Heroes are all around us
Printable story E-mail storyCommentary by Jodi Smith -Gunfighter spouse 5/20/2008 - MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho --
There was no way ... no way ... our five-year-old son could be sick. Yes, he matched all the criteria listed on the Web site, but he couldn't have diabetes! That was for old people, healthy five year olds didn't get that. It was just a coincidence he had all the symptoms on the list we found when we searched the internet for information. There had to be a simple explanation for what was wrong with him, but I knew there wasn't. In that deep down part of my heart, I just knew something was wrong. I was so sure, I made his father take him to hospital the next day, postponing the concrete knowledge that our lives were about to drastically change in a few mere minutes. They had only been gone for 10 minutes, but I sat staring at the phone. Knowing it was going to ring, knowing what would be said, but praying that somehow I would be wrong. When the phone rang 25 minutes later, it didn't startle me. I was expecting it and knew who it would be before I answered. I was right -- it was my husband. But it was also someone I had never heard -- someone who could barely speak, someone who sounded like he was having trouble breathing, someone with tears in his voice who was using every ounce of strength he had to stay strong. And then those three words came out of his mouth. "He has it."
Those three words were the beginning of a new and different life for our family. Our healthy and happy and joyous five-year-old little boy was officially diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Life went into warp speed, finding a neighbor who could come over and watch our little three-year-old daughter, getting someone to drive me to the hospital a few blocks away because suddenly I couldn't think straight and my seventh-month pregnant body felt frozen and wouldn't obey the screams in my head to get moving. I made it to the clinic, and they sent us off by ambulance to the Children's Hospital 90 miles away. The next few days were a blur as doctor after doctor tried to explain things to us -- nutritionists, psychologists, endocrinologists, pediatricians and more. What was I doing sticking a needle into my son's leg while three adults held him down and he screamed at the top of his lungs? After that, they brought me an orange to practice giving injections on. An orange, after I had already stuck my son! Just tell me what you can do to cure him. Give him medicine to make this go away. Do something to make this nightmare stop! Five and a Half Years Later Back when he was first diagnosed, all the doctors said he would accept his new reality and stop fighting. They said this would become normal for us, it would become routine and our lives would continue on, only it would be a new normal. I told them they were crazy, and in my head I screamed at them for their medical nonsense and their trite words.
But they were right. The days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and the months into years. There were a lot of bad days, scary days, downright hard days, but slowly the good days started outnumbering those, and we did return to a so-called normal life. Though in our new life, normal was blood testing, shots, insulin and food. Collin did stop fighting, he did accept it, and he's growing into an incredible young man who had to learn some hard lessons very early in life; self-control, when he went to birthday parties and could not eat any cake because it was not time to eat yet; responsibility, he always has to make sure he carries his supplies with him wherever he goes and check his blood sugar at set times a day; compassion, he understands what it means to be different and it shows in the way he treats other people; and so much more. When he was six, he got an insulin pump and life got so much easier. He could now eat whatever and whenever he wanted. We were still checking his number by poking his finger up to 10 times a day, but he could be without us for a couple of hours and we could stop getting up at 2 a.m. for a blood sugar check. Now he's 11 years old. He doesn't even ask us for help anymore. He checks his own blood sugar number, programs his pump alone and counts all the carbohydrates he eats by himself. He plays sports; baseball, basketball, soccer and roller hockey. He swims, hikes, camps, goes skiing and white water rafts. There is nothing he can't do. And because of that, he is an inspiration to other young children and their families who are newly diagnosed with this disease.
For all these reasons and more, Collin was chosen by the American Diabetes Association to go to Washington D.C., to speak to congressional members May 2. He made a wonderful advocate. The senators and representatives he met learned the difference between Type 2 Diabetes, which affects the majority of diabetics, and type 1, which is an autoimmune disease and has nothing to do with weight and most commonly affects children. He appealed for $20.8 million to be budgeted for the Centers for Disease Control for research, for a 6.6 percent increase in funding to the National Institute of Health for research and prevention, and for the ADA Restoration Act to be approved for five more years so more research can be done to find a cure. I watched and listened to him in amazement as he sat in senate office after senate office. He spoke with Idaho senators Mike Crapo and Larry Craig and Idaho Representative Mike Simpson. He showed them his supplies and explained how his insulin pump worked. Gone was the scared to death, screaming five-year-old who ran and hid every time I looked at my watch because he knew it was time to poke him with a needle again.
