The start of a new school year can be stressful for any family. But when your child has a chronic health problem, it's even more challenging.
Type 1 diabetes affects one out of every 500 school-aged children -- and Ethan Rass is one of them.
The Beverly Hills 8-year-old was diagnosed when he was in kindergarten. It was during a Halloween party that his parents noticed a red flag.
"He was constantly drinking and going to the restroom, so we just knew that something was off," said Ethan's dad, Eric.
The day after the party, Ethan said he started to feel sick. At a hospital, his blood sugar tested at more than 500.
"After we got to the hospital and I was in my room, they said, 'We think you have diabetes,'" Ethan said.
The diagnosis meant Ethan's body was no longer producing insulin, and he would have to deal with replacing it for the rest of his life.
The family said they felt overwhelmed, shock and sadness, but they had no choice but to learn a new lifestyle.
"How to poke his finger, check his blood sugar, how to count carbs, correction factors, carb ratios. It's a lot to take in," Eric Rass said.
And while Ethan quickly learned a routine to manage his disease, the family was worried to send him back to school.
"That's one of your first reactions if you have school-age kids. What am I going to do? How can I send my kids to school with this? I barely understand it," Eric Rass said.
Dr. Julie Surhigh, a pediatric endocrinologist at Beaumont Children's Hospital, said it's not enough to rely on a school nurse's knowledge because many of them have been eliminated in a growing number of districts.
"It's often the secretary in the office or some other administrative person that's doing the diabetes care at the school," Surhigh said.
Oftentimes, Surhigh said, parents will go into the school to teach school staff what needs to be done. But this fall, they'll have a new tool.
Beaumont has partnered with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) to produce a video that can be viewed by staff to teach them about caring for students who have Type 1 diabetes.
"A student's teacher each year could watch the video. A student's specials teacher, the gym teacher, the music teacher, the art teacher, can all watch the video. The family can have the video as a resource as the student moves on and progresses from grade to grade, from school to school," Surhigh said.
The video has been sent to every school in Oakland County, given out to diabetes patients at Beaumont Hospital to share with their schools in other counties, and is available online.
"Anyone can be taught to care for a child with diabetes. It does just take some training and some education," Surhigh said.
Ethan is also determined to find a cure. In three years, his JDRF team has raised more than $30,000 at the annual JDRF One Walk. He's also a junior ambassador for the JDRF and educates others about his disease.
Resources:
- To support Ethan's "Team Rass," click here.