By Marg. Bruineman, BARRIE EXAMINER
Posted 1 hour ago
Noah Stock points to the various controls on his insulin pump, explaining what all the numbers mean.
He’s only six years old, but he’s very aware of what the pump does and what its readings mean. He really doesn’t have a choice, Noah was diagnosed with type one diabetes before his second birthday.
“He’s going to have to live with this for a very long time,” explains his mother, Lianne. “Not forever, because there will be a cure.”
Armed with that, the Stocks are hopeful, and they are actively pushing ahead for the cause so that Noah and other kids with juvenile diabetes don’t have to be permanently hooked up to insulin, take blood readings a dozen times a day or measure everything they eat and balance all that with the amount of physical activities they do.
Team Stock – a group of roughly 80 extended family and friends – raises in the neighbourhood of $5,000 for the annual Telus Walk To Cure Diabetes. And they’re out there, right now, drumming up support for the walk Sunday, June 12 at Barrie’s Centennial Park along the lakeshore.
“There are a lot of teams like that,” said Tracey Raycroft, senior fundraising co-ordinator of the local event for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
The goal is to raise $130,000 and most of the money comes through family initiatives, like that of the Stocks. About 800 to 1,000 people are expected to participate at the morning event.
“All dollars raised at the walk site goes toward funding a cure for type one diabetes,” said Raycroft. “There is hope. There are a lot of clinical trials going on in south-central Ontario.”
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation currently funds more than 40 human clinical trials, up from just six a decade ago.
Diabetes attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells of the pancreas. Type one is the most serious form that suddenly appears, leaving children and adults insulin dependent for life.
Complications from diabetes are serious and could include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, nerve damage and amputation.
Lianne Stock remembers June 25, 2004 vividly. Noah was 21 months old. There had been some concern because he was drinking lots, going to the washroom frequently, was often lethargic and was losing weight.
“That morning he woke up in almost diabetic coma and he threw up,” recalls his mom. “He was just laying there.
“I just rushed him to emergency and they diagnosed him fairly quickly.”
Suddenly the Stocks had to learn about diabetes and how to manage it. They needed to know how to give injections safely, six times daily. They had to learn about carbohydrates, food content, what Noah could eat and measuring it all.
The diagnosis came as a bit of a relief, but it also come with a great deal of responsibility for his parents.
“It was a big responsibility for me, knowing I had to take care of this child with a disease that there was no cure for,” recalls his mom.
The pump, which automatically releases insulin into Noah’s body, makes things a bit easier. And Noah is learning how to read it. But he still needs help.
His mom still does a blood test to check his sugar levels 10 to 12 times a day. She even sets her alarm clock to wake her in the middle of the night to check his levels.
A nurse comes to his school daily to monitor Noah and two other children with diabetes. It’s all part of encouraging the children to make proper food choices and minimize the complications.
“That’s basically why I’m here, is to keep him safe,” said registered nurse Candy Litt, during a recent visit to West Bayfield Elementary School. “The worry is that the sugar levels could go very, very low and he could go unconscious.
“Sometimes they know when they’re going low, but sometimes not. Kids are different than adults.”
Noah also gets support through the Royal Victoria Hospital diabetes education centre, where he goes every three months. There the Stocks meet with an educator, paediatrician, a dietician and a social worker.
A series of blood tests are conducted during every visit. All aspects of his lifestyle are reviewed and that’s where adjustments to his insulin levels and diet are determined. Every year a series of other blood tests are conducted.
But, stresses his mom, Noah is a child first and a diabetic second. He loves basketball and also plays soccer and swims.
To support Team Stock, go to http://jdrfca.donordrive.com/index.cfm?.
mbruineman@thebarrieexaminer.com
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