Mom Rushed 1-Year-Old to the ER. He Was Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (Exclusive)

A father or mother can all the time inform when one thing isn’t fairly proper with their youngster, even when the indicators are small and straightforward to dismiss. 

Six days after her son Bain’s first birthday, Marlee Brandon, 28, determined to take him to pressing care after she observed he was grumpier than traditional and chopping his backside enamel. It was there that Bain was recognized with a bilateral listening to an infection and despatched residence with just a few antibiotics. 

The toddler’s signs, nonetheless, all of the sudden worsened on the trip residence. “He could not stop vomiting, but was drinking all the water/breastmilk he could get, was very short of breath with labored breathing, and eventually just had no energy to keep his head up,” Brandon tells PEOPLE solely. 

What adopted was a frantic journey to the emergency room, the place concern gave strategy to shock as her son confronted a prognosis that may reshape their lives in a single day.

On Aug. 16, 2024, Bain was recognized with sort 1 diabetes. A go to to the emergency room revealed he was affected by diabetic ketoacidosis – a life-threatening situation that resulted within the household being airlifted to a neighborhood state youngsters’s hospital. 

“I immediately went into shock,” the younger mom remembers. “When you are taking your infant son to an ER because he is sick, you are assuming something like strep throat, RSV, COVID. I never expected such a life-changing diagnosis at that moment.”

Bain remained within the ICU for 3 days as they corrected his sugars and closed his hole. In the meantime, Brandon and her husband, Chandler, spent a number of days on a specialised training ground –  studying how one can look after Bain’s new medical wants with confidence and readability.

“When I was in the med-helicopter with him in the back heading to the ICU, I think I finally just accepted that this is our new life,” she shares. “I will ultimately do anything to raise awareness and advocate for him.”  

Marlee provides her husband credit score for managing their son’s diabetes in these first troublesome weeks. It took her time to search out the energy, held again by the heartbreak of understanding she’d must trigger her youngster ache to maintain him alive.

In hindsight, Marlee now realizes that Bain had been exhibiting clear indicators of sort 1 diabetes – equivalent to extreme urination, elevated thirst, and noticeable weight reduction – however as a brand new mom, she had assumed the adjustments have been simply a part of regular development. 

“It is normal and wanted for infants/young toddlers to drink water, have wet diapers,” she says. “He was transitioning from a crawling baby to walking while also getting taller, so I assumed he is losing weight because of being more mobile.” It was powerful for her to see the indicators, particularly since she and her husband don’t have any fast household with a historical past of sort 1 diabetes. 

“On my husband’s side of the family, he has 2nd, 3rd, and 4th cousins with T1D,” she reveals. “I get lots of questions about me having gestational diabetes when I was pregnant with Bain, and the answer is no. Bain’s T1D was triggered by an illness, but he did have a family history of autoimmune as well.” 

The day Bain was recognized, Marlee give up her job at an outpatient pediatric remedy clinic as a speech language pathologist. “As much as people say ‘your son can have a normal life,’ it truly just is not possible,” she emphasizes. “I cannot send him to a daycare and trust that they take care of his T1D like I can.”

Her life now revolves round managing Bain’s situation. She and her husband always monitor his Dexcom readings, rely carbs for each meal and snack, and do their finest to present their son a joyful, carefree childhood. “T1D burnout is real and it’s because it truly takes every amount of energy you have to be a pancreas for your child,” she shares. “No two days are the same.”

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Like any dad and mom of a one-year-old, they juggle the same old routines, however with added steps like pump and sensor website adjustments and timing meals round insulin. “He has worn a Dexcom since discharge from his inpatient stay at diagnosis. It is a lifesaver, truly,” Marlee reveals. “They are not perfect by any means, but just the mental stability it helps you have as parents…is top notch.”

Marlee admits it will likely be troublesome for her to launch sure tasks to another person as her son will get older. “I worry about him aging and going to school where someone will have to take care of him,” she tells PEOPLE. “It just is hard to let go of control when it’s your child’s life in their hands.” 

Using her coaching as a speech language pathologist, Marlee is handing over energy and data to her son about his situation from a younger age. In a viral TikTok, she is seen discussing sort 1 diabetes with Bain as a strategy to promote early consciousness. 

“I know the foundations of language, so I know what works and what does not. I have always talked to him about everything, trying to grow his receptive and expressive language,” she explains.

“So many people think babies ‘can’t learn’ and ‘can’t understand,’ but it shows that they can learn and understand complex topics. Talk on their level, communicate using simple words and phrases, talk a lot and about everything. This will change his perception of this disease since he can understand why and what it is.”

Marlee needs her son to develop up unafraid of his diabetes and conscious of what managing it entails. She and her husband made it a precedence to assist him really feel secure and comfy throughout website adjustments or finger pricks. Like any father or mother, she hopes he’ll develop right into a assured, self-sufficient grownup — one who lives an extended, wholesome life. 

By sharing Bain’s journey, Marlee and her son haven’t solely obtained love and assist but additionally a large amount of data by means of the T1D group. “There are so many creators that showcase their life with T1D, show things they have learned that medical professionals just don’t teach you,” she says.

By welcoming new views and assembly new individuals, Marlee feels much less alone and remoted. “Everyone on TikTok truly ‘just gets it’ and that always helps me after a bad night of… stubborn high blood sugar that we can not get down.”