Ian was diagnosed at 15 months old; he is now 5. As his mom, and also being a T1D, I recognized his symptoms and checked his blood sugar. It was in that moment that our whole world changed. We knew the life we had was gone and a new life had begun. We knew from that point forward things would be different for our son and our family. We struggled at first, trying to navigate the new diagnosis and make the best decisions we could for our son. As parents to a young child with T1D, every day is challenging. Every day you make decisions. Decisions that in an instant can mean life or death. Through the years we have had many challenges. We’ve had good days and bad. Some days diabetes wins, but we take a deep breath, and start over again the next.

Ian lives a normal life just like any other kid. Yes, he wears devices on his body to keep him alive, but other than that he is just like the rest of his friends. We constantly have to keep an eye on his sugars and what he eats, but he is an amazing and strong little boy. He has strived and learned to adapt to every situation. Being diagnosed so young, he doesn’t know any different. This is all normal life to him. He is the bravest kid we know. He gets poked and prodded daily and never complains. He has preserved through his illness and continues to thrive every day. He is strong and unbroken and nothing will stop him at achieving anything he wants. Our family might look a little different than others. We might have our eyes on a phone more than others to do a blood sugar check, we might have to stop and have our son eat an extra snack, but we are just like any other family. We are stronger from Ian’s diagnosis. We have fought and will continue to fight and we won’t back down. #KNOWSURVIVETHRIVE, Allison

Submitted by: EASE T1D

Throughout the month of November, we will be featuring stories of people living with diabetes as part of our #KnowSurviveThrive campaign and partnership with EASET1D.org. To submit your #KnowSurviveThrive story, visit our Submit Your Story page.