MyT1D Hero

By: Christina Sebert, T1D Mom

“BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.” The sound is Briana’s Dexcom alarm alerting me that her blood sugar is low. Briana has type 1 diabetes and the Dexcom helps us manage her blood sugar.

Sierra helping check her sister’s blood sugar

Before my feet make it to the floor, I hear the shuffle of little feet and Briana’s two-year-old sister, Sierra, exclaim, “Uh, oh! Bonna’s low! She needs to eat!” Despite only being two years old, her sister is on top of it. She runs past me, grabs the glucometer off the counter and runs back to the playroom where Briana and their brother Brayden are watching T.V.

When I get into the playroom, I see Sierra is ready to help. I let her place the test strip in the meter and collect the blood with it. Then watch her eagerly await the numbers to pop up on the meter screen, so she can try to read them off. I honestly believe my two-year old is learning her numbers by reading off her older sister’s blood sugars.

“Eighty-six. Bonna needs to eat,” she exclaims as she wipes her older sister’s finger off with a tissue. Sometimes, I think Sierra understands diabetes more than her less-than-interested older sister who actually has it. “She needs a Go-Gurt,” Sierra concludes as she rushes out of the room to the refrigerator.

Sierra’s tracking of her sisters blood sugar numbers

This scenario occurs frequently. As a parent of a child with type 1 diabetes, similar to many of you reading this story, I am often exhausted by the management. Especially with younger children who can’t or aren’t quite ready to do it themselves. Although I am fortunate to be able to stay home and take care of our kids, my husband works two jobs which both require weekends and overnights. This places a lot of responsibility on me. Just my type 1’s care alone can fill the day and night: communicating with secretaries at school throughout the day to treat blood sugars, counting carbs, measuring, weighing and cooking meals, administering insulin, night time corrections followed by nighttime feedings, the list is endless. Having Sierra to help, even though she is so little, eases the burden just a little especially when my husband can’t be there. She may not fully understand what her big sister is going through, but Sierra knows what needs to be done and is happy to assist. She considers herself in charge of monitoring and she can easily pull up the app on my phone, read off the numbers (with some help) and even tell me which way blood sugars are trending. On the diabetes home log, you’ll find Sierra’s scribbles at the bottom where she has “charted” all her big sister’s numbers.

Briana and her sister Sierra

Although Briana is not as motivated to manage her diabetes care right now, seeing her face light up when her little sister is fumbling with her meter or giggling as Sierra is yelling through the house about checking sugars or getting something to eat, gives me hope. Sierra helps make this T1D life just a little bit easier, a little bit less stressful and brings us all a little bit closer. There is a saying that sisters are like angels, they sparkle twinkle and glow, they are the greatest gifts our hearts will ever know. It warms my heart to know that they have each other!

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) impacts more than half a million kids age 0-14 worldwide. Unlike type 2 diabetes, it has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. T1D is an autoimmune disease and management is extremely complex. Kids with T1D and their parents that care for them are truly heroes with special superpowers that help them combat T1D difficulties every minute of every day.

Bree Holtz, assistant professor in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations, and her team of MSU researchers hope to spread awareness of these extraordinary families through their Celebrate the Superhero in You social media campaign that runs the month of November for Diabetes Awareness Month. They are asking for all those impacted by T1D in some way to share a photo of their T1D fighting superpower and they will share it on their social media.

“The goal is to bring attention not only to diabetes in general, but to educate the public on the differences between type 1 and type 2 diabetes and highlight the kids in an uplifting way for their fierce courage of facing the extreme demands of managing type 1 diabetes,” said Holtz.

Sparrow Hospital’s Julie Dunneback, MSN, APRN, BC, CPNP, CDE, a nurse practitioner in the Pediatric Endocrinology Clinic and member of the research team is a big supporter of this campaign.

“Families that persist every day in providing the complicated management of type 1 diabetes are truly superheroes,” said Dunneback. “This campaign is aimed at supporting them and sharing their stories, as well as raising awareness about diabetes in our community.  This is a fun idea and it is so important to remind families that we recognize their day to day struggles and triumphs with T1D.”

