Feature Friday this week is coming to you from the Hall family!
This family is proof that diabetics can THRIVE! Brooklyn was diagnosed at the age of 3 and is rocking diabetes like a star. Her mother Crystal shares life’s daily ups and downs on their Instagram and is a light in the Diabetic Online Community (DOC). Lately, Brooklyn (Brookie) has not only had a good A1C but she’s learning Spanish, Chinese, and French! This girl is thriving and here is her story, as told by her mom Crystal…
Diagnosis Story
Brooklyn was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes on Christmas Day 2018. Days leading up to her diagnosis, we knew that something was different, but was not exactly sure what was wrong. After a few days of extreme thirst and being lethargic, we decided to take her to the Children’s Urgent Care where they completed some initial blood work. Her blood sugar came back in the 500’s and a pediatric ambulance was called for her where she was rushed to the hospital.
Diagnosis: Initial Thoughts
Initially we were shocked and saddened. We ate healthy and were an active family. After a bit of education at the hospital, we quickly learned that her diagnosis was in no way attributable to anything that we could have done differently.
Diabetic Tip/Trick
Our family cannot live without the Sugarmate app! It calls us when her blood sugar drops below a certain level! Also, recently we’ve started to use gummy bears to treat lows, especially at night. With Brooklyn only being 3 years old, this has greatly reduced the number of bathroom visits in the middle of the night.
What does the word thrive means to you…
Thrive to me means to move forward…to make progress. The two major things that help our family thrive with managing Brooklyn’s diabetes are her Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitor and her t:slim x2 Insulin Pump. The way they are able to interact and work together has allowed our family to regain some sense of normalcy again.
Advice early on
For our family, I wish someone would have told us that switching to a low carb diet, even if just for a while, could help stabilize things in the beginning. We have started to slowly increase the number of daily carbs she eats as we’ve become more experienced with managing her condition, but it truly would’ve helped a lot early on if we had started out eating low(er) carb after diagnosis.
Words of Encouragement
Just know that diabetes today is not the same diabetes that was present 20 years ago…even 10 years ago. There is so much new technology out there to help your child thrive. Also, just know that although no day is the same, everything is going to be ok. Your child can continue to grow up and do the same things as their peers and live a full life.
♡ Crystal (IG t1d_brookie)
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