IT’S NOT A SWEET SUBJECT,” BUT DIABETES FOUNDATION OFFERS SUPPORT, HOPE

The Fourth of July started out just like any other day for Hayden. But by the end of the day, her mother, Christy Tucker, began noticing that something wasn’t right with her typical, very active seven-year-old daughter. In between fireworks and watermelon, Hayden was experiencing fatigue, excessive thirst and frequent urination.

So, Tucker began doing what any other mother would do- she picked up the phone and called Hayden’s primary care doctor to schedule an appointment. One week later, after the doctor’s appointment and visit with a local hospital’s team of endocrinologists and dieticians, Hayden was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

Yet, in spite of the fact that both Tucker and her daughter’s lives were turned upside down all within a matter of days, Tucker said that her daughter, thanks to the help and support of so many, including the Diabetes Foundation of Mississippi (DFM), is handling her new diagnosis with resilience, courage and optimism.

“She’s been a real trooper,” Tucker said. “She’s doing great.”

And the DFM has been present every step of the way, she said. A hospital nurse provided Tucker and her daughter with contact information for the DFM and suggested that they seek the expertise and help of the organization. The diabetic educator asked them as well if they wanted to take advantage of the organization’s plethora of available resources, Tucker said.

Coupled with the DFM’s support and educational resources, Hayden’s sunny spirit has kept her bouncing back from the finger pricks and shots and the reality of the disease that up until a few weeks ago, she didn’t know existed, Tucker said.

“I was tickled yesterday when Hayden told me that her friends all want diabetes so they can have special snacks, too,” Tucker said with a laugh.

The DFM gave Hayden a package of educational materials and supplies, and they even gave her a T-shirt, which “she’s worn a million times,” Tucker said.

“Hayden keeps saying, ‘This is my T-shirt for having diabetes,’” she said laughing. Of course, learning to live and deal with diabetes is a learning experience, but she’s as bubbly as ever.

Aside from the testing supplies and educational materials provided to the family, like other schools around the state, the DFM also implemented the free “It’s Not a Sweet Subject” program in Hayden’s school, where it was met with great reception, she said.

“It’s an optional program, and it was great to see that probably more than two-thirds of the school’s teachers- even the ones who aren’t in contact with Hayden- were interested in learning more about diabetes and about how to better reach out to their students with the disease,” said Tucker. “They seemed better prepared and more comfortable- they got a lot from it.”

“The program has filled in a lot of the gaps and questions that we all had about diabetes and helping those with diabetes,” she said. “It went great.”

Peggy Murphy is a school nurse with the Jackson Public School System, which has worked with the DFM’s “It’s Not a Sweet Subject” program for two years.

During this time, the organization has educated staff and parents in interventions necessary to prevent potential emergency situations and provided each school with a special diabetes kit, including a glucose monitor, insulin and other emergency supplies needed for students.

“Most of all, they provide so much support for the students, their families and the schools’ staff members, and it is reassuring  to know that they are available for these services,” Murphy said.

Each newly-diagnosed student receives an age-specific care package, which includes glucose meters, a T-shirt, educational books, parent information and a low blood-sugar emergency kit, among other things, she said. The DFM also offers each student with diabetes the opportunity to go to camp, where they are surrounded by people their own age who are going through the same things that they are.

“The children that have gone to camp have come back to school and reported to me how much it meant to them to be able to go and participate in activities with other children with diabetes,” Murphy said.

The DFM is the state’s only nonprofit health organization that provides diabetes research, information, patient services and advocacy, and its mission is to provide hope through research, programs and service to the 346,500 Mississippians with diabetes. Every dollar raised by the DFM stays in the state to support these efforts. Likewise, 90 cents of every dollar raised goes towards the organization’s charitable purposes. The DFM is the one diabetes organization totally dedicated to all Mississippians from children to seniors, who live with diabetes.

To learn more about implementing the “It’s Not a Sweet Subject” program in your school, please contact Jenny Logan at 601-957-7878 or visit the Web site, www.msdiabetes.org for more information.