A Dover middle school student is in Washington, D.C. this week lobbying members of Congress to support Type 1 Diabetes research.
11-year-old Owen Hill is representing Delaware at this year’s Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Children’s Congress, “I have Type 1 Diabetes and I am going to D.C. to help support JDRF and meet with senators and representatives, to support the special Diabetes program.
Owen was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes three-and-a-half years ago and the Postlethwait Middle School student says every day life for him is “different,” “Because it’s difficult to keep up with it sometimes because I have to test my blood sugar and give myself insulin.”
Owen’s dad - Kyle Hill - says managing his son’s diabetes is a family commitment, "We're very fortunate to have A.I duPont-Nemours in our State. They’re very supportive and they put everyone through - my wife and I and Owen through an educational program - multiple days - where you learn the ins and outs of how you’re going to treat and manage his diabetes.”
Kyle Hill says research helps make managing diabetes easier. A new device called Dexcom allows Owen to forego pricking his finger several times a day to test glucose levels. Dexcom is a tiny sensor wire inserted under Owen’s skin that transmits his glucose levels wirelessly and shares the information to his parents’ phones.
Kyle calls managing his son’s diabetes “an all inclusive event,” “You are on all moments of the day where, if his blood sugar goes high, then he needs insulin to drop it down; if his blood sugar goes low, then he needs a snack to pull it back up. And it’s really kind of a balancing act to try to keep him in a standard level.”
Owen also wears a small patch on his stomach or arm - called the Omnipod that injects insulin when he needs it by pressing a small button.
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation executive director Tarra Mandeville says kids like Owen help convey to the government that T1D is a global problem that requires a global effort.