T1D families are encouraged to contact Katie Murray with the MyT1DHero team with a photo of their T1D superhero powers (murra172@msu.edu) or use the hashtag #MyT1DHero on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

Check out our heroes:

By: Robert Perkins, kid with type 1 diabetes

The only reason I woke up on November 30, 2013, was because I fell out of my bed. It was Thanksgiving break and I had planned to do nothing all day. Little did I know that my day would spiral out of control.

Robert Perkins

I got up off the floor, walked down the hall to the family room and turned the computer on to play some games. Next thing I knew, my mom asked me to come see her. As I walked to the kitchen, everything was a blur. I noticed the rain drops tapping on the window but I felt very out of it.

My mom, who must have known something wasn’t right, pulled out a small, black case with something inside of it. It made an annoying, shaking noise, like a maraca. My mom pulled out a machine, a small bottle of strips, and a needle. She poked my finger with the needle and put the blood onto one of the strips and jammed it into the machine. The screen of the machine lit up orange and beeped. Five seconds later, the machine beeped again. It said “HI: OVER 600” in bold, black letters.

My mom rushed to the phone to call the doctor and about 10 minutes later we were on our way to the hospital. The ride was only a couple of minutes, but it felt like hours.

After the doctors examined me, they sent me to a pediatric hospital that was half an hour away in an ambulance. I couldn’t comprehend what was happening. On the ride there, the EMT poked my fingers every five minutes, even though it said the same thing every time “HI: OVER 600.”

Robert with his younger brother, Matthew

We got there around 2:00p.m. They took us to a large, loud room sectioned off with curtains. They would not let me eat until a lot of blood tests were performed, I was starving. A few hours later, my Dad and my little brother came to the hospital. That is when the doctors told me that I had Type 1 Diabetes.

Later that evening, I was transferred to a hospital room on the Children’s floor. Every door had a glass window painted with a different set of cartoon and movie characters. My door was decorated with a painting of Bugs Bunny. Finally, the nurse came in and delivered some food, but I couldn’t eat until after she poked my finger and gave me a needle filled with insulin. I hadn’t eaten since 9:30 that morning. Boy was I hungry! A turkey sandwich and a small bag of chips was all I was given and I ate it so fast that I didn’t taste any of it.

The next day, nurse educators came to my room to begin teaching me and my mom how to treat my disease. The entire day was spent learning how to manage my diabetes and how my life would change. It was overwhelming.

Robert playing guitar

Monday came and we were still in the hospital. The doctor told me that I had to stay until my blood sugar number came down into a safer range between 100 and 200. Finally, the doctor told me that I could go home.

Looking back, those three days changed the rest of my life. I remember it like it was yesterday but it feels like years and years ago. Even though my life will never be the same, my diabetes does not define me. It will not keep me from reaching my goals. It will not stop me from living a successful life. It will not keep me from being the best me I can be!

By: Johanna Murray, Journalism Major, Western Michigan University

Kathryn Finton walks into the classroom on the first day of class looking confident and excited. Her new students shuffle in after her quietly; I am one of them.

Johanna Murray, Western Michigan University

I notice a little box attached to the belt loop on her pants. It resembles that of a pager straight out of the 90s. In today’s setting, the pager sticks out, uncommon and foreign to college students of the 2000s.

Professor Finton introduces herself to the class, and introduces the pager attached to her hip as well. The pager turns out not to be a cool gadget from the 90s. Instead, a monitor to track her type 1 diabetes.

After a brief explanation of the little box, to cure the curious minds of her students, she continues on with the class. Her diabetes all but forgotten to the people listening to her words. However, for Professor Finton, her diabetes is something that is never forgotten.

I came to learn that the summer of her 12^th year was the beginning of a drastic change in her life. Finton and her younger sister had been wearing matching dresses to their grandparent’s house when her parents noticed that she looked too small in the dress that had fit her well not long before. She was also using the bathroom more frequently than normal. Worried, her parents took her to the hospital the next day.

Twenty pounds under weight, Kathryn was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Her mother, in tears, told her “everything is going to be okay.”

“It didn’t feel like everything was going to be okay,” said Finton.

Her doctor had to explain not only what type 1 diabetes was, but also attempt to explain what it would mean for her future. But nothing could have prepared a 12-year-old for a life so drastically different than the one she had before.

“Your life is going to be a lot harder than everybody else’s,” her mom had told her.

“That must have been awful,” said Finton about her mom having to help explain to her young daughter how her life would change.

