You Have To Fight For It

  This is a story about Megan Sawyer. You may not have heard of her but, I can assure you, she is just about the sweetest young lady who ever walked the face of this planet. Of course, I may be just a teeny bit biased because she is also my granddaughter.

  Megan was born on December 30th, 1997 and she began life as a typical very healthy baby, very active, extremely alert. In the summer of 1999, her mother, Vanessa, had told us that Megan seemed to have been drinking excessive amounts of liquid over a period of several days.. My wife, Joy, advised her to take Megan to the doctor and have her checked for diabetes. So, her father, Doug, took her to the doctor. Later, he called to say that the doctor had confirmed that Megan  did indeed have Type 1 diabetes. She was then transferred straight to the hospital where she spent several days while they gathered all the vital statistics and prepared her for the ordeals to come. That was the beginning of a long story, a story of how diabetes can affect one young life.

  This news about the diabetes caused the Sawyer family to shift gears and enter a new phase in life. Doug and Vanessa had to go back to school to learn about caring for a daughter with Type 1 diabetes. A lot had to be learned. Her blood sugar had to be taken every few hours around the clock, insulin values computed and shots given to correct the blood sugar . This became the schedule for the foreseeable future until one day when a cure for Type1 diabetes will be found.

  Vanessa linked up with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and became a very active participant in the South Sound chapter. Megan learned to cope with her new regimen in very short order and it became a new feature in her life.

  Vanessa used to talk at fundraisers to banks and other companies and would frequently take Megan with her. For her part, Megan liked to participate also and, at 5 or 6 years old, she would get up and say a few words. Pretty soon, the few words grew and grew and before long she would, if allowed, give a whole speech.

  JDRF also organizes the South Sound Walk To Cure Diabetes, a yearly event in May. This is a five mile walk, now held in downtown Tacoma and is a major fundraiser for the cause. A team called Megan's Mighty Marchers was formed to take part in the event and raise money for diabetes research. The MMM team of members has now grown over the years to be a larger body of people and for several years in a row, it had been the team to raise the second largest amount of money of all the teams. Megan had a lot to do with all of this. In the early days, she was pushed in her stroller around the course of the event. Nowadays, she and her friends form a considerable component of  the walkers. For a couple of years, she was also an Ambassador for the Walk.

  When Megan was three years old, she was typically having 5, 6 or more insulin shots a day. She asked her Mum to show her how to do the shots. Then, she began giving herself the shots. She did not then know how to calculate the size of the shots, but that would come in another couple of years. She was then showing that she wanted to do it all for herself......she was fighting for it.
 She does not have to give herself shots any more as she now has an insulin pump fitted. The location of this pump  on her body has to be changed every three days but, naturally, she can do this herself. After each time she eats, she calculates the amount of insulin required to cover the food and drink, checks the value with Mom, dials in the value, presses a button and in goes the insulin
  She goes to a diabetes camp every year at Camp Leo. Here, all the diabetic children and young adults get together to play, learn and compare notes. The spirit of camaraderie is tremendous. It seems they are all lit by the same flame and they all benefit from it. They are all in the same fight.

  I think that the fact that Megan has diabetes may make her even more competitive. She gets very upset with herself if her grades slip at all. She also competes in just about every sport. Whether it be track, soccer, basketball, softball, lacrosse, she is in them all and she is good at them all. She is also an awesome skier, water skier and swimmer. Recently, she competed in the Middle School District Track Meet. She is a very fast sprinter but there was one girl, a good friend of hers, who she could just not seem to beat in the 100 meters sprint. She went into Route 16 Running and Walking and had some coaching advice from Miguel Galeana and Alexa Martin. Apparently, the next day at the track before the race, the renewed determination could be seen in her eyes. Time for the race, and she blasted out of the starting blocks and down the straight to win the event. She had again fought for it.

  It seems that what had been the handicap of the diabetes has become the pendulum that drives her very mechanism. Like a pendulum in a clock, it provides the energy which makes her tick. It all happens in her subconscious but I see it as the driving force within her.
  The fact that she has one more hurdle to cross, one more hill to climb than her compatriots seems to make her fight extra hard for everything.
  We began to realize early on that Megan was a fighter and she has maintained that attitude all of her young life. She will not let the diabetes hold her back.

  How many times have we heard someone say "Why did God let this happen to me?" This question must have been answered in thousands of pulpits around the world, and yet I have never heard a convincing answer.
  I believe the story of Megan can provide an answer, even if not the only one. As I have said, Megan is a fighter. She may be a fighter naturally but I am sure that the diabetes has strengthened this urge. It has made her more competitive and it has also made her a winner, a guaranteed winner. So, in answer to the question "Why did He allow this to happen to me?", she could say "So that I can be an example to others, so that I can become a champion".

  To return to the subject of diabetes, there will also be an answer. In time, the cure will come. There are now many, many people fighting to find it and there are also now many champions. It is just a question of time.  The fight goes on.

  Postscript:- Megan is now 15 and continues her life as normal. She now is going to Camp Leo as a counselor and so will now pass on to other youngsters the knowledge she has gained in managing Type 1 diabetes. As I said, the fight goes on.