?We just thought he had a stomach bug,? Rebecca Cook recalls, thinking back to the day two years ago when her only child, 10-month-old Theo, became ill. ?He was throwing up, seemed really thirsty and was peeing a lot.? But then Theo took a turn for the worse. ?He started doing this strange breathing pattern and he was actually borderline unconscious.?
Cook and her husband called the public health nurse who got an ambulance to bring their limp, non-responsive son to Janeway Children?s Health & Rehabilitation Centre ER in St. John?s. A blood test conducted by the paramedics revealed that Theo had type 1 diabetes. His extreme thirst and vomiting were classic signs of the disease, which can also include symptoms such as extreme tiredness, frequent urination and sudden weight loss despite constant hunger.
?We were shocked,? Cook says. ?It all happened so fast. In a matter of 24 hours, we went from thinking he had a stomach bug to realizing he has a lifelong illness.?
Diabetes occurs when the body is unable to produce or respond to insulin, the hormone that is produced by the pancreas and is needed to convert glucose (sugar) into energy. In type 1, the immune system destroys the cells that make insulin, causing insulin production to cease, explains Diane Wherrett, a paediatric endocrinologist at Toronto?s Hospital for Sick Children. With type 2 diabetes, the pancreas continues to produce insulin, but for reasons we don?t completely understand, the bo...