Living with diabetes

The callouses and bruises on Emma Kate Brown’s fingers tell the story of the young girl’s past 11 months.

But they don’t signal all that her future holds.

Last year, the day after Christmas, Emma Kate was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. She was 10, and the news shook the girl who was active in dance and theater and determined to one day perform in New York on a bright Broadway stage.

Each year about 40 children a day in the United States are diagnosed with the disease, according to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Now a youth ambassador for the foundation, Emma Kate is focused on putting a face to the disease, living a normal life and helping discover a cure. The disease is incurable and afflicts around 3 million people in this country.

As Emma Kate’s first anniversary with diabetes nears, her parents, Connie and Greg Brown, are proud of their daughter’s ability to deal with the challenges the disease brings.

“We can remember what it was like before diabetes,” her mother said. “She really tries to keep it positive.”

Type 1 diabetes, sometimes referred to as juvenile diabetes, often develops in children, adolescents and young adults. People control diabetes with diet, exercise and insulin. November has been national diabetes awareness month.

Now 11, Emma Kate remains active and hasn’t abandoned her theater dreams. She finds support from family, friends and mentors from the foundation. However, daily life has changed for the sixth-grader at St. Stephen the Martyr Catholic School.

Each day, she sticks her fingers nearly a dozen times to draw and test her blood. She sometimes feels shaky if her blood sugar is low. She also administers four insulin shots a day in her stomach.

She wears a colorful beaded bracelet that indicates she’s diabetic.

And she carries a little case that includes sugar tablets, apple juice, needles and other life-saving supplies.

Adjusting to life with diabetes was difficult, though.

“It was hard,” she said, “because I was scared about what could happen to me.”

Lindi Janulewicz understands Emma Kate’s fears.

A family mentor with the diabetes foundation, Janulewicz has been living with diabetes for nearly 25 years. She’s friends with Emma Kate and helps her better understand the disease.

“The immediate challenge,” said Janulewicz, 27, “is getting used to your new life.”

Janulewicz was active in dance and cheerleading as a student at Fremont High School. She graduated from Creighton University, studied abroad and stayed busy with many other activities. She’s married now and intends one day to have a child.

School can be a challenge, Janulewicz said. Often there are treats that diabetics cannot eat and parties or holiday traditions that must be reshaped.

“I miss not getting to have popcorn or ice cream after school,” Emma Kate said.

At Halloween, Emma Kate went trick-or-treating with her friends. But instead of eating the candy, she used the sweets to “buy” items such as notebooks, pencils and dance socks that her mom had stockpiled. For instance, she could purchase a set of doll clothes with 20 pieces of candy.

The holidays are difficult because of the emphasis on food, Connie Brown said. But instead of candy this Christmas, Emma Kate’s mother intends to fill stockings with little trinkets for the family, which includes Ben, 9, and Nathan, 2.

Last Christmas, Emma Kate’s parents assumed that their daughter’s fatigue was a result of her busy schedule. School was hectic before the holiday break, plus Emma Kate was performing as a brigade member in the Rose Theater’s musical production “The Berenstain Bears Save Christmas.”

Her mother became alarmed, though, when Emma Kate lost her usual sparkle on stage and at home. She grew pale and was often drowsy, constantly thirsty and losing weight, all warning signs of diabetes.

Emma Kate went to an urgent care clinic that Christmas Eve. Doctors said she had a virus and advised her to rest.

Two days later, Emma Kate was worse. She was so weak that her father had to carry her. Emma Kate saw her pediatrician the morning of Dec. 26. Thirty minutes later, she was being monitored at a hospital, where she spent the next three days.

“It was very overwhelming,” Connie Brown said. “You have to start learning to deal with it immediately.”

The family learned about blood sugar levels, balancing carbohydrates and insulin levels. They also were educated about complications that could arise for Emma Kate, including vision loss, shorter life expectancy and damage to her internal organs.

And as Emma Kate gets older, Janulewicz said, there will be dating, school activities, dances and other social events to balance with her diabetes.

People with diabetes just need to practice more care and consideration with most activities, she said.

“You can do whatever you want,” Janulewicz said. “There really isn’t an activity that should hold people back.”

Contact the writer:

444-3198, chip.olsen@owh.com

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