KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Erica Blanshan, 5, and sister Alexandra, 4, are diabetic. Above, the girls share a light moment with parents Shelly and William Blanshan.
Active family deals
with girls' diabetesLife at home revolves around
care for the Blanshans' daughters,
who are 5 and 4
Erica Blanshan wanted to be like her little sister, Alexandra, after she was diagnosed with juvenile (type 1) diabetes at 17 months of age.
She saw Alexandra testing her blood sugar and getting insulin shots and "wanted in on the action," said her mother, Shelly Blanshan.
Erica didn't understand that her sister had a serious, incurable disease requiring insulin injections for survival. But about eight months later, a month after her third birthday, Erica got her wish: She also was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.
Shelly and William Blanshan, a Navy petty officer, were devastated that both daughters had a life-threatening disease requiring constant management.
Family life in their Wahiawa home revolves around a rigid schedule involving frequent blood sugar tests, four insulin shots daily and occasional trips to the hospital for Alexandra, now 4, and Erica, 5.
KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
William gives Alexandra an insulin shot.
The family is taking an active role in trying to help find a cure for diabetes. The Blanshans were chosen to represent Hawaii June 21-25 at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International Children's Congress 2003 in Washington, D.C.
"Because their immune system is not as strong, they tend to get ill very easily," their mother said. "Erica had strep throat over Easter. We couldn't get her blood sugar to normal range and took her to ER."
Despite problems associated with highs and lows in their glucose level, she said, "We haven't had any major, major problems," such as seizures or comas.
She said the girls "are great, and I think it's because it's (diabetes) always been part of their lives."
However, she was aware that diabetic teenagers often rebel, and asked the diabetes educator when Alexandra was diagnosed what she and her husband could do to prevent that.
"She told me to stay very active in their care, even when they can take care of themselves. ... It doesn't make them feel they have to take the whole responsibility on themselves. ... That's what we plan to do."
William Blanshan was in the Marine Corps in Virginia when Alexandra first became ill. "She was wetting her bed really bad and wanting to drink something all the time," he said. "She got really lethargic. She was having trouble breathing."
Taken to Dewitt Army Hospital at Fort Belvoir, Va., "she was so dehydrated they couldn't get any blood out of her (to test)," Blanshan said.
"They swore up and down when we went to the emergency room that she had a rare form of pneumonia that didn't show up on the X-ray," Shelly Blanshan said. "They finally got a specialist in there who was able to get blood from her and get tests."
Diagnosed with diabetes, the child was taken by ambulance to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where she was in the intensive care unit about three days and another week in the pediatric ward.
About eight months later, Erica's mother became suspicious when the child was always thirsty and frequently going to the bathroom -- major symptoms of diabetes. A blood sugar test confirmed her fears. She was then with her family in South Bend, Ind., while her husband, a communications specialist, was attending school at a duty station in California.
They had been stationed in Hawaii from 1993 to 1996 and were transferred here again two years ago with the Navy.
Erica is in kindergarten at Wahiawa Elementary School, and Alexandra will enroll there next year. It's not their district, but the school they were supposed to go to (Helemano Elementary) has no nurses, Blanshan said.
"They wanted me to come to school every single day and test her blood sugar and give her a shot," his wife said.
She said Wahiawa Elementary's registered nurse tests Erica's blood glucose level at lunchtime, prepares the insulin and supervises the child while she gives herself the shot.
A problem arose recently because Erica wasn't allowed to buy juice at recess because of the sugar, she said. "We provide her with snacks, but she wanted to be normal and buy juice like the other kids. We allowed her to do that, to be normal, and we adjust her insulin."
The family sticks diligently to a daily schedule -- up at 5:45 a.m. for blood sugar tests, insulin shots and breakfast within half an hour, Shelly Blanshan said.
If they don't adhere to a meal and bedtime schedule, even on weekends, she said, "there definitely are some consequences, generally a drastic change in blood sugar." Both children can check their blood sugar, although they're not too good yet at interpreting the numbers, she said.
"They just surprise me every day with how much they know about their own bodies. We're at the doctor's office a lot. ... They're little sponges. I explain everything to them and they absorb it."
Blanshan said the girls "do pretty well, but they are kind of tired of their shots" and their blood sugar readings "are all over the place." They want to go on an insulin pump, he said.
This is a pager-size device, worn or carried, that's filled with insulin. It's delivered to the body by a thin tube with a soft needle inserted just under the skin. It involves only one injection every two or three days instead of daily injections.
Shelly, who works Saturday mornings for an orthodontist and takes calls for NurseFinders at home after hours on weekdays, said the family hopes to try out the pumps on the children to obtain more flexibility and spontaneity.
"Because they're kids, it's so hard to keep them on schedule. If they don't feel like eating and they're on the pump, it's OK, and if they want to sleep in on weekends like other kids, they can."
She said the girls love the beach, the zoo, riding their bikes and roller-blading.
The Blanshans belong to a juvenile diabetes support group at Tripler, and they participate in the annual Walk to Cure Diabetes. Shelly also is a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation volunteer.