In front of me was a responsible, well spoken, compassionate 11-year-old young man who was willing to share his personal story and appeal to men who lead our country for more funding to find a cure to help him and children like him all over the country. Proud doesn't even begin to express what I was feeling. Yes, my son is a Type 1 Diabetic, but that doesn't define who he is. Who he is, is our hero. If you would like to find out more about type 1 or type 2 diabetes, or any of the above mentioned bills that we are trying to get passed through Congress, see the ADA Web site at
www.diabetes.org. Type 1 Diabetes doesn't have to be a life sentence. With your help and support, Collin and all the other children like him have the hope of a cure in their lifetimes.
We loved this unique tree we passed on our walk.
He is still a bit pale, but the excitement won out and he perked up and really enjoyed everything.
I did make it into one picture!! Being there at sunset was really pretty. The sky was gorgeous and the soft sunlight on the monuments was really pretty. This is the new World War ll monument.
See what I mean about the lighting! So great for photos.
Collin was surprised at how big Lincoln was. Reading about it in a book this year didn't give him the impression of how big it really was.
Corny picture, but he thought it was really cool. :)
Here is little Joshua! He was only 6 weeks old when they moved away from Idaho, now he is an adorable 2 year old, who fell in love with Collin! Collin taught him how to climb trees, I am sure Traci is thrilled about that!
The Youngquist family!
I haven't seen azaleas in years. They were so pretty! And so much green everywhere. Trees all around, trees with LEAVES on them!
We checked into our hotel room Wednesday afternoon. Collin liked the view.
For one session, the youth were separate from the adults. There were probably 20 type 1 children there. The majority were teenagers, there were 3 eleven tear olds, including Collin, and one 6 year old girl who was diagnosed 10 months ago. The rest are siblings as lots of families came together. Here they were writing out their stories, then they practiced giving them to each other.
I told him to pack his swimsuit, and if we had one free hour he could swim. He did not let me forget that promise!
This was dinner the first evening. Total, there were about 250 people present, including all the guest speakers and the family members.
Thursday morning was the BIG day! They provided transportation down to Union Station, gave us our speaking schedule of times, person and place, and SET US FREE!
Our first meeting was with Mississippi State Senator Thad Cochran.
Our next meeting was a mile away in the House of Representative buildings in the office of Mike Simpson. Our Idaho Representative.
Then is was a mile walk back to the Senate building to meet with Mississippi State Senator Roger Wicker.
Then it was back to the Senate to meet with Idaho State senator Mike Crapo. He spent a lot of time with Collin and asked him a lot of questions after Collin was done talking.
Here is Collin explaining to Senator Crapo how his insulin pump works and what supplies he needs for it.
Our last meeting! And we were so thankful is was also in the senate. I don't think I could have walked that mile back to the house side one more time. :)
......and coined him. 
The last bus back to the hotel left Union Station at 5:00 pm, and it was 4:35 before we left Craig's office. So I trusted Collin, he looked at the map, and he got us there just in the nick of time to get the free ride back to the hotel. If we had missed it, we would have had to get a cab, because there was NO WAY I was going to try and figure out that metro system by myself.
This was the Library of Congress.
I can not remember what this was at the moment. :)
The Capitol.
Our first meeting that morning had been at 7:30 am. Then we were on Capitol Hill for 8 hours, then the evening session took place as soon as we arrived back. When the ADA people found out that Collin had met with each senator and representative IN PERSON, they were floored. Most pepple met with the health aid representative for each position. The fact that we had 6 meetings versus everyone else's 3, and met with all 6 in person, was amazing to them. They want copies of all my pictures of Collin with them. So who knows how they will be used???!?!
That was it for the conference. We are very glad we decided to go and thankful it all worked out to make it happen. Thank you to the friends here who helped watch the kids, fed Sam homeade pizza and took Kaitlynn on the field trip. (Thanks Jen, Michelle, Jean, Carolyn and Jennifer!!!).
We really tried to get into the Archive's building so Collin could see the original documents he has studied this year. But both times we went, the line was over an hour long. And we were so short on time, we gave up and went to the one place he really wanted to go... The Air and Space Museum.
I loved this origianl Smithsonian building. Traci called it the castle.
How do you completely wear out an 11 year old boy?
Have a fun filled, jam packed, first hand D.C. experience that he will never forget. 
