The Nexus

When Christian Ward (10) was 12 years old, the doctor gave him news that would change his life forever. It was November of 2007, and Ward sat in a plastic-covered chair at Children’s Hospital, unable to comprehend the news he had just received.

Stunned, Ward could only sit there and wait, while his mom called his dad, telling him to come to the hospital immediately.

For the past couple of weeks, Ward had been having trouble sleeping, and had been extremely thirsty. However, Ward thought it was only a growth spurt. But to be safe, Ward’s mom took him to the doctor.

At the hospital, after running through a few blood and urine tests, the doctor discovered Ward‘s blood sugar level was 500. An average person’s blood sugar is 100; leading to one conclusion, Ward had type 1 diabetes.

Hearing his diagnosis, Ward broke down crying, not knowing what was going to happen.

With no family history of the disease, and no knowledge of what it meant to be diabetic. Ward was shocked.

“I just thought, ‘what do I do now, what’s going to happen,’ Ward said. “I thought I would have to have surgery.”

Now, two years later, Ward reaches into his backpack every meal, pulling out what appears to be a palm pilot.

As he eats, he punches in the number of carbohydrates he is consuming. Ward does this to make sure his blood sugar is close to normal.

His insulin pump, hidden under his sleeve and attached to his arm, gives him the insulin he needs to balance out the carbohydrates he consumes, thus ensuring that his blood sugar isn’t too low or too high.

Ward’s friends barely notice that he tallies the carbs he consumes anymore. After all Ward, is fairly open about his diabetes although he said it was a little awkward at first.

“I’m not afraid to tell people I have diabetes,” Ward said. “I like it when [my friends are informed] because there are some health risks they can help me with; like sometimes it’s really obvious for someone else to tell when I’m low even when I can’t tell.”

Ward now is an expert on diabetes. When he was first diagnosed, he had to stay in the hospital for three days in order to learn the skills necessary to monitor his diabetes.

Ward can now tell when his blood sugar is too high or low by the shaky feelings he gets. Or the fact that for every 10 carbohydrates he eats he needs to take one unit of insulin.

“Diabetes affects everything I do,” Ward said. “When I eat anything I have to check it. If my blood sugar is too high or low I have to stop what I’m doing and make sure it’s okay.”

Ward has to check his blood five through seven times a day. Although it’s a nuisance he accepts it as something he has to do. However, Ward said that it’s a lot better than when he was first diagnosed and had to check his blood sugar every two hours.

Ward’s ultimate goal is to spread awareness about diabetes and help find a cure. He is participating in a walk this November at UCSD where there will be fundraising for a cure.

“I really underestimated how diabetes would affect my life and I want to get it out there so everyone understands we need a cure,” Ward said. “There are a lot of younger kids who have diabetes, since Type 1 is juvenile diabetes, and we need to put an end to it.”