After her diagnosis, Finton’s parents helped her with monitoring and taking care of her diabetes. The multiple shots of insulin each day created a lot of discomfort. Finton began taking responsibility for giving herself shots because she learned how to make them a little more comfortable for her. She said it was harder for her parents to know where to give shots so it hurt less, so she stepped up and took control of that small aspect of her diabetes. Her control only lasted for a few years though.

“I got towards the end of high school and didn’t want to take care of it anymore. It was a lot of work,” she said. “I went to college. And you know with college, things get a little out of control. I just wanted to be like everybody else.”

Going to college was a major change in Finton’s life and resulted in her rebelling against her T1D.

“I had a rough first semester of college. I was out of control and didn’t know how to fix it. Apparently that’s called diabetes burnout.”

Diabetes burnout is when a person diagnosed with diabetes has no regard for their blood sugar levels, doctor appointments, and medicine. They begin to ignore their condition and neglect their well-being. It is common amongst people after years of dealing with diabetes.

Finton was exhausted with the lifestyle that belonged to her now and rebelled away from the control she once had on her condition. Her health declined in every way. She was smoking cigarettes and not eating well. Finton expected to die by the time she was 30 years old. She was losing control, and losing hope.

“I made a promise to myself that if I was still okay by age 30 that I would quit smoking,” Finton said. “I quit cold turkey. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

Kathryn Finton with her mom and nieces

Her whole life changed when she quit smoking. She said, “Everything got brighter two weeks after quitting. Everything smelled better. I began to look healthier. I thought to myself, if I feel better doing this, I wonder what would happen if I really started paying attention to my diabetes.”

Finton began to meet with a nutritionist and went to the Borgess Diabetes Center for help handling her diabetes and overall health. She started tracking everything she ate, working out more frequently and really focusing on making sure her health came first. Her life took a complete turn for the better, and now she lives an extremely healthy life and has regained the control over her diabetes that she lost so many years ago.

“My doctor said to me that ‘something the doctors will never tell you is that they don’t really have this figured out.’ He said that he tried to live as a diabetic for one weekend and quit after one day. So if anyone tells you you’re not doing a good job, then they don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Finton explained that it can be hard to help people with type 1 diabetes.

“You can’t make them care. That has to be something they have to determine for themselves. You have to know that diabetes burnout exists. They’ll make it through, but it has to be their choice,” she said.

“Diabetes has to become one of your hobbies. You can’t make it a chore. You have to laugh at it sometimes. I call myself a dia-badass. You have to deal with issues that some people never even have to think of and I think that’s helped to make me a better and more empathetic person.”

By: Becky Causey, President, Diabetes Alert Dog Alliance

My interest in Diabetes Alert Dog (DAD) training stems from three of my friends who all have children with type 1 diabetes (T1D). I am a dog trainer and breeder, and I thought that it would be a great help to my friends if I could learn how to train their pet dogs to alert them in times of diabetes emergencies. After embarking on my quest to learn to train these service dogs, I realized that this was no easy feat, and the average pet dog wasn’t going to be able to perform in the way necessary to be a DAD. Despite the difficulty, I was fascinated by the process and took classes, read books, and tried to train some of my personal dogs. After a lot of trial-and-error, I finally successfully trained my first DAD.

That was an amazing moment, but the families are what really makes my job fulfilling. Knowing that I am providing life-saving assistance and furry companionship to these T1D families has made the process of DAD training a great joy for me. Imagine my surprise when, several years into the process, my own son, Mac, was admitted to the hospital ICU in Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) and diagnosed with type one diabetes. Although no one is ever prepared for a T1D diagnosis for their child, I had an army of friends and DAD client families there to support me. People are often surprised to hear that my DAD training began before T1D personally affected my family. I was dedicated before, but Mac’s diagnosis made me even more determined to train great DADs and help other families ease the burden of T1D.

Nothing is more frightening to someone with T1D, or their loved ones, than low blood sugar. We are expecting lows after gym class, after a run, or when a meal has been skipped. We pay attention for signs of shakiness, dizziness, and sweating, as we diligently check our glucometers or keep a watchful eye on CGMs. But because of those sneaky lows that come at unexpected times, or for a person who has hypoglycemic unawareness, there is always a worry in the backs of our minds. A furry friend who acts as a safety net and another level of protection can ease these worries.

