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A trip to Washington to help cure diabetes

Monday, August 6 at 12:00 AM

This Speakout has not been edited.

June 17 - 20, my mom and I went to Washington, DC, to talk to our Senators and Representative about diabetes. (My mom helps me with my diabetes, and she is helping me write this article.) We went to Washington, DC to advocate for my cure as well as the cure for the millions of other kids who go through what I do every minute of every day.

I'm 11 years old now and have had type 1 diabetes since I was 9. I went to Washington as a member of the Children's Congress of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. It was a lot of fun and also a little scary.

The fun part was meeting other kids with diabetes. Most of the time, I feel like I stand out. When other kids get to eat snacks freely, I have to go check my blood and get an insulin shot or bolus through my pump. It's hard for me to go to sleepovers because my diabetes has to be watched at night. I can play sports, but sometimes I suddenly get very tired or very thirsty or my blood sugar can drop rapidly. When I was at my school, I was the only person with diabetes.

At the Children's Congress, I met a lot of kids who share the same experiences. We're just like other kids, but we all have to grow up fast and be responsible by watching what we eat, measuring our blood sugar and taking insulin shots or using a pump. It isn't fair, but now I don't feel as isolated, as if I'm the only person with this difficult disease.

About 150 kids attended the Children's Congress in Washington, but I learned that as many as 3 million people (adults and kids) in the United States have Type 1, or insulin dependent, diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder, not to be confused with the more common Type 2, usually found in adults. Because of a failed pancreas, Type 1 diabetes is forever unless a cure is found.

A new study called SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth recently estimated that 15,000 children and adolescents in the United States are diagnosed with type 1 diabetes every year. This number is significantly higher than previous studies, and shows that the incidence of diabetes is on the rise. And the study found that despite the focus on increasing rates of type 2 diabetes among youth, the vast majority of people under 20 years of age have type 1 diabetes

Insulin shots and blood tests every day are bad enough, but diabetes eventually damages your body. It hurts your eyes and kidneys and nervous system. People with diabetes sometimes have toes or feet amputated. Sometimes what happens is even worse.

The scary part of the trip was visiting the office of Colorado Representative Lamborn, but it turned out that there was no reason to be scared. They were very friendly and shook my hand when we met. I took some time to explain what it was like for me to live with diabetes. I asked them to remember me and my story and to work hard to increase funding for diabetes research so we can find a cure as soon as possible. No one knows just how life changing diabetes is unless a family member or someone close has it.

I was also able to visit a building near the U.S. Capitol to listen to a Senate hearing about diabetes. A few kids spoke at the hearing (not me!), and then some famous people talked about medical research on diabetes.

There is no cure for diabetes now, but there could be. Already, research is helping people with diabetes. Continuous glucose monitors are becoming available, and they are the next step towards and artificial pancreas. We want this cure as soon as possible! When a cure is found, there will be no more carbohydrate counting, pumps site changes, blood sugar checks or shots. I could just be a regular kid again. That would be my miracle.

The Children's Congress event brought kids with the disease from all over the world, as well as several celebrities, to Washington to remind our nation's leaders not to forget us, to keep on supporting diabetes research until we find a cure. My greatest wish would be to never have to have another Children's Congress again. I think a lot of Members of Congress, including my Senators and Representative, heard our message.

11-year old Katelyn Littlefield and her mother Teresa live in Colorado Springs.

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