Taylor’s Story

Taylor Sharpe, 12, is an avid dancer and very active pre-teen. So when she was tired and didn’t feel well during a spring break trip in March 2020, her parents, Greg and Amy, assumed she had a garden-variety virus. 

When she returned home, Amy took Taylor to their family doctor. Amy was beyond shocked when they were told to go to the ER because Taylor’s blood glucose was sky high. There, they learned that Taylor was the latest member of the club no one wants to join—a newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetic. 

Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) comprises about five to 10 percent of all diabetes cases in the U.S. Many are familiar with the more common Type 2, which happens when a person’s body can't effectively use insulin and may be caused by poor diet and exercise. By contrast, T1D is an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks the pancreas and quits producing insulin. In order for Type 1 diabetics to metabolize food, insulin must come from an injection or a pump attached to the body. 

All of this happened to Taylor’s family during the second weekend in March of 2020. The same weekend, COVID-19 made its way into the U.S. and the country, effectively, shut down. This meant all follow-up doctor visits—where normally someone would be showing Taylor in person how to check her glucose levels, inject insulin and use her continuous glucose monitor and insulin pump—were done virtually.

In other words, everything a Type 1 diabetic NEEDS to know to literally keep themselves alive was taught remotely. Amy said the entire ordeal was, and continues to be, difficult to deal with, though Taylor has taken to it like a duck to water—much better than her parents have. 

Additionally, Taylor was diagnosed with Celiac disease in April 2020, a condition that can sometimes overlap with T1D and means Taylor must avoid gluten to stay healthy. Taylor celebrated her 12th birthday in November with a gluten-free cake, because kids should still be able to be kids, even when they have T1D. There was just a bit more planning that went into eating her birthday cake this year.