Meet Type 1

This is TJ. I had the honor of photographing him and his family for a half-day in the life. These documentary sessions don't just provide you with tangible memories you can hang on the wall, they also tell your story. At first glance. you wouldn't be able to see the kinds of things this sweet boy has to go through every minute of his day and night.

TJ is a smart, high energy, sweet, thoughtful, "will-climb-anything" little boy. He will welcome you and instantly become your best friend. He loves school, loves to read, picks flowers for his mom, and takes good care of his pet guinea pig. He listens to his parents rules and he loves church. TJ also has type one diabetes.

He has a device in his arm and It's called a Dexcom, continuous glucose monitor (or CGM). It checks his blood sugar every 5 minutes. It is connected to wifi and to his phone device and phone which connect to mom and dad's phones. He has an insulin pump in his fanny pack that they deliver insulin through.

As they were making dinner he was excited because he could eat as much pepperoni as he wanted- no carbs!

Mom and Dad have to always be prepared. After some park play, TJ was low and they pulled out this juice box to help. But, they had to be careful little brother didn't see or he would have wanted one too ;) That isn't a smart phone sitting by dad, that's the Dexcom receiver. It talks to the chip on TJ's arm. The Dexcom receiver uses bluetooth to communicate his sugar to his phone which sends the information to his parents. They always had one near them.

Since he was still low after the park, he had a marshmallow snack before getting ready for bed. Despite the amount of worry and stress they have to handle on a daily basis, they are still a fun, silly, and laid-back family.

As they headed to bed, TJ crawled to the hallway and sat like this and just said "I feel low".

Type one diabetics can only live 3 days without insulin. It's a life threatening disease. And you have to act fast.

Type one is an auto immune disease and has nothing to do with poor eating choices. TJ got it at 15 months. Some people think you get type one diabetes because you eat too many sweets. But he had just been weaned off breastmilk at that point. His body turned on him and attacked the insulin producing cells in his pancreas.

Here are the symptoms you may want to get checked for type one:

Extreme (new vampire type/unquenchable) thirst Lethargic/Fatigue Frequent Urination Weight loss Blurry vision Hunger Nausea/Vomiting Fruity odor to breath (like they just ate fruit snacks)