A Diabetic Warrior

I had the amazing privilege of meeting the sweetest and strongest girl. Hadlee has fought diabetes almost her entire life. I was so excited to bring her a gift basket and the news of gymnastics lessons! She deserves all the joy in the world. Read more about Hadlee below from her mom’s eyes.

“Hadlee Jo Brown, age 7 is a happy, playful, creative, and very helpful little girl. She loves horses, dogs and kittens, and one day hopes to be a veterinarian. She loves to swim, ride bikes and is an excellent reader.

When Hadlee Jo was 13 months old, she got very sick one weekend and couldn’t stop throwing up. She was admitted into the children’s hospital in a dka state. She spent a week in the nicu and was a fighter to get her blood sugars regulated. Because of her age and the extremely small doses of insulin she required, they were unable to dose by small injections. Her little baby fingers and toes were black from the testing pricks required every hour. They were finally able to approve her for an insulin pump and we were allowed to go home and learn how to manage her new way of life. She still endures the finger pricks 12-15 times a day, site changes every 2-3 days, frequent blood draws, and a controlled diet.

Since the time of her diagnosis she has had her finger poked approximately 38,325 times, 852 site injection changes, used approximately 126 bottles of insulin, given lots of blood for testing, and taken all of it like a champ. Diabetic awareness is November 14th and in honor of her bravery we put blue strips of color in our hair, polish our nails bright blue and have a treat out for a blue Bahama Bucks!! Hadlee Jo is amazing and we are so fortunate to live in a time when medical knowledge and technology is consistently improving to assist her needs.”