TATAMAGOUCHE, N.S.
After essentially “sleeping with one eye open” for the past year, Sheri Cameron can only long for the day when she finally gets a full night’s rest.
It’s the same for her husband, Curtis, and their daughter Courtney, 9.
On Jan. 2, 2018, Courtney was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and the constant blood/sugar monitoring and adjustments she requires have prevented her and her Tatamagouche family from having a full night’s sleep since.
“I didn’t realize the extent of how much work there is to caring for someone with Type 1 diabetes,” Cameron said.
“It’s very scary when her blood sugars, how fast they can drop… It’s a lot of, you sleep with one eye open, one eye shut, kind of thing.”
One way of improving the situation would be to purchase an insulin pump. But at a cost of $7,200, the price tag is a bit steep for the family to afford.
“Everybody that has a pump just tell us, ‘oh you are going to love it. It is a real game-changer,’” Cameron said. “So, the game we are on right now is not a joyride, that’s for sure.”
Cameron’s work insurance will pay $2,000 towards the cost of the pump, while the Nova Scotia Insulin Pump Program will contribute another $1,000.
To raise further funds for the cause, a community hockey game is planned between two teams – the Tatamagouche Warriors and the Truro Lumberjacks – that have been formed specifically for the event.
“We’re really looking forward to having this game-changer so it will give Court more flexibility to do things and to be able to take more control of her own body and manage her diabetes and help her in the future when we’re not there to help her,” Cameron said.
The family’s diabetes ordeal began around Christmas 2017 when Cameron began noticing her daughter becoming more thirsty than normal. She and her husband began to monitor their youngest daughter’s water intake, which raised enough concern that they took her to their family doctor.
Subsequent blood tests detected sugar in her urine so the doctor did a finger poke, Cameron said. When those results registered as “high,” she was instructed to get Courtney to the IWK as soon as possible.
“He said, ‘I don’t think you need to go by ambulance, but you have to go home and pack and leave right away. Don’t dilly-dally and get to Halifax.’”
Since then, the Cameron family, including Courtney’s 13-year-old sister Josie, have been striving to deal with all the complications that living with diabetes brings.
“When she was first diagnosed we were terrified basically to send her to school, just knowing how quickly she can drop,” Cameron said. “At night time, too, we know she can drop really fast.”
Hence, sleeping with one eye open.
In addition to the constant day-time monitoring, Courtney’s glucose levels are checked when she goes to bed at 9 p.m. They are then rechecked at 11 p.m. and again at 3 a.m. and often at other intervals.
As an example, Cameron said, Courtney was recently having an “off night” when her blood/sugar numbers weren’t registering correctly at 11 p.m. So, she decided to get up at 2 a.m. to check them instead of waiting until 3.
“And it’s a good thing I did because she was in a low and she had to have fast-acting sugars.”
With a pump, which provides a constant trickle of insulin, those late-night checks could be reduced or even eliminated during periods when Courtney’s levels are running on an even keel.
A pump would also offer other advantages. Currently, Courtney receives three insulin injections per day. With a pump, however, it would reduce that number to one injection every three days, another reason Courtney is very much looking forward to getting a pump.
“It’s extremely important to Courtney, she really has her heart set on it,” Cameron said.
“If she has consistent blood sugars then we wouldn’t have to check her. It is just hard to imagine going to bed before 11 p.m. and sleeping all night long.”
Because Courtney’s carbohydrates have to be calculated for all her food, having an insulin pump would allow more flexibility with her daytime meals and would enable her sister to assist more when their parents, who both work, aren’t home.
And it would allow for one other luxury Courtney hasn’t been able to enjoy since her diagnosis.
“Right now, also without being on a pump, she doesn’t have the choice to sleep in,” Cameron said. “She has to get up at a certain time, have her insulin, have her breakfast.”
The family’s next scheduled clinic meeting at the IWK is Feb. 22 and Cameron said they are hoping to then find out when Courtney might be able to receive an insulin pump.
And they are counting on a successful fundraising effort at the hockey game to ensure the pump can be paid for.
FACTS:
The fundraising game between the Tatamagouche Warriors and the Truro Lumberjacks is set for Saturday, Feb. 2 at 5 p.m. at the North Shore Recreation Centre, Tatamagouche.
Admission is by donation. There will also be a number of raffle draws for such things as a gas card; lobster – to be received after the season opens – a gift basket and numerous other items.
