Looking back over the last year it’s hard to believe how much has changed. This time last year we were in Florida for Kendal’s games, watching her suffer in severe pain from recurrent pancreatitis bouts – followed by flying home early off a cruise to meet up with her at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. It really was at this time last year we knew something had to change as she just wasn’t going to be able to continue mentally or physically with the severity and frequency of the attacks.

This year (a couple weeks into the softball season)- she has already surpassed her stolen base amount from last season as well as the number of doubles she hit. It just goes to show how much healthier she is and how much stronger she is. I think we’ve transitioned from the roller coaster to the Merry-Go-Round. There are still lots of ups and downs, but life in general is as close to normal as it was 5 years ago before the nightmare started.

For the most part, she has figured out the diabetes thing & has been doing amazing with it. Her last A1C was 5.6 %- basically consistent with someone that does not have diabetes. (this means she’s controlling it well, not that she is non-diabetic). Learning how her blood sugar adjusts to the heat and to taking prednisone has been a bit of a challenge this past week but it’s just part of the learning curve.

As for the transplanted islet cells. Some are definitely working as she is at the lower end of insulin need. We talked about oral meds at the last appointment & short answer is those medications have not really been studied in TPIAT patients yet so who know what the future may hold as far as medications, but for now she continues with the pump.
We are so thankful for all that have supported her and prayed for her. It’s been a very tough 5 years, but one thing is for sure – she is crazy fierce & no doubt God has amazing things in store for her future!