Diabetes Alert Dogs are service dogs with full access to public places that are specifically trained to detect low (and sometimes high) blood sugar and alert either their handler or a parent for a very young child. The training for these dogs takes up to 2 years, and the costs average close to $20,000, but their ability to alert their person of life-threatening lows is priceless.

Mac goes off to college for his freshman year this fall with his service dog keeping a watchful eye on him. As a parent, knowing his DAD is accompanying him while he is away from home, puts me more at ease. As for me, I continue to train DADs, and am currently teaching and mentoring other professional trainers, to continue making a difference in the lives of people with T1D.

This past May, the Southeast Michigan chapter of JDRF held their annual TypeOneNation Summit.

This summit includes an all-day event for teens, called Teen Central. Michigan State University MyT1D Hero researchers held a writer’s workshop during the Teen Central Event. These teens were asked to share their type 1 diabetes stories to be highlighted on this blog!

Here are their heartfelt comments and stories:

My Advice to Parents

By: Maximilian

Living with Type 1 Diabetes is hard on any family. The new lifestyle can be overwhelming: learning how to give shots, learning how to feel when you have a low and learning everything else there is about diabetes.

Parents are trying to help us cope with diabetes by asking questions like “How’s your sugar?”, “Did you give insulin for everything you eat?” or “Why do you have a high blood sugar?” As a child grows, they don’t need to be asked constantly about it especially when they are in their teens. Once someone becomes a teen, they are slowly realizing the importance of good management and are becoming more responsible about it. If they are asked about it constantly, they start to get irritated. Parents should decrease the amount questions asked but every once in a while parents should ask their child questions about their diabetes. Also, kids should take more and more responsibility with their diabetes as they get older.

If they are newly diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when they are young, then parents should ask the questions constantly because children at a young age still don’t comprehend everything about diabetes. So, my advice is: parents continue with everything you are doing but once a child goes into their teens, decrease the questions because they have to take responsibility and parents aren’t always going to be around to help them.

T1D Kids Are Normal Too

By: Griffin

My name is Griffin and I have type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is hard, and if there is one thing I want the world to know about diabetes it would be that kids with diabetes are normal just like everybody else. We just have to do a little extra work to be healthy.

Take the Time to Listen

By: Isaac

The thing that I dislike about type 1 diabetes is that everyone thinks they know everything about diabetes, but they don’t because everyone is different. It makes it very difficult for teens to do what we like to do. For example: eating brownies. People think that we aren’t allowed to have sugar and that we aren’t allowed to eat food because pretty much everything has carbs. Some people try to be nice and get you sugar free chocolate but chocolate should melt when warm or it’s not edible and I really just want the brownie. I wish that people would take the time to listen to what you have to say instead of just assuming what you can and can’t have. You can have anything that you want as long as you correct for it. That’s what angers me is that people don’t take the time to listen to what you have to say and think they know what’s best for you.

Full of Hope for a Cure

By: Kate

It all started in June. You know that feeling when your stomach is hurting like crazy. Well that’s what I felt. I was sitting in my room watching Once Upon a Time, and then I just felt like throwing up. I told my mom, she said I was fine. I believed her. Later on during the day, I went to use the bathroom, and guess what, I was pooping green stuff. I was like what… Then the next day my mom took me to the doctor. My doctor came back with the horrifying news, I had type 1 diabetes. I was admitted to the hospital for 3 days. At the time, I didn’t know what diabetes was, but I knew something was wrong. I remember crying. From that moment on, I knew my life had changed forever.

When I told my best friend I had diabetes, she was chill. She told me her mom had prediabetes. So I figured she knew what I was going through. At the time she was in private school and I was in homeschool so I had no clue what was going on in school. Later on when I saw her, I found out that half the school knew I had it. I was embarrassed.

I’m in private school now. I have now explained my condition to my other friends. Whenever I have low sugar or high sugar, they always help me out. I have a typical normal 7^th grade life now. As any teenager, I have a crush, bullies, and best friends. I am happy to say I am just like any teenager in the world. Just full of hope for a cure.

