EP 51 Life Saving Tips for Type 1 Diabetes - Amy Calvert

After a decade of gathering women together for prayer, we are inspired to bring our words of encouragement to you. This is iRefresh. Welcome to iRefresh where we are empowering ordinary women to do extraordinary things through the power of prayer and God's word. And today I'm so excited to be here. I'm Keri Kittinger. This is Cheryl Clare, who's the founder of iRefresh Ministries. And we have Amy Calvert. And we are back because we had so much to talk about. And we want to, Amy's heart is to give other people parents out there, and not just parents, but people out there, just information about type one diabetes, because she has some life-saving tips as she is a, you're now an expert with your daughter Avery. I call myself the mom expert. I'm certainly no doctor. But you know what, I'm just saying, Moms know how to bet. And we need doctors. Thank you, Jesus. So there's something about, we know, we can look at our kids and know something's off. We're driven to find the answer. Yes, we are. No, I mean, I think all of us have done that. I know I did that with my son even. It's like, I'm like, I'm not giving it up. We're gonna keep searching until we get the right diagnosis to get the right treatment. And that's, I mean, so that's, I think a lot of us, our journey is keep seeking until you get the right answer for the correct diagnosis so you can treat them. Right. And I think, Amy, as I was saying when we were off air a few minutes ago, that you are your daughter's advocate right now because she's still young. Right. And she's 12 now, right? 12, yeah. So she doesn't think she's young. Yeah, no. She's still young. You were her advocate. But, you know, I think one of the things, we want some great tips today, but also we'll end on that the Holy Spirit is our advocate. And don't you love that you have not been left alone. Right. So even though you might at times in the middle of the night feel like, Lord, why me? Why my daughter? But yet we can be rest assured that we've not been left alone, that we have the Holy Spirit who's our advocate as well. So please. Yeah, no, just to kind of pick up where we left off, talking a lot about... where God really brought us through the journey of Avery's type one, you know, diagnosis, the thing that my husband and I and Avery even and our youngest Kinsey, who talks about it a lot, we're big advocates of knowing, you know, knowledge is power. I keep saying that, but we've learned that over and over. And the thing that we didn't know, you know, again, I knew nothing about type 1 diabetes. You hear diabetes on TV and you think, oh, it's some food or something. And type 2 is more food driven. It's something that people who have that many times through some medication and food control that. Type 1 is completely different. It's an autoimmune. You know, the one thing that I went through through the whole journey of, you know, it's like a death. It's like a death in the fact that you have, as parents, these big grand plans for your child. And it doesn't involve her having to fight each day to keep herself alive. You know, so when this happened, the death of what I had preconceived or what Avery's life was going to be I had to journey through that and realize that God had a different path. And it didn't mean that it was going to be any less great, because God's plans are never bad. And so we had to journey through that. And the one thing that with type one, it is an autoimmune disease. And so Avery was obviously born with this. Okay. Okay. So you're just clarify. So type one is autoimmune, but the other is not, it is not. Right. And so it does come through, you know, your body reacting in different ways. Is it triggered? I mean, what causes it to... You know, they don't know. Oh, they don't know. Okay. That's part of the problem. So when you say she was born with that, is everybody who comes down, or not down with, but who encounters, diagnosed with type 1, are they born with that? So I want to say probably yes. Okay. It's in their body. JDRF, which is Juvenile Diabetes Research, usually comes out around about eight years old. And so that's a common age where you will see type one come out. That has kind of been the standard. It really is the standard. I believe no more because I am meeting now because of my platform, parents of newborns, parents of one and two month old, one year olds, two year olds, who's their children. It's becoming more, and I hate to use the word epidemic, but it's becoming something that we're seeing far too great. And so with Avery's hearse came out the month before her eighth birthday. You also said earlier that even older people. Oh, absolutely, up till about 65. So even though it's called more childhood, but it can also happen. Absolutely, yeah. I mean, I know people in their 50s and 60s who've been diagnosed with type one. What happens when you are diagnosed, they go in and do a test. And again, I'm not a medical doctor, but they look for certain markers. And so they can determine from that if you're a type one or a type two. Okay. So Avery had the markers, which confirmed she was a type one. Again, her pancreas had died and was not working anymore. And so her life from that point on was going to have to be insulin. Right. Given in either through a pump or through shots. And so, you know, what we are seeing right now is they have performed several surgeries. There's a, you know, I don't know the exact number around the world, but people have had pancreas transplants. And so they've put in a healthy pancreas and they're seeing that those people are not. having