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So I was in sixth grade, it was right before spring break and
I started losing weight and was complaining of headaches and not
really feeling well and actually my mom went in and got me an
appointment, got me set and I went straight from my
appointment that morning to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital
where I was admitted with juvenile diabetes.
So once I kind of learned what it was about and what was
happening to my body and how I am in control of how I’m going
to start feeling I was more accepting to it.
She just embraced it and this is just part of her life.
It’s like breathing for her, she knows what to do,
she recognizes when things are going well and checks in with
our team which consists of a registered nurse who’s also a
certified diabetes educator and we also have a dietitian on our
team who’s also a diabetes educator and then we have a
social worker on our team in addition to a physician.
So my Kaiser support team has been with me from the beginning,
they were the very first people I met at Doernbecher post
diagnosis and have been with me literally every step of the way
from leaving the hospital to car ride home like,
Oh wait I forgot, how do I do this,
it was so easy I mean I have all their numbers,
pagers, e-mails, I can get at them
any time of the day I need them.
Maybe they're not even on shift but they’re always there for me.
So I’m headed to the University of Arizona
next year on a soccer scholarship.
So when she goes off to college she’s on a pump,
she’ll be able to download that information from her pump so we
can see it here electronically and be able to view that and
help her make insulin adjustments as needed
because we won’t be able to see her every
three months with her being away at college.
So this will just be a unique way for us to continue
providing good care because that’s our goal.
And my Kaiser care team is almost ahead of me in this where
I’m preparing for college and getting ready to go with my
friends and to go play soccer and to go to school and they’re
thinking how to keep me healthy when doing all three of those.
I can’t even imagine what my experience would be like with
diabetes if I didn’t have my Kaiser care team.