Hunter McDavid?s day begins like any of his classmates? ? his mom wakes him at 7:30 a.m. to get dressed and eat breakfast.
Before he leaves for school, however, Hunter takes his medicine, checks his blood sugar level and tells his pump how many carbohydrates were in his Cheerios.
“My pump is a little box that gives me insulin,” Hunter, 8, said.
An insulin pump is a small device, about the size of a pager, worn on a belt or in a pocket. It checks a diabetic?s blood insulin levels through a tube inserted under his skin, and calculates a measured dose of insulin.
Hunter must check his blood sugar level at least four times a day and sometimes more, depending on his activities.
Hunter was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in June 2005 after finishing first grade at Elkridge Elementary School.
The disease has changed his family?s life; they enrolled in Diabetes TrialNet, a study by the University of Maryland School of Medicine investigating the development, prevention and early treatment of Type 1 diabetes.
“Diabetes affects the person who has the disease and all of his family members,” said Dr. Debra Counts, diabetes specialist at University of Maryland Medical Center. “It impacts just about every aspect of the child?s life.”
When Hunter is in class, the school takes responsibility for his health and well-being. He checks his insulin level twice a day in the health room, once before and once after lunch.
A nurse oversees the process, despite his confidence, to administer his own insulin.
“The school nurse acts as a supervisor for the student,” said Loretta Clark, nurse and certified diabetes educator at Howard County Hospital.
The responsibilities that come along with the disease do not bother Hunter, his mother, Tracey McDavid, said. It?s become almost “second nature for him,” she said.
“Sometimes I forget when I?m at school, but then the nurses in the health room come find me,” he said.
Diabetes facts:
» Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin.
» Insulin is a hormone that converts sugar, starches and other foods into energy.
» 20.8 million Americans ? 7 percent of the population ? have diabetes.
» About one in every 400 to 600 children and adolescents has Type 1 diabetes.
? Source: American Diabetes Association