type one anymore. Really? Now, again, with any transplant, you know that you're taking a regimen of medicines. And again, though. So it's still very experimental. Right, it's still very much in the beginning stages. Much like we're seeing, you know, we're gonna believe for cure for cancers and other things. What is happening really is that we are on the verge, they believe of some type of cure for type one, but we live each day believing that whether Avery gets that healing through a cure from the doctors or from a cure through God, we're trusting no matter what that she's gonna see that healing as well as the many other children who are facing this. And one of the things that we really like to talk to people about is that You know, we were very blessed in that we had a pediatrician who trusted his gut, who saw this and with minutes saved her life. We know today, and he has shared with us, had he sent Avery home, she would have died that night. And so, I mean, imagine. Thank God for such an amazing doctor. Yeah. And the doctors who are out there daily diagnosing these children and honestly saving their lives. And so, you know. And you said in our earlier episode that the doctor said, I'm gonna be calling an ambulance. And so, you know, when you hear the doctor say, I'm going to be calling an ambulance, I mean, that's not. Right. I would say very few people have probably heard a doctor say that. Yeah, absolutely. And you know, that wasn't the norm for Dr. Rayleigh, you know, at the time. What happens is this disease presents much like the flu. So you guys heard me saying, she had a cold, didn't have a fever, was tired, worn down. Well, if you have a cold, you're probably drinking water. A big sign, trigger sign, is children who are drinking a lot of water, constant thirst. Bedwetting is a big sign. Because they're drinking so much water. So your mind goes to, well, they're drinking a lot, so that's why they're wetting the bed. You can kind of put these things out of your head. Because you're like, well, and then weight loss is another thing. So Avery had lost some weight, but she had also grown three inches. I mean, I have tall kids. So again, nothing triggered with me like, she's thirsty. She's lost some weight. She's tired. You know, these are trigger signs. But that's a trigger sign you're telling us. But you know, you were even telling us is that's not something when you go to a doctor, a normal doctor, that they're gonna like, oh yeah, that would be, because that's a serious diagnosis. Absolutely. I mean, like that was God that you went to him. Absolutely. That he knew it immediately. Because I would have never said, hey, check her for type one. You know, in my mind, it was just maybe some sort of flu coming on. And that's the unfortunate thing that we're really trying to be advocates for, is for people to realize that this disease presents like the flu, and be an advocate for your child. When you take your kid in, the one thing you wanna ask for, check my child's sugars. That's the first step. It's a simple prick of a finger. Every doctor's office has it. It's one drop of blood. And doctors know from there, once they can see that, something's off. So a normal blood sugar for a non-type one diabetic coming in fasting, which means you haven't eaten overnight, would be under 100. So when Avery's numbers ended up being a thousand, you know, that's a huge trigger sign that something's on right here and that would immediately trigger. But the problem is we don't utilize a single correct blood test in doctor's offices. So how do you change that? Well, we're just, you know, out sharing. JDRF is working hard to say, you know, just one drop can save a life. Okay. And so it's just through education, much like any other disease. It's talking about it. It's all of us as parents whose children are facing this, or maybe you're an adult facing this, sharing that, you know, one drop of blood can, can save your life. Because from there they can determine, okay, you are type one diabetic. And now here's what we're gonna roll out to keep you alive and save you. The problem is so many people are sent home because in all honesty, doctors, it's not something in the past that they've seen a lot of. Unfortunately, we are seeing more children diagnosed now. There's a lot of controversy that I wouldn't even get to that people think, well, it's because of this, it's because of that. For us, you know, we truly believe that nothing and no, nothing we did caused Avery to have this. You know, her body was built a certain way. It's much like when a child comes down with cancer, there's no good answer as to understand why. Yes, right. You know, sometimes in our body, and honestly, the world can be a bad place, you know, and stuff. And we face hard things, but it's how we... come through that and achieve that and trust you know again the prompting of the Holy Spirit and the prompting of knowing that God is in control And that he has you every step of the way I remember being out with a girlfriend and every time my phone rang I would panic and she she put her hand over my phone and she said Amy and You've got to be able to not react to every phone call. By you just getting an angst, you're not trusting that God has, you know, because I'm like, is it the school nurse? Is it, you know, Avery's with my sister or my brother-in-law, you know, is it something wrong? Right. And then also now looking at my four-year-old, because knowing that their embryos were taken at the same time, Satan plays a mean game of saying, well, I wonder if Kinsey's going to get it. You know, and if I lived my life, it's