Flashback Friday: A Grateful Mom Thanks Nick Jonas For Speeding Her Daughter’s Diagnosis
Hi, Mr. King: Thanks so much for Diabetes Health. Being a type 1 diabetic, I have benefited from many of its articles. I would like to tell you a story concerning my daughter, Morgan, and say what an inspiration Nick Jonas from the Jonas Brothers is.
Morgan is 12½ years old and a huge Jonas Brothers fan! Of course she and her friends wanted tickets for the Louisville Palaceshow in February. A few of her friends’ mothers went and stood in line on the cold morning that the lottery tickets went on sale.
Unfortunately, their numbers were not called so they did not get tickets. So, we went to “Plan B.” I stayed home on standby to get tickets online. Unfortunately, again the tickets were sold out in minutes and we couldn’t get any. So, on to “Plan C”:I found tickets online for an inflated price, which we paid.
Finally the day of the concert came! The girls were so excited. Morgan was getting ready forthe concert and said to me, “Mom, look how big my new blue jeans are.” I looked at her and said, “Morgan, you look like you’ve lost weight. We just bought those jeans a couple of weeks ago–you need to start eating better.” Of course I gave the mom lecture about eating healthy, etc. I had noticed she had been drinking a lot of water lately but really didn’t give it much thought since this was not unusual for her.
Morgan mentioned before the concert that Nick Jonas the youngest brother in the band is a type 1 diabetic who wears an insulin pump like me. I thought how neat that he is a diabetic who tours all over the country and acts as a role model for younger diabetics, and also get the message out about diabetes!
We went to theconcert and had a great time. The girls were in awe–even though our seats were in the balcony.
The next morning, we talked about how much fun we had at the concert and again spoke of Nick being diabetic. All of a sudden, a light bulb went off in my head. I thought, “Oh, my, Morgan has all the symptoms of diabetes!” I pulled out my blood glucose meter and tested her blood sugar. It was 356. I felt sick to my stomach. I thought something was wrong with the meter, so I tested my husband. He was in normal range.
I sent Morgan on to school and called the doctor. When she came home from school, her bloodsugar was over 500. At Kosair Childrens Hospitalin Louisville, KY, Morgan was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes on Monday, February 25, 2008. It was an extremely hard week for our whole family. I felt angry, guilty and sad.
After a hard week, I thought to myself. “Oh, my gosh, Nick Jonas saved my daughter from getting really sick.” If he hadn’t spoken out about his diabetes I may have not thought about her symptoms until she had gotten really sick. I would love to somehow let him or his parents know and thank him. Again, I think he is a super role model for young diabetics. It’s scary enough to be diagnosed at a young age, but when you know there are other kids going through the same thing as you, it helps.
I appreciate youtaking the time to read this.
Lesia Daniel
