My Daughter is a Type-1 Diabetic

That's Emily at right, when she was about 4.
Sarah, her sister is at left.
Mom in the middle.

What can I say about Emily?  Well:  I love her.  We all do.

Emily has been a type-1 diabetic for six years, since she was just turning 15.  She was a scared teen when we headed for the hospital and her mother and I were more scared than she.  Now she's a camp counselor for the summer, working with handicapped children and a senior-to-be at Ohio State University.

Fittingly, she's studying nursing, a career that captured her interest when nurses at Cincinnati Children's Hospital helped her adjust to the realities of her new life as a diabetic.

What else can I tell you?  Emily doesn't complain.  I find that, as a crabby complainer myself, truly amazing. 

She's a fine student with an incredible work ethic and a runner, too, having completed half-marathons in Cincinnati and in Nashville this spring.  She's a music fan and recently attended Bonnaroo where she and her friends hung out part of the time with my friend Bill Skyllingstad and me, because Bill had us perfectly prepared for the intense heat.  (By the way:  the music was great.)  Emily is a Harry Potter fan, which is easy, a Bengals fan, which is harder, and a member of the Tri-Delt sorority.  Another reason I love her is that if she had her way, everyone who wanted to be in her sorority could be.


Emily at the music festival. 
Kelly Petersen, her good friend
and fellow nursing student at left.

That's what I like best about our youngest child.  She's kind to everyone.  She accepts people as they are and for what they are. 

She's going to be a heck of a nurse.

Anne, my wife and Emily's mom, and I hope to see a cure for diabetes in her lifetime.  Meanwhile, she'll just have to handle the shots and the needles with grace, poise and aplomb.

That's how she does it every day.


Emily ran cross-country
in high school.
It was scary one day
when she went low.



Sometimes Emily (left) looks sophisticated.

Other times she just likes to have fun.

If you would like to donate to help find a cure for type-1 diabetes please click HERE! 

(This single click takes you to my fund-raising page.  There, click again on "donate to this event."  Then click "Biking and Painting for Diabetes."

Sam McCorkle Kicks Back and Enjoys Life



Sam McCorkle:  Breaks boards and handles
diabetes with equal skill

 Sam McCorkle is your typical type-1 diabetic, which means he's your typical individual.  Sami is unique.  He doesn't let any one aspect of his life define him.

I had been calling his mom to get information and I'd miss her, and she'd call back and miss me, but we finally made connections recently.  Sam's mom reminded me of my wife when she discussed her son's condition.  Four years ago, Mrs. McCorkle, her husband Randy and sons Sam and Luke were on vacation in Aruba when she noticed the first signs that something was wrong with her oldest son.  Sam was eating a lot, but seemed to be losing weight.  During the day, however, he was fine, staying active at the pool and down at the beach.

She decided it would be okay to wait until they returned to Cincinnati before taking Sam, 7 years old at the time, to the doctor.  Meanwhile, her husband took a flight to China on business.  Laureen headed for the pediatrician, got the initial bad news that the young man was diabetic, and she and the two boys were soon headed for Children's Hospital.

Like my wife Anne, when our Emily was diagnosed in 2005, Mrs. McCorkle was stunned and frightened by the news.  "The impact, walking into the Emergency Room, you still don't believe it."  The first day at the hospital was the worst.  "You're there for hours, you're thinking about everything that's bad."  She remembers telling herself, "He'll never have a popsicle, he'll never be able to sleep over at friends" and in her worry she put together a long mental list of daily restrictions he'd now inevitably face.

Luckily, the people at Children's Hospital know what they're doing and the second day, a nurse counselor came into the room and started explaining what a diagnosis of type-1 diabetes really means.  First of all, it's not the end of the world in any way; and once you know that you start feeling a little better.  "I love them," Mrs. McCorkle said when I asked if her experience with Children's had been as great as ours.  "I do believe Dottie [the nurse counselor] saved my life...I was out of my mind."