I am the Brother of Someone with T1D

By: Anonymous

My brother was diagnosed about 9 months ago, and when I first found out I was really scared. Frankly, I was freaking out, but when Isaac needed help with his blood sugar, I went over and told him it was alright. Isaac was also scared but as his brother, I needed to help him.

Be Open and Compassionate to Others

By: Kathryn

I will have had diabetes for five years. I was 9 years old when I was diagnosed, and had no prior knowledge about T1D. I have many family members with type 2, but type 1 was a whole new world. After nine days in the hospital, and many “training sessions” with nurses and doctors, I understood how to care for myself and my blood sugars properly. Little did I know, there was still a whole road ahead, and a long one at that. Diabetes is a very personal issue, and what I mean by that is, there is no “normal” for T1D patients. You can’t make general statements about treatments, diagnosis stories, or any of our battles.

For me, low blood sugars are an extremely rare problem. I eat pretty healthy for an almost 14-year-old girl, I exercise pretty well, I bolus for all my carbs, and do correction boluses for any numbers over my target range. I get lots of activity; taking care of two horses every day, running with my dog, and in the summer I ride multiple horses almost every day at a training farm, so I’m in good shape. Yet, my numbers are still high. I recently switched to a pump, which has helped, but not as much as I had hoped. Every day I still struggle to keep my numbers down. The point I’m trying to make is that everyone has struggles with their diabetes. Don’t say, “Well you’re supposed to do this”, or, “You shouldn’t do that.”  We are all so different, and I think this is something the world needs to realize. Not only the friends, families, and team-members of people with type 1 diabetes, but the people with diabetes themselves. Don’t look down on others because of how they’re treating their diabetes, instead learn from it. How they are taking care of their numbers may not work for you, but still learn from it. Learn how they work differently than you do. If you participate in track and field, you talk to other people (coaches, team-mates, ect.) about how they are successful in their events, and it helps you become a better athlete. Do the same with your diabetes. Share stories and openly talk with others about your experiences. As T1D patients, we’re all stuck in the same boat, and all the questions, worry, uncertainty, pressure, and mental and physical pains that come with this disease try to sink that boat. But we can rise above it much easier if we all hold each other up.

Reaching out to others can be scary if you’re shy or new to diabetes, or even if you’re a confident, independent person who has had T1D for 10 years. But dare to expand your knowledge, help hold others up, help keep this boat that we’re all stuck in at the surface of the water, instead of letting it sink. The more we know about this disease, the more power we have over it.

The MSU researchers on the MyT1D Hero team thank all of our teens for their contributions to the blog. Sharing your thoughts and insights about type 1 diabetes helps us spread awareness!

By Amanda Bock

The events we experience as we age mold and shape us into the individuals we are. How, exactly, we let ourselves be molded and shaped is entirely up to us. In the words of Wayne W. Dyer, “With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.” There is always something positive to focus on in a situation, no matter how terrible it might seem. Looking back on my life so far, I can think of one distinct moment where I chose to grow and treat what happened as a gift.

In January 2010, when I was 9, my life took a 180 degree turn when I returned home from my first day back at school from winter break. I had been feeling off for quite some time. I was very thin, easily upset, and eating and drinking an extreme amount. My mom asked me to take a test, telling me to pee on a stick, which seemed very strange, but I did it.
I did not have the slightest idea why my mom was so worried when she saw the result show a dark purple color; a color not even shown on the test’s result diagram. As my mom went to call the hospital about the results, I remember going to sit by our family fireplace, eating a strawberry ice cream bar. My sister Annie sat next to me, a middle schooler at the time, and we talked about our first day back to school. My sister turned to me, realizing who mom was on the phone with, and said jokingly, “Wouldn’t it be funny if you had diabetes?” Little did she know that a couple hours later, I would be in the emergency room at the University of Michigan Hospital with the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus type one.

Sitting in the hospital later that night was terrifying. I still had very little idea of what was going on, and how this disease I was diagnosed with would affect me. My blood glucose had a reading of 855, which means I was nearly comatose. I was lucky to still be conscious, I was lucky to be alive. My mom was with me for the first night and helped keep me calm. Most of my hospital experience was a blur. All I seem to remember was how hungry I was the first night, as I hadn’t eaten anything since my strawberry ice cream. I became increasingly frustrated that the nurses wouldn’t give me any food. I understand now that they were waiting for my blood sugar to lower, but at the time it made me grumpy. My father came to the hospital on the second day to stay with me. He brought me a little stuffed dog that I named “Carmelo,” and allowed me to have chocolate cake for dinner. It may have seemed insignificant to him, but it was my way of rebelling against the strict diet I had to follow in the hospital. I spent a total of three days in the hospital learning what diabetes was, how I had to manage it, and how it would affect the rest of my life.

