BiographyHarry was born a completely healthy, happy little boy.
This changed in February 2023 when Harry had just got over COVID. He was becoming more tired which I put down to getting over COVID and a possible growth spurt. He also started to lose weight slowly to begin with and then more rapidly. He became thirsty to the point he was drinking a bottle of water and demanding more straight away, acting like he hadn't had a drink. We took him to the GP who wasn't concerned at the time so we carried on as normal.
Then the fatigue got worse, he had black circles under his eyes and began to smell like a fruit. I took him to A&E who failed to run tests on him and sent him home saying it was a viral infection.
The next two days every time he ate he would be sick and became harder to wake up. He also became extremely confused and forgetful which was unlike Harry as he is known to reel facts about nature & science off the top of his head. He also found it hard to move around like he had no energy and his words became jumbled. I took him back to his GP who immediately tested his ketones and sent him straight to hospital. Harry's glucose was 110mmol and his ketones were extremely high, he was in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) which is severely life threatening, Harry was dying. He was diagnosed with type one diabetes and put on an insulin drip to lower his blood sugars & ketones.
Today he is nine years old and has 5-6 injections of insulin a day that keep him alive but it's not a cure it is life support. If he has too much insulin his blood sugars can quickly drop into hypoglycaemia which can kill him. He wears a CGM that monitors his blood sugars to keep him safe as high sugars can cause long term complications which can kill slowly and low sugars can kill quickly.
Not many people understand the dangers of type one diabetes and this is why I have shared Harry's story. He deals with a lot and every day is many decisions to keep him safe yet he still smiles through it all.
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