Aria’s Type 1 Diabetes Medical Expenses

Aloha dearest family & friends,

With heavy hearts, we share with you something that has changed our lives forever.

On September 7th, 2023, only a week after her 8th birthday, we received the devastating news that our sweetheart, Aria, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

Type 1 is not to be confused with the more commonly known Type 2 Diabetes. Type 2 is mostly diet-related and develops over time, whereas, Type 1 is an incurable autoimmune disease that Aria must live with for the rest of her life.

After her diagnosis, we rushed to bring down her blood glucose level which was 700 (normal range is 80 to 150). Once she was stabilized, we flew to Oahu where Aria was admitted to Kapiolani Children’s Hospital Carter’s unit where she stayed for 2 days.

Back home on Kauai, we’re trying to adjust to our new “normal”. Aria must endure constant finger/toe pricking, glucose checking and injections on her arms, legs and stomach. Being a child that is deathly afraid of needles, getting poked 10+ times a day is pure torture, but she bravely picks out where she wants the pokes and jabs and allows us to check her and administer her meds.

You’d think being poked and prodded would be the hardest part of this whole situation but Aria breaks down crying more so around mealtimes. Being raised in Hawai’i, where culture and tradition are strong, we associate food with happiness, good memories and fellowship. Mealtimes are now a negative thing. We must meticulously count each carb and monitor everything she eats and drinks. For majority of her meals, we’ll deny her requests for sweets so she can use the carbs for more healthy, filling foods. She’ll break down crying, all the while begging for an answer to her complicated question, “why me?”

In addition to these lifestyle changes, we also have a heavy financial burden thrust upon us. We are fortunate that insurance covers most of the expenses and hospital stay but it doesn’t cover everything. We’d like to purchase a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) and Insulin Pump to drastically lessen the amount of necessary poking. We’d also like to purchase a Diabetic Alert Dog that is highly-trained to sense when Aria’s BG is going to drop or rise before it happens. This will alleviate a lot of anxiety and loss of sleep as she sleeps throughout the night.

Since we are firm believers that with God all things are possible, we humbly ask that you send prayers for Aria and our ohana. We understand that times are tough so any donation, big or a small, is a huge blessing. It’s going to be a long road but we’re grateful we caught it before anything terrible happened and that we live in a time where these life saving devices will help Aria live a long, happy life.

Mahalo nui loa,

Lot & Cheyenne Sarsona (parents)