like what we all face, you know, this worry and fear, because there are a lot of families I know they have three or four children with type one. I can't even imagine. Really? Really? I know what I deal with. Imagine these families who have multiples. Even the expense of it, as you were saying. I mean, that's a whole nother show in itself. Yes, yes. You know, that we're continually trying to fight. And you referred to in the first episode too about a particular machine. Yes. That's made a world of difference. Dexcombe. Okay, explain that too, because you said not everyone has that machine. No, so that is not something that's covered through insurance. You know, that is something that the insurance companies feel is kind of like, you know, That in their mind is not necessarily needed to keep Avery alive. We know insulin is. And the crazy thing about that is, insulin developed 100 years ago to insulin today, the product itself has changed in no way. What has changed is just three years ago, I was paying $200 a month for a vial that would last about six days, which I'm now paying $380. a month just for the same. Now the product has not changed. Nothing has changed. And that's the fight. And that's what we are working with legislators here in Oklahoma. We've seen states like Colorado and Minnesota cap insulin at $100 because look, you know, we're blessed to have good jobs. We struggle every month, you know, and this Dexcom, which allows us to live life. It triggers when Avery's again, it's a machine, but it tells us when Avery is going to go high or low, And it alerts us to where it'll wake me up at the night like a foghorn. Wow. So it's an app on your phone. That's related to. But it's a machine that she wears constantly 24 seven on her arm. A needle goes into her arm and it sits on her arm, sticks, and there's a sticker around it. And that will alert us because, you know, I'll walk up, you know, she may be dropping to 70, which is pretty, you know, low and going down. So at 3 in the morning, last night, I had to give her three juice boxes at 3 in the morning because her body was just trending downward. So with you being able to give her those juice boxes, is that able to keep her from having to have the extra insulin? Right. So you want to feed the body, when you're low, you feed the body carbs. Okay. When you're high, you feed the body insulin. So insulin counteracts and brings you down. So it's kind of a math game. So like last night, for instance, just referring that, I had to give her, she was dropping and they like them to be sugar levels between about 120 to 140 at night because your body will fluctuate. You as a non-type one diabetic person would probably fluctuate between 70 and 90. Right. You're gonna go a little higher in the morning because that's what sparks you energy to wake up. Okay. So when you wake up, you're gonna be under 100 because you're not type one, or you're not a type two, you know. But those who are above 100, you start, you're on the borderline. Okay. And then you see them go much higher, you know. So Avery will normally wake up at about 130, 140, which for a type one is good and stuff. But like last night, she was dropping 70, 60 very quickly. And I had to give her 90 carbs, you know, a little girl, 90 carbs, which is four juice boxes. Wow. Just to get her up. I can't imagine. You know, and then you don't treat with insulin. So it brings her back up to where it'll stabilize. Okay. Does she aware of like, does you have to wake her up? Yes, we have to wake her up. So she will not wake up. Yeah, so you know, you see, we've wrestled with the idea of, you know, you have these service dogs, you know, and I have several friends who the dogs have saved. That alone is a $30,000, that's how much it costs to get one. For them to be trained. Yep. Because I can imagine that that, I mean, my dog only knows how to shake. I mean, you know, so I can imagine that the training process would cost a lot. It is. But these dogs have saved, I know numerous friends who have them. And you know, they've opted for that. You know, the Dexcom is not much different in cost. And you know, you do what you can to make sure that you can get that. So is there hope though, is just having Oklahoma, you said also just helping you with the insulin, but is there any hope for in getting insurance companies to try to help to take some of the battle of whether it's a service dog, something is, I mean, it's life and death. You know, you would hope. Unfortunately, I think in the world we live in today, the greed, the money, the way that that's built, probably not. You know, you see so many things. You know, we provide free drugs to people who choose to take their life, but yet these kids who... who didn't choose this. Who are clinging for their lives. Or fighting just to buy the drugs. And one is not more important than the other. I mean, again, it's all things that we need to do to keep these kids alive or people alive. And so many deaths are happening because people are having to ration insulin. They... You know, you can't ration insulin, you will die. I saw that in my own family. Yeah. They were sharing their insulin because one of them was having, it's a very close family member. And I'm like, why are you struggling with it? And then all of a sudden I realized, they were splitting the insulin to stretch it. I'm like, I wonder why you were having so many struggles. I'm like, why? Because it was not type one, it was the other one. And I think it was out of, because they had gone through so much chemo for him. And I was like, that is so sad. The burden of the disease alone is