Slowly but surely, the McCorkles came to grips with a new reality.  Dad flew back from Shanghai as soon as he could.  Luke decided, at age 4, to support his brother when he got home by "measuring" all the food he ate, just as Sam was doing.  The first day out of the hospital, Sam went to the pool for a swim like always and then headed for Taekwondo practice.

If you have a chance to talk to Sam, as I did, you find out quickly that he has never let being a diabetic interfere with what he sets his mind on doing.  He has Taekwondo practice every Saturday morning for two hours, and for several more hours on different weekday nights, and all the exerecise helps him keep good control of his blood sugar.  He's studing and practicing now for a spring 2012 test to become a black belt in his chosen form of martial arts.  When I asked him what he liked best about Taekwondo, he responded honestly, "It's fun to kick people."  Then he added that his teachers emphasized that you "don't abuse it when you're out."  Sam said, in a modest fashion, that he could already break a one-inch board in half with his foot or his fist.  Not bad for a guy who is only 11, I thought to myself.

He has won several awards and gone to the National Tournament three years in a row.  (Luke is pretty good, too, from what mom tells me, and although Sam admits he and his brother sometimes fight, they never use any of their martial arts techniques on each other.)  Meanwhile, Sam has racked up some very impressive grades, too.  He's a straight-A student, heading into sixth grade next year in the Loveland City Schools.  He likes to read, especially Percy Jackson's books about Greek mythology and now he's trying a little Egyptian mythology for variety.  His favorite movie is Avatar and he likes the Harry Potter series.

There are times when Mom still worries--and she has even tested Luke once or twice when he showed a hint of the syptoms of type-1 diabetes.  But these are the days, where if you have to be diabetic, at least the care has improved.  Sam has an advanced pump, so small he can wear it while fighting, weighing only an ounce even filled with insulin.

Mom gives the Loveland Schools high marks for the way nurses and health aides have taken care of her son.  Connie Smith, who handled Sam in second grade, was wonderful.  Then Cindy Fackler took over, and Judy Leamy and now Stephanie Schumaker, all of them doing a great job.  "You have no idea how wonderful these women are until you need them," mom says.  "I feel like my son is safe at school...they don't coddle him, but they take care of him."

So a round of applause to the Loveland nurses and aides is in order.

There was a time, when Sam was young, that when teachers asked him to write about himself, he always mentioned something to do with diabetes.  Now, he's past that.  He's working toward a black belt.  He's working hard in school when school is in session.  He's even working on learning how to play the violin.

I get the impression--very strongly--in talking with Sam, that he's very mature for his age.  He doesn't let diabetes get him down.  "I'm going to deal with it and go on with my life.  I don't really worry about it at all," is how he puts it.  He admits there are some activities he has to avoid.  He can't go scuba diving at any great depths because his pump couldn't take it.  And he's a little bit bummed because he can't have as much birthday cake to eat as he sometimes wants.

I like Sam's mature answers so much I finally asked, "What would you say to another kid if they had just received a type-1 diagnosis?" "Always listen to the doctor," he responded immediately.  Then he added, "It's okay to be afraid the first two years.  But it gets better."

At this point, I was thinking to myself, "This guy is eleven and he has a better prespective on life than I do." 

I put this final question to him:  "What would you do if you woke up one day and they had a cure?"

Sam doesn't let diabetes drag him down, but his answer shows you how much we need to keep looking for a cure.  "Yippee, I'd be saying in my head.  I'd rip off my pump, smash it with a hammer and eat everything there is in the pantry."

So, yeah:  someday, when there's a cure, Sam is going to go wild on his birthday and probably eat a whole cake.

Until then, Sam McCorkle is your typical type-1 diabetic. 

He wears a pump, he deals with a still-dangerous disease, and he's his own man.
If you would like to donate to help find a cure for type-1 diabetes please click HERE! 

(This single click takes you to my fund-raising page.  There, click again on "donate to this event."  Then click "Biking and Painting for Diabetes."

Nicole Ayers: Easy Rider

Nicole and her boyfriend.

I've been procrastinating lately.  I'm home for a couple more days, after bicycling from Maine to Cincinnati, and I have several young type-1 diabetics I'd like to profile. 

