Oct. 4, 2010, life changed for the Schneider family.
After a trip to Saskatoon's Royal University Hospital by ambulance, they were shocked to discover their daughter had developed Type 1 diabetes. The family had believed she had been suffering from complications from another condition, and the diagnosis came as an alarming surprise. Brianna was then only 11 years old.
Diabetes has a long history, and has been a leading cause of death and disease historically. Today, even though the disease can be regulated with regular insulin injections, no cure exists. The over 300,000 Canadians with Type 1 Diabetes must contend with far higher risks of heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease than the general population in addition to regular trips to the doctor or specialists. Though the disease can be regulated, regulation is not simple and requires serious changes to lifestyle.
Diabetes and its complications are so prevalent that, according to World Health Organization estimates, five to ten percent of any nation's health budget is spent on diabetes-related expenses. Even when no complications develop, the disease makes life more difficult for those affected and their families. Children especially are affected by the disease, as they and their families are very quickly forced to get used to a life of needles, blood tests, and visits to the doctor.
To the Brianna and her family, the news that she had diabetes was difficult to take. Both she and her mother immediately worried that something they had done had caused it. Not so, explained the doctors. Type 1 diabetes, unlike Type 2, has nothing to do with one's diet or exercise habits. Though the causes are not yet fully understood, they are generally considered to be mostly genetic.
The disease affects the immune system, often in childhood, and eliminates the body's ability to produce insulin. Without insulin, the body cannot process sugar, which can reach dangerously high or dangerously low levels without careful management.
"We have so many worries," her mother explained. "Is she going to be high, is she going to be low, if she gets sick we have to run her to the doctor right away."
Brianna was only a child when she received her diagnosis, but had to take on responsibilities that most adults never experience. In order to adjust she and her family to the many changes of lifestyle that the diagnosis would cause, Brianna was kept in the hospital for a week as doctors explained the disease, treatments available, and the many ways in which it would affect her and her family's life.
Each day, Brianna would have to prick her finger to draw blood six to eight times and receive an insulin injection two to four times. Her eating habits would also have to be adjusted, as too much or too little food at the wrong time could put too much stress her body.
Brianna quickly adjusted to the regimen and today bravely gives herself her own insulin injections.
Once Brianna was released from the hospital, life continued to change. At Thanksgiving dinner that year, no one in the family had dessert (as Brianna could not have it), and every other meal had to be carefully measured for carbohydrate content.
At her school, Brianna was the only child with Type 1 diabetes, and she and her parents had to talk to teachers and other students about her condition. Something as simple as a candy bar given as a prize for good work was potentially dangerous if Brianna ate too much or ate it at the wrong time. Food was now something to be measured, studied and only then enjoyed at the appropriate time.
Historically, Type 1 diabetes was fatal. The development of insulin injections has allowed those with Type 1 diabetes to live long, healthy lives, but still, no cure exists. But this may be changing.
For the last 41 years, the JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) has provided funding for Juvenile Diabetes research, and organized the Walk to Cure Diabetes around the world. From Mexico to Israel, Denmark to Australia, Canada to Holland, the JDRF raises funds for diabetes research, researches new and better treatments for the disease, and connects families with diabetics to each other.
Soon after Brianna was diagnosed, she and her family were put in contact with the JDRF. Joylene, Brianna's mother, was happy with the organization: "80 per cent of the money raised goes to research, which is very impressive."
Oct. 2, the Schneiders will be holding their own Telus Walk to Cure Diabetes in the Battlefords Wildlife Federation Nature Centre. The walk will feature wagon rides, a balloon animal maker, facepainting, and a DJ and will conclude with a free barbeque. Pledge forms will be dropped off at 10 a.m. and the walk will start at 11 a.m. Pledge forms for fundraising are available online at www.jdrf.ca/walk, or at Sobeys, Sears, Northside Esso and Battlefords Furniture. Through the walk they hope not only to educate others about the disease, but also meet other families who have been affected by Type 1 diabetes.
For more information, contact Joylene Schneider at 306-445-5052 or by e-mail at joyleneschneider@yahoo.com. Anyone interested in contacting the JDRF can reach them at jdrf.ca or by calling Sherry Buckler in Prince Albert at (306) 314-9533
