Nicholas was 5 when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in April 2013. For a few months before we thought something was off. He was often tired and spacey. All of a sudden he started wetting the bed and as extremely thirsty. I made an appointment with the doctor and one day later found out it was T1D. We were devastated. Seven months later our youngest son Drew, age 4, was also diagnosed with T1D. I was so angry; I couldn’t believe this was happening again! We were still learning to deal with the disease with our first son. Drew was hard at first, having to pin him down to give him shots. Dealing with his emotions was not easy. Over a year later we have adapted for the most part into our new routine. Some days are easier than others. There’s so much work that goes into T1D other than giving shots that most people don’t understand. With Nicholas and Drew being so young we are responsible for the everyday care of the boys. That’s a lot of pressure and stress on parents. I think that is one of the most difficult parts about this disease – it’s mentally exhausting, and there’s never a break or a day off. We can’t be more proud of our boys and how well they deal with T1D at such a young age. They stay happy and positive despite their struggles. We make it a point to teach them that this disease does not make them different from anyone else, and they can do anything they want.

This year was our first year of fundraising for the JDRF Walk to Cure diabetes. We were absolutely amazed that as a team we were able to raise over $17,000. It was very important to us that we worked hard to raise this money to say that we did our part to help find a cure for our boys and all Type 1 diabetics. We are thrilled about all of the medical advances that are being worked on to help find a cure. It’s important to continue to raise money to help with research costs. We pray that by the time the boys are teenagers we will not have these worries to deal with anymore and we look forward to that day when there’s a cure!