On September 28th, our five-year-old son, Lael, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). He was admitted into the hospital with a blood glucose level of over 500 mg/dL, which is 7x higher than what is normal. He was released the following day and grateful to return home to be with his family. Unfortunately, things would never return to “normal” for him because he had to be treated with “finger pokes” to test his blood glucose levels and shots to inject the insulin that keeps him alive.

Of course, Lael cannot understand the nature of his disease, nor the absolute necessity of being poked and prodded. There is no way to convey how much receiving his insulin shots and blood sugar finger pokes traumatize him (Please feel free to reference the video below to see a mild example of what happens five to six times a day in our home). Every shot requires both Shalyn and myself to pin him down, while he screams at us, to administer the shot. 


Lael frequently asks us, “Mommy, why do you want to hurt me? Why do you want to be a bad guy?” and “Mommy, I will be a good boy, please don’t give me a shot or poke my finger and make blood come out.” If you are a parent, I am sure you can appreciate how heartbreaking this is for us to do to our son. He cannot begin to understand, but we constantly reinforce that he is not being punished, that he’s a good boy, and that we are only doing this to help keep him healthy and strong.

We found out on Friday that it’ll take AT LEAST 6 months before the insurance will cover either a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) or an Insulin Pump. 

The CGM that we want for Lael is called the Dexcom G6 and it tests his blood sugars every five minutes and sends warnings and data to our phones so that we can make informed decisions about how to treat Lael’s blood glucose levels. We bought one for the first month and it cost over $450. However, this device gives us a great deal of comfort as parents because we can head off Lows before they occur and treat Highs as they occur. Low blood sugars are very dangerous because they could cause Lael to fall into an insulin-induced coma or seizures and possibly pass away. Untreated highs can have the same effect due to different reasons. Lael LOVES his CGM because it means that he doesn’t have to have his fingers poked anymore. If you see him, he loves to show off his CGM and exclaim, “I got a CGM and I don’t have to get my fingers poked! I love it!”


The Insulin Pump that we’d like to buy for Lael is the OmniPod. It is a tubeless, waterproof device that will be attached to Lael’s arm. It will free Lael from EVER receiving a shot as long as we can pay for the OmniPod system. I cannot begin to emphasize what a difference this would make to Lael’s life and the strain that we experience as parents.


So, we are asking friends, family, and anyone else moved by our son’s pain to help us offset the initial 6 months while we work with his doctors and insurance company to cover these devices. We do not want to put Lael through 6 months of fear and hurt if we can get the CGM and Insulin Pump for him.

So, we are looking to raise $4,300 to cover 6 months of the Dexcom G6 (CGM) and the OmniPod (Insulin Pump). I’ll break down the numbers below:

6 Months of the Dexcom G6 Sensors: $1728.60

6 Months of the Dexcom G6 Transmitters: $251.76

1x Dexcom G6 Receiver: $206.76

6 Months of the Dexcom G6 Supplies: $2187.12


6 Months of the OmniPod Units: $1794.00

1x OmniPod Personal Diabetes Manager: $300

6 Months of the OmniPod Supplies: $2094.00


Total Cost of 6 Months Supplies: $4281.12

As a parent, I ask that you help my son receive the best possible treatment for his Type 1 Diabetes. This has been a heartbreaking diagnosis for our son and your help can alleviate our worries about how we are going to get our son the tools he needs to lead a happy, healthy, and safe life.


Michael & Shalyn VanderMeer