It was a massive life change for me and my entire family. I could no longer go about my day as a normal kid. All my food needed to be counted in carbohydrates and then calculated into an insulin injection. I had to constantly prick my finger and check my blood glucose every time I exercised or ate food. My whole family had to learn how to give injections. I had to learn to manage one of the hardest to control diseases and not let it stop me from participating in the same activities as the other kids my age. I soon went on a new type of equipment called an insulin pump, which replaced my syringe injections with an electronic device that administers my medication in a way similar to an IV. Within the first three years of having diabetes, I became almost completely independent with my treatment. I learned how food, medication, exercise, illness, weather, and hormones affect my blood glucose. I faced diabetes burnout, a form of depression people with diabetes often struggle with when the overwhelming task of management becomes too much.

The reality of my diagnosis was that life wasn’t going to be a cakewalk, and I had to learn that I was going to be different than others around me. I have dealt with pain and responsibility that very few people will ever endure. Yet, despite the struggles, hardships and downfalls, I have learned how to be independent and take care of my body. I have been able to understand the science behind my diabetes and how my choices impact my future. This has ultimately helped me develop a healthier lifestyle. I have learned what love is, by the patience and support my family has shown me. Being diagnosed with diabetes has caused me take on many responsibilities and helped me to gain understanding and maturity different than many kids my age. Diabetes has caused me to look at the bigger picture of life, to find silver linings, and to give everyone grace with their own personal struggles. My diabetes has even impacted my future, influencing the type of career I intend to pursue. I will be majoring in biochemistry to train for a career in technological advancements and research on diabetes to help others facing similar hardships.

Diabetes sucks, there is no other way to say it. What happened as a result of the hardships though, was a gift. I grew as an individual and learned lessons no textbook could ever teach. I have taken this life experience and made the choice to view it as a gift that will drive me to better the world for others.

By: Katie Murray, M.A., Outreach Specialist & Grant Project Manager, Michigan State University

Type 1 diabetes is a complicated disease. What works perfectly well for managing your blood sugars one day, may not work as well the next day. There are so many factors that play into the outcomes of blood sugar numbers: stress, eating, exercise, hormones, sleep, and on and on. People with type 1 diabetes often test their blood sugar six or more times per day to cope with these factors. Young people with type 1 diabetes often rely on the help of their parents for consistent management.

Katie Murray, M.A., Outreach Specialist and Grant Project Manager

All parents face a mountain of challenges. Just imagine puberty with any typical teenage son, who may be moody and reluctant to do what you have asked. This is difficult for everybody, but when you add type 1 diabetes into the mix, the outcomes of your teenage son disobeying could result in dire consequences: seizures, fainting and even hospitalizations.

Researchers at Michigan State University are developing a Michigan-based website for parents of children with type 1 diabetes, called MyT1D Hope. MyT1D Hope aims to provide support and reliable, up-to-date information to help parents ease the difficulties that accompany, not just puberty, but many stages and events in their child’s life. This includes milestones, such as being first diagnosed, starting middle school, and going away to college, as well as life events, such as camps, sports, driving, and even alcohol.

Accompanying the reliable information on the MyT1D Hope website is a Michigan-based Facebook support group. This group is a private and moderated space for Michigan parents who have a child with type 1 diabetes to connect with others in their community.

In focus groups conducted by the MSU team, parents have observed that although there are many good Facebook support groups, one that is for Michigan parents only would be helpful. One parent suggested how helpful it could be if they were traveling for sports to another part of the state and had forgotten something they needed for management, they could simply go into this group and see if anyone in the area could help them out.  Every time we share a load, the load becomes lighter.

We also hope that this Michigan-based support group will help individuals form networks with people near them that are facing the same challenges.

Development of the website will be complete in June 2017. Researchers will begin recruiting interested parents to test the website in June 2017 as well. For more information, contact Katie (517-884-8892 or murra172@msu.edu).

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