When Brooklyn Garcia was 7 years old, her parents began noticing changes – Brooklyn was losing weight, felt thirsty all the time (despite drinking liters of water), and was getting progressively weaker. “It was very scary” says her Mom, Kathryn. Medical investigations lead to a diagnosis of diabetes – news that was hard for the family to hear: “We knew nothing about what was needed or expected and it was really overwhelming.”
Fortunately, the Garcia family was referred to the Paediatric Diabetes Program at McMaster Children’s Hospital.
“In the beginning we had no knowledge of how diabetes worked, so the hospital was very helpful in setting up Brooklyn’s ratios and teaching us about carbs etc. The care and info we received in the first year was very important in helping us manage it on our own.” says Kathryn.
Today, Brooklyn sees a registered nurse and pediatric endocrinologist twice a year, and a dietitian and social worker once a year. At each appointment Brooklyn gets A1C bloodwork done (which shows an average of her blood sugars over the previous few months) and full bloodwork once a year. She uses an insulin pump and is able to change it herself. Her parents say an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) have made her diabetes much easier to manage.
When asked about tips for managing diabetes, the Garcia’s stress the importance of empowerment: “We have always included Brooklyn in every thought and decision, and we’ve made it so that one day, when she has to do this alone, she can”.
