by Aaron Vehling
Thisweek Newspapers
Five-year-old Jack Postlewaite and his brother, Charlie, 10, are teeming with energy, as most kids are.
A particular passion of theirs is playing with their elaborate K’nex structures – taller than they are – that they have constructed in the foyer of the Lakeville home they share with their parents, Phil and Kathy.
The Postlewaites are participating in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Walk to Cure Diabetes at the Mall of America on Feb. 25. Both children (Charlie, left, and Jack, second from right) live with Type 1 diabetes. Their parents, Kathy and Phil, have rearranged their lives to help their children thrive despite the disease. Photo by Aaron Vehling.
From various pieces they have scored engineering feats of complexity and locomotion that would make famed inventor Rube Goldberg proud.
Add to these toys a trampoline and playground set and it seems these children are leading lives similar to others in Lakeville. But that is not the case.
Both Jack and Charlie have Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that requires them to wear insulin pumps and their parents to be available to test their blood sugar more than a dozen times every 24 hours. Unlike Type 2, which typically results from lifestyle choices, Type 1 has been linked to genetic and environmental factors, according to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Jack was first diagnosed in 2007 at barely 16 months; Charlie in 2010. In his short life, Jack has endured more than 18,000 finger pricks to test his blood sugar levels.
Thisweek visited the Postlewaite home as the family was planning for its fifth year participating in the Feb. 25 JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes at the Mall of America.
The event attracts about 22,000 people, raising about $2.2 million, according to JDRF.
Each year they form Double Trouble, a team of friends and family, to raise money to help find a cure for the disease.
The electronic insulin pumps are a vast improvement over a constant need to inject the children with syringes.
Nevertheless, Kathy said, “They are not a cure.”
“You just want your kids to have as normal and as healthy of a life as possible,” Phil said.
Jack can test himself now, which meant that during the interview he pulled out his kit and pricked his own finger. Charlie also tests himself and is old enough to know the signs and routines involved in maintaining his body chemistry. When something feels wrong, Charlie knows to ask for help.
Diabetes, Phil said, “does not allow them to have a typical childhood.”
After finishing his self-test, Jack said he wanted to share something with the newspaper. After some reluctance, he whispered to his mother.
“He said he wants to live one month without diabetes,” Kathy said.
Jack attends a private day care that does not have the resources to tender him with the level of attention he needs to ensure his body’s chemistry has reached an acceptable level. So Kathy checks in on him, ensuring his diet and play are offset by the correct amount of insulin.
Charlie is a fourth-grader at Oak Hills Elementary. Kathy lauded school nurse Nancy Miller for her attentiveness and “intuition” with regard to Charlie.
“I know he’s in good hands,” Kathy said. “She does a fantastic job. I know he’s safe.”
Charlie visits Miller’s office about four or five times a day.
Diabetes is a high-maintenance disease.
“There is no vacation,” Phil said. “Managing diabetes is more of an art than it is a science.”
As as stay-at-home mother, Kathy is able to keep close watch on the activities of her kids to ensure they don’t overdo it. Strenuous play or a stray treat can upset the delicate balance.
“There’s a constant worry. Diabetes is always on your mind,” Kathy said.
Some of the culinary benefits of childhood, such as pizza, candy and soda, are dangerous territory for Jack and Charlie. A spirited ball game or even tag could be enough to throw things off kilter.
Blood-sugar testing occurs at points throughout the day, including at midnight and 3 a.m. This means that Kathy and Phil must work in shifts if they ever intend to get sleep, they said.
JDRF estimates that about three million Americans have Type 1 diabetes. Each year more than 15,000 children are diagnosed with it.
According to JDRF, there are a number of warning signs and symptoms that children will exhibit if they have Type 1: extreme thirst; frequent urination; drowsiness and lethargy; increased appetite; sudden weight loss; sudden vision changes; sugar in the urine; fruity odor on the breath; heavy or labored breathing; and stupor or unconsciousness.
To make a tax-deductible donation to Double Trouble, go to www.walk.jdrf.org. For more information about the family, watch its YouTube video at http://bit.ly/postlewaite (link shortened for accessibility).
A number of families with diabetic kids attend the JDRF Walk, Kathy said. This creates an atmosphere of camaraderie.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” she said. “It’s an amazing day.”
Aaron Vehling is at aaron.vehling@ecm-inc.com or www.facebook.com/thisweeklive.
