Jack’s Journey At Niagara Health
When six-year-old Jack began feeling sick during the fall and winter months last year, his parents, Bryan and Stephanie, weren’t entirely surprised. After all, the holiday season, with its twinkling lights and delicious treats, is also the season when illness seems to be everywhere. And yet, something wasn’t right.
“Jack and his sister would get the same cold but Makenna would bounce back really quickly, and Jack just wouldn’t.” All throughout last fall, Jack would get sick. “He was bedridden for weeks at a time,” his mom remembers. “He would just lie on the couch and couldn’t keep any food down. He lost about 15 – 17 pounds,” Stephanie says. While friends and family assured her that this was just a phase and that he was okay, deep down, she knew something was wrong. Eventually, Jack returned to school but only a few days later, his parents started seeing new symptoms. They called their family doctor who ordered a blood test.
The results would forever change the lives of the Fort Erie family.
“LifeLabs called me within only 12 hours of Jack taking that test,” Bryan remembers. “The lab called, the family doctor called, