Portraits from a Lifetime of Diabetes

When my nine year old son, Case, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes almost six years ago, I was painfully overwhelmed, numb from not sleeping because he might go low during the night, but most of all, extremely sad.  I was sad for so many reasons.  I remember one morning, shortly after he was diagnosed,  I was walking towards him to give his shot when he started to back away, which led to running away, around and around the house.

Later, I would see Type 1 advertising of photographs with people smiling big, joyous smiles, sparkly eyes, and exuding vibrant energy.  I thought "are you kidding me?" It's just not that easy.  When we first went to the clinic to learn how to take care of Case, I looked around for other kids who might have Type 1 - even photos on the walls - something that would give me encouragement for a future. Any future, I just wanted to know he would live. I didn't see anyone, or any photos, but our nurse told us about her son. Her son was sixteen and playing football among many other life pursuits.  I was so relieved she shared her personal life with us.  After the first year, I learned how to sleep again at night albeit with an alarm clock to wake us to check him. I also learned Case could do everything, if it was planned well. 

When I started this photography project "A Lifetime of Diabetes," my intent was to donate portraits of children and teens to the clinic where we receive treatment to encourage and relieve other families in the same situation we were in upon diagnoses. I started by photographing those in our support group and then continued with our diabetes community here in Denver.  While working, I grew the initial idea when I realized I especially wanted to SHOW what our life and the lives of others with diabetes was really like.  

Sure, we can do it all but there is an enormous amount of work behind the scenes that I wanted to expose in order to educate others. Most importantly, I wanted to create a connection with parents of Type 1 children and those who have Type 1 to unify our private lives and show it's just not that easy and we are all struggling with similar nuances of diabetes while hoping to achieve a fulfilling and happy life.