Today, it was my great pleasure to speak to Nicole Ayers, a brand new graduate of Loveland High School, Class of 2011.  I first met Nicole when she was in seventh grade and rode in her name, among others, when I did my first ride across the United States in 2007, to raise money to find a cure for juvenile diabetes.

Nicole is not your "typical girl" and I mean that as a compliment.  First, Nicole likes to go deer hunting with her dad; and most Friday nights you can find her on the skeet range, practicing her shooting.  I asked her how many targets she could hit and she laughed and said, "I once hit 99 out of 100, but that was on a good day."

Nicole laughs a lot, by the way, which is part of her endearing personality.  She may be a diabetic but she refuses to let that get her down.  Senior year she got a jump on her college career and took classes at the Clermont branch of the University of Cincinnati.  What are you planning on studying next, I inquired.  "Nursing," Nicole laughed again.  Why, I wondered.  "The nurses at Children's Hospital were so great, I just want to help people the way they helped me."

With Ms. Ayers, who has a big heart anyway, you kind of knew that answer was coming.  So she'll be enrolled in a nursing program at the Galen School of Nursing, which is located here in Cincinnati, starting next fall.

Nicole is ready to ride.

What else has this young lady been up to lately?  She's babysitting three days a week to bring in some much-needed tuition money.  She's also practicing riding her motorcycle so she can get her license.  Her dad made sure she got a Susuzki Savage 650 (nicknamed "Leroy") to cruise around on as kind of a graduation present.  Nicole goes to Kings Island a lot, goes to the Loveland Christian Church every Sunday, as she has all during her life, and hangs out with her older sister, Danielle, 21, and her long-time boyfriend, John Hughes.  She met him at the shooting range where she was shooting and he was working, two-and-a-half years ago. 

I backed up a little and asked Nicole to tell me what she liked best about hunting with her father.  Sometimes she says they'll be sitting in the blind, waiting for animals, and "if it get's boring he'll make a joke or if I miss a shot he says it's 'okay,' and we'll get it next time."  Then she laughs again and says, "I'm like his boy...the boy he never had."

She's a good one.

I asked Nicole, for the heck of it, to describe herself.  She said "funny, at least I try to be funny," "roll with the punches," "live your life to the fullest."

I had Danielle offer some big sister insight.  She said Nicole was "funny," "crazy," "LOUD," "a good sister," and "always has a good time."

I think you get the idea.

When I talked to the two young ladies, they had just arrived for a visit with their grandparents down near Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  Nicole mentioned they were camping, then corrected herself and said, "Well, we're staying with them in their mobile home, so I guess it's not really camping."  Go carts and miniature golf are on the schedule.

The Ayers family:
dad, John Hughes, mom, Nicole, Danielle

I've mentioned this before on this blog, but talking to these kids is inspiring.  Nicole is living her life to the fullest, and doing it without ever losing her smile.  I finished by asking her, if they found a cure, how would her life be different?  With yet another laugh, she admitted, "It would be so much more chill, like a teenager's life should be, just being  able to do what you want without worrying about going high or low.  Like yesterday, I was playing softball [for her church team] and I checked my blood before the game and it was 68, so I ate a bunch of Skittles."

Unfortunately, Nicole had a little too much candy and the nerves of playing and heat made her feel a little queasy and she says she told teammates "I think I'm going to throw up a rainbow."

I'm sure the other players appreciated Nicole's sense of humor; but I suspect they still took a couple of steps backwards.

Nicole?  She's a type-1 diabetic.  But she's not taking any steps backwards.  She's not feeling sorry for herself.  She's going forward to a bright future.  Someday, in years to come, if you see Nurse Ayers walking into your room, you can bet you're going to be in good hands; and she'll be wearing a smile.

When I'm old, I hope she ends up as my nurse.





Being a diabetic doesn't slow Nicole down.


If you would like to donate to help find a cure for type-1 diabetes please click HERE! 

(This single click takes you to my fund-raising page.  There, click again on "donate to this event."  Then click "Biking and Painting for Diabetes."