Help Parker's family manage his Type 1 Diabetes

Hi everyone! My name is Scott, I'm a filmmaker in Calgary and I'm raising money for my sister's family to help with their baby's recent Diabetes diagnosis.

Last week, her 1-year-old son Parker spent several days in the hospital. He was eventually diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease that comes on suddenly, and has nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. At 15 months old, he's the youngest many of his doctors had ever seen with the illness.

I made a film last year about Diabetes, and through that experience I saw firsthand the terrible burden this complicated disease places on the people who have it, as well as their families. Managing it is a full time job. You have to always be counting your carbs, calculating the insulin needed to balance out your sugars, and dealing with the myriad of effects of high or low blood sugar. Type 1 can be especially difficult, with the danger of going "low", which can lead to seizures and even death.

Managing a baby's diabetes is even more challenging, because you can't guarantee how much he'll eat and he can't tell you how he's feeling. Luckily, Parker's parents are extremely competent and loving people. They're already learning so fast, and are working so hard to figure everything out. I have no doubt they'll do whatever they need to do to make sure Parker grows up healthy and happy.

But Diabetes also comes with a price tag — up to thousands of dollars every year, forever.

People with Diabetes need several different medications and all of the infrastructure surrounding those medication (like insulin pens, glucagon nasal powder). They need glucose monitors and all of the test strips/sensors/lancets to check blood sugars multiple times every day. Parker will get sick and his parents will need to take time off work to help him. There will be hospital visits and all of the sacrifices/costs that come with those.

With your help, I'd like to start a fund that will ease this financial burden. A fund that will help them with their initial set up (medications, glucose monitors, a phone he'll have to have with him, etc.), and something they can draw from over the years to help take the edge off a costly, exhausting disease.

Parker will always have Diabetes, but together, we can help his family live a (closer to) normal life.

Thanks for taking the time to read Parker's story. Please join me in supporting his family, and please share this with your networks. Every little bit helps!