Cameron Sharpe is shown at a Virginia Tech girls basketball game in February. (Contributed photo)
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
By ASHLEY JACKSON – Bulletin Staff Writer
November is American Diabetes Month, and one Bassett family is very much aware of what it’s like to deal with the disease.
Diabetes is something 13-year-old Cameron Sharpe has to live with every day.
Sharpe, an eighth-grader at Fieldale-Collinsville Middle School, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in January 2010, when he was 11. His parents, Scott and Tammy Sharpe, started thinking something was wrong with Cameron that December, when he started experiencing extreme thirst, was urinating constantly and was nauseated, according to his mother, Tammy.
In January, Cameron’s upset stomach worsened, so his parents took him to his pediatrician, who then sent him to Roanoke for further tests.
Doctors there diagnosed Cameron with Type 1 juvenile diabetes, which means that his pancreas was not working and was not producing any insulin. Type 2 diabetes is when one’s pancreas works, but the insulin being produced isn’t being used properly by the body, according to Tammy Sharpe.
When he was diagnosed, Cameron stayed in the hospital for three days and the intensive care unit for one night. During that time, he was in a state of diabetic ketoacidosis. That happens when a person’s body is not getting insulin and begins using its fat to get the energy it needs, his mother said.
While he was in the ICU, nurses monitored Cameron’s blood sugar every 30 minutes, and he was hooked to an IV to get his blood sugar under control.
Cameron and his parents had to be trained on how to give insulin shots, which he had to take to stay healthy.
“I just knew I couldn’t do it, but I knew I had to,” Tammy Sharpe said. “You deal with diabetes one day at a time, one hour at a time, and you do what you have to do.”
Six months after being diagnosed, Cameron began using an insulin pump, which gives him insulin throughout the day to keep his blood sugar levels stable. Before going on the pump, he was having to take five or more insulin shots a day, his mother said.
Now, Cameron can clip the pump onto his belt or put it in his pocket. Every time he eats, he has to key into the pump the amount of carbohydrates in the food and his blood sugar reading. The pump is like a mini computer, he said.
Cameron is “very self-sufficient” because he checks his blood sugar and puts new insulin into the reservoir that fits into the pump by himself, Tammy Sharpe said.
In addition to his pump, Cameron also has to carry a backpack that contains a Glucagon shot, juice and a snack in case his blood sugar gets too low. He also has extra batteries for his pump, his blood sugar meter and extra meter strips stored in the backpack, Tammy Sharpe said.
“People don’t realize how serious it is and what you go through,” she said. “You are constantly fighting the lows and the highs” of his blood sugar.
“I am constantly thinking, worrying, wondering what his sugar is during the day,” she said. “At night, I’m up at least once and sometimes three or four times checking his sugar levels for fear he will go too low.”
Cameron has gotten used to dealing with diabetes, but “pricking my finger gets on my nerves,” he said.
He has to prick his finger to test his blood sugar.
What annoys Cameron the most is that many people still think that diabetes is caused by eating too many sweets, which is not the case, he said, adding that he inherited the disease.
Regardless of the disease, Cameron lives a normal life and enjoys playing ball, bowling and playing video games, his mother said.
Since Cameron’s diagnosis, the Sharpe family has been active in helping to find a cure for diabetes.
Cameron is a youth advocate for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and speaks at its events, including a kickoff luncheon for the JDRF’s Walk to Cure Diabetes that was held in July in Roanoke, Tammy Sharpe said.
Each year, the family and many friends participate in the walk, she added.
This year, Sharpe finished her last year of bank management school at the University of Virginia. As a fundraiser, her senior class, with Sharpe as the chairman, organized a bowling night in which the proceeds went to the JDRF to fund research for a cure. The event raised $7,250 for JDRF with 120 students and professors participating, she said.
“Knowing that he will have to live with this insulin pump and this daily routine for the rest of his life is hard, but it gives me the desire to do all I can to advocate for diabetes awareness and for a cure,” she said. “I will never give up hope for a cure for my son.”
In Henry County Schools, there are 31 students with Type 1 diabetes and three students with Type 2 diabetes, according to Sherry Vestal, school nurse coordinator for the county schools.
There are nearly 26 million children and adults in the United States living with diabetes, and another 79 million are at high risk for developing Type 2 diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association.
Every 17 seconds, someone is diagnosed with diabetes, and it kills more people each year than breast cancer and AIDS combined, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
To highlight American Diabetes Month, Cameron has been giving out blue silicone JDRF bracelets that say “CURE diabetes” to friends, family and teachers. He will be a a youth advocate with the JDRF Walk Awards celebration in Roanoke on Thursday, Tammy said.
Also this month, Tammy made and passed out several blue ribbons, and the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) group at Bassett High School did a walk to raise funds for JDRF. Cameron and his family participated in the walk that raised more than $500. The
HOSA group also sold paper shoes throughout the month at the high school with people donating money, signing their names on one of the paper shoes, and hanging it on the walls at the school, according to Tammy.