enough, let alone the thought of, you know, we as my husband and I struggle thinking, you know, God forbid you ever lose your job. how can you buy this stuff or keep this? There are millions of parents who face this every day. They're having to make decisions whether they buy food, they pay their bills, or they buy insulin for their children. And our hope is as we get more information out there, people can be advocates, you call your legislators, you fight for it, be a voice. I'm nobody, and yet I stand, and I'm loud, and I can obviously talk a lot. And so, you know, our mission is just to keep sharing until change comes. And, you know, in the meantime, we trust God. Yes. And we know that God is in control. And we know that he's got us. And again, I'm just reminded that he loves Avery so much more than I do. It's hard to believe because I think I love her more than anything. But, you know, here this great God is and, you know, he watches over her. And it's been a major growing in my faith. And I'm not always perfect. And I, you know, I share with you, I get mad at God sometimes. And we have hard conversations, but he always, fortunately, his grace is sufficient. And he covers us. He can handle our disappointment, can't he? Oh, has he not? I heard a few of us get a little bit loud with him. Like, God, I've done that recently, too. Yeah, I'm with you. But, you know, I think of one thing that we can go to, no matter what each of us are even facing, is the way in which God provides. And I was reading in the scriptures recently, and it was just like one of those aha moments of... God I didn't realize your provision for us all the time because I was reading the story about Abraham and just before his father, his father they were positioning themselves into a land and that he paused in a particular city. I'm like well why did he do that? So he had the family there and they were pausing. And it said, I researched what the city was. It was a city where it was commerce. And in that was where the provision was going to be for Abraham and his family. So it said at that time they stayed there for a while. And then it went on to the next chapter in Genesis. And I thought, God, you are so good. Because what you begin to read when you start looking at the 12th and 13th chapter, you look back and like, wait a minute. God was storing up the wealth and the riches that Abraham needed for his family so that later on it said, and then there was a time of famine. And I'm like, God, you knew before they even had a need and you were storing up and you position the father somehow knew to stop and pause in the city to begin to gain the provision that his family would need beyond him because he would pass away but provision was put in place for Abraham and the whole family so that when famine came God had already made a way. And I think that's where our hope has to be in. You know, when you're facing what you're walking through is the financial burden. And when you shared about in the other episode too, about what it takes for you is the amount of dosage, either is life or it could be death. I mean, you have to trust God. Yeah. I don't know how people, I said, you know, I don't know how people can walk through challenges. I mean, it's his grace that gets me up every day. You know, and we're all human. We all face challenges. And he never promised us, you know, that it was going to be easy. But he promised us he would never leave us. He would never forsake us and that he would guide us every step of the way. And, you know, before I go to the phone, I try to go to the throne, but it's a hard thing, you know, of worry and stuff. But each day he shows his mercies. And I'm so grateful for... that, you know, I have Avery, my husband and I are so grateful for her and Kenzie, my other little one. And, you know, just like any parent. And we just trust that every day God is guiding us in our steps, that every decision we make is ordered of him. And we talk about that every morning when I'm driving the girls to school, you know, every step. And, and we say it out loud and we've, we trusted them, you know, because even my four-year-old would go, mom, we're just going to pray. And God healed me. Precious, precious. And we have those talks. Just because I feel like it's so important just to know because they see me raw and real and I cry. And when Avery's crying, I'm crying with her. And there's times that I just say, I'm mad too. And I'm so sorry you had this, but God's gonna take care of us. And I think anyone who struggles with that just has to know that it's okay to break down because God builds us back up. And it's okay to have those moments. And, you know, it doesn't mean you're a failure. It doesn't mean that you're not good enough. It doesn't mean that you're not walking the right path. You know, I think it just means that again, His grace is sufficient and to trust. Well, and I love that, as we said before, you're that advocate for your little girl, but you're also teaching her how to go to the advocate, how to go to the Lord who's always with us. And what an amazing platform that you have. that you're able to be that voice. I mean, God has gifted you with an ability to communicate really well. And even in what you do with work and that type of thing. But it's just going to be neat to see what's going to happen years from now. Because as you're that voice and as you're training up your daughter, you're also, she's going to learn that she has a testimony. So she is going to have something, she has skin in the game already. So you know how like you learned in college to really walk with the Lord closely