Leon was diagnosed when he was 2 and a bit years old. He was gulping through his drinks, saturating his nappies so much they would explode and was falling asleep around the house.
His sister had chicken pox and we thought maybe he was getting it too. I begged for the doctors to see him but it was 3 weeks before the first national Covid 19 lockdown and GPs were restricting face to face appointments. Over the phone the doctor dismissed symptoms as a growth spurt!
One morning he looked so unwell that I took him to the GP and demanded someone see him. I persuaded the doctor to do to a urine sample and they sent me away with a test tube and told me to bring it in ‘no hurry’. Even by Monday (it was Friday!) I went home and managed to get a urine sample back within 2 hours. The Doctor rang within 15 minutes and asked us to drive Leon straight to the hospital or call an ambulance as he had high levels of glucose in his urine. On arrival we were rushed right in and Leon was diagnosed why Type 1. No one in our family knew anything about it so we were all terrified. The nurse said if we had waited until Monday to bring in a Urine sample as the GP suggested, Leon would have been in ICU or worse.
He was admitted or hospital and on top of that, it turned out he also had chicken pox! He was confined to a room on his own for a week. It was a nightmare as the diabetic team weren’t in until Monday and the ward staff weren’t confident on how to calculate insulin and carbs. sometimes we were waiting until 10pm for some insulin and dinner! It was truly heart breaking, but he smiled everyday.
Now age 6, Leon can use his own pump and pricks his own finger. He loves gymnastics and wants to be a tattoo artist and a chef when he is older. He amazes everyone with his resilience, responsibility and huge love of life week at just 6 what’s old . He is very excited to talk to his class on world diabetes day next week and show them his Rufus the bear and talk about his book called ‘when I go low’.
Leon had to learn to live with his diabetes whilst in lockdown as a 2 year old toddler – and has come out of it a strong and brave warrior! 💙