustrating at first.
“People were asking ‘how much sugar do you feed an eight-month-old (to get diabetes)?’ And we’re thinking, ‘don’t you think we’d do whatever we could to control it?’” says Liz.
Type 1 diabetes is a disease in which the pancreas does not produce insulin. People are born with it and there is no cure. It is not like the more common Type 2 diabetes, which can be caused by an unhealthy lifestyle.
Life with Type 1 diabetes means Peyton requires constant monitoring, daily blood tests and multiple insulin shots daily. They also have to put a lot of planning into things like meals, including counting the amount of carbohydrates.
The whole family is involved — even big brother Zach.
“He’s part of the team. Zach has been amazing. He knows more about carbs than any four-year-old should. Peyton was in the backyard the other day about to eat a clump of dirt and Zach asked ‘mom, how many carbs are in that?’”
Thankful for the support they received, the family is giving back.
They set up the Poker for Diabetes Foundation, which raised $8,500 this fall with proceeds split between the Canadian Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Next year they’re shooting for $10,000. A poker fundraiser seemed a natural fit as both Liz and Greg used to work at the Lethbridge Casino and used their contacts to make it work.
“Poker has taken on a whole new meaning for us because of the number of times we have to ‘poke her’ each day,” says Liz, with a chuckle.
While they try not to let it take over their lives, diabetes has had an impact on the active couple.
“We can’t do a lot of things together anymore because you can’t leave a child with a 14-or 15-year-old (babysitter) and expect them to give a blood test at 9:30 p.m.,” says Greg.
They’re also determined that diabetes won’t stop Peyton from leading a full and active life. Numerous professional sports figures like Philadelphia Flyers star and senior vice-president Bobby Clarke, as well as Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, have Type 1 diabetes.
The Toles are optimistic about the future.
“There’s a lot of really cool research going on right here in Alberta. They are about two years away from an artificial pancreas which tests blood then delivers the correct amount of insulin. We think in her lifetime we’ll see a cure for diabetes, if not in ours,” says Liz.
|
|
Last Updated ( Monday, 10 August 2009 )
|
