>> Hello, I'm Kelly.
>> I'm Graham.
>> And we have two kids.
We have a daughter, Alexis and a son Mason.
I noticed last year, some symptoms that were concerning for diabetes.
That he was excessively thirsty and going to the bathroom all the time.
>> With her having the nursing background, she saw the red flags where I, I wouldn't have picked up them.
>> So I sent my pediatrician an email through my LG Health.
She emailed me back and said, "Let's bring him in and get him checked."
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition where the body's immune system attacks the beta cells in the
pancreas and the beta cells is what produces insulin.
And everybody has to have insulin.
His lifestyle, his diet is not what created this.
So, what we have to do is become his pancreas and basically give him insulin for the
rest of his life until they find a cure.
We came home, packed our bags and went down to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, where we would get
a comprehensive team that would work with us and teach us a new way to take care of our child from here on out.
And we did a sort of what we consider to be a bootcamp on how now to take care of our child and become his pancreas.
So we met with a pediatric endocrinologist.
We met with diabetes educators, social workers, nutritionist.
They had a whole program set up that worked with us over the course of those three
days, teaching us how to take care of Mason.
We wanted to get comfortable with the basics first, which is giving the multiple daily injections.
So about six months into doing this, we decided to go ahead and look into getting an insulin pump.
So he wears this pump 24-7.
The only time that he takes it off is when we change out all of the sites, when he needs to shower, and if he's
swimming, other than that, he's got it on him all the time.
>> No child wants to get shots.
That's like one of the biggest things.
>> But I have an insulin pump now that gives me insulin constantly through the pump.
I get less shots.
I get like 15, 16 a month versus hundreds and thousands a year.
>> To see him live with it every day.
And you know, there, there are ups and downs and he gets frustrated sometimes, but he's very, he's very good with it.
>> Well around the summer, I like to play golf, throw the football with my dad,
go fishing, go swimming and stuff like that.
>> He has loved golf since he was old enough to stand.
>> My golf goals and plans are to be better than Dustin Johnson,
Jordan Spieth and Ricky Fowler.
>> There are sports athletes that we know that
have type 1 diabetes that
are professional athletes and for someone who's interested in golf and football, and you can
bring it back to that and say, "You can do anything that you want, and this isn't going to affect you."
>> Our daughter has been great.
She sort of mothers him a little bit.
>> She's very knowledgeable.
>> Having the Lancaster General affiliation with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is much easier for us.
We can plan our days easier.
We will now meet with their pediatric endocrinologists, nurse practitioner and diabetes educator.
I'm just thankful that there's a team, but having Lancaster General as an affiliate with them and
knowing that the services we've received down in Philadelphia are just as good as we're receiving here in
Lancaster.
>> To take a day that is
six hours to go down to Philadelphia to now bring it down to an hour and a half.
Yeah, much more convenient to have
it here in Lancaster.
>> Our diabetes educator there at Lancaster General has initiated Mason's insulin pump
therapy with us and she's been fantastic.
In touch with us, constantly making sure
that we have everything
that we need to feel comfortable working with this
new way of being his pancreas now.
She's been great.
I've really appreciated that they made us feel comfortable knowing that there's extra steps that
you're always going to have to take but at the end of the day, life goes on and he's going to be okay.
And, you know, we just are thankful that they always provide us with reassurance that we're doing a good job.
>> I feel no different than every other kid.
And if you have type 1 diabetes,
do everything you used to do.
♪♪