and to hear his voice. And yet your daughter from a young age is learning that. So it's going to really be, we're going to have to have you back in about 10 years. Well, before then, but just to say, you know, really, isn't that, you always want to know, well, what's happened 10 years from now and 10 years from now? Because really, they say like your ceiling is going to be her platform, right? I'm excited to see what God, and I tell her that. I'm like, God's got big plans for you. I think as we feed that, we should always feed that into our children. You know, God has a plan despite the circumstances, despite the situation. God's plan is bigger than anything. It's important to trust him. It sure is. His provision, I think, is beautiful when you talk about the way you talk to your kids in the car, that they both get to hear you as an example, but they both get to rally around the whole event, I mean, it's a family event of drawing the whole family together because it's the whole, everyone's affected. Right. Right. Everyone. Everybody's going to influence it, but it's all your walk together, which is, it's, they would never have that encounter with God had not there been the need for God the way you guys have had to literally daily walk in that, that trust. Powerly. You know, I mean, yeah, even whether it's a four year old or us as an older adults, you're still we have to walk that journey. And it's a it's a every day. It's God, your grace is sufficient. It's an every day. God, I need your strength. I need you to prompt me, you know, so that you are the one that's a shield. But it's also the prompter. to know which way we're supposed to go. It's powerful. And isn't that just, I mean, that's really how our lives with the Lord should be. It is a moment by moment. It's a step by step. I love how the scriptures talk about walking with the Lord. I mean, you know, It really is putting, I always just say, if you've got breath in you, you know, you put one foot in front of the other, you keep going. And really the picture of your daughter with diabetes, it is, it's a moment by moment, a step by step, and almost that prick of the finger, or now with the pump, but like, don't you wish we had that spiritually? Like, Lord, how am I doing? Where am I at? That's good, that's real. Oh, that's very good. I love that. I mean, I want to be so right on target with the Lord. I mean, I don't know. fluctuation absolutely but isn't that our humanity right we're doing this thing and so I mean what a beautiful picture I'm sure there's just so many times that that you're able to just share just the grace of Jesus the love of Jesus the provision of Jesus and how I mean Avery has a beautiful testimony she does she does and I'm so thankful for her and Thankful for this platform to be able to share it. So thank you so much. We're so grateful that you were here today. Thank you for doing that. I've learned something for sure. And I have too. Amy, as we're getting ready to close, what would you leave our listeners with as they are just going about their days just like you were that day? And what would you, what are maybe some things that you would say if they notice something off or they feel that gut feeling that something's not right, what are the steps that they should take? So maybe, you know, you're at home and you're facing a diagnosis. You've gotten some bad news. You know, maybe it's type one. The one thing that I wish someone had told me is it's going to be okay. You know, right now you feel like your life's over. You feel like you're never going to be able to be you again. That how do I go on? I felt that. I felt that for a long time. And I remember several of my friends as I began to meet them, friends who I call now are type one mamas or dads, you know, that we all talk and we share stories with. That support system. Yeah. It was a great reminder that, you know what? Yeah. It's gonna be okay. Is it gonna be easy? No, but you know what? You've got a support system, build a community around. Social media has been great for me because there's a group of type one parents that we can share stories with or say, hey, my kid's reacting this way. So, you know, find that support system. Maybe it's in your church. You know, maybe it's just through a group of ladies or friends, or maybe it's through this amazing ministry. You know, whatever it is, I encourage you, get that person that can be your support system, that you can talk to, that you can share with, you know, do your research, but know above all things, God's got you. You're going to be okay, and you will get through this. Yes, yes. And, you know, I'd like to leave a say, Cheryl, one of my favorite scriptures says that he is an ever-present help in time of need. And so just for us to be able to just rest in that, to go, Lord, you are ever-present. And because there will be a day that Avery will grow up and leave your home. And that's kind of where we are at with our kids. I'm going with her. I know. No, exactly. But that thing to go, Lord, you've got her. You are that ever-present help in time of need. And so, wow. That's good. Powerful. Well, we are so glad that you joined us. And so we would love for you to connect with us by subscribing. Go to iRefresh.net where you can hear and listen to more and also some of the resources that are available that Amy has talked about. We want to be able to list those for you and connect with us. Let us know if you're experiencing something else along with that. If you have questions, we would love to be able to make sure that Amy helps to answer those for you. And until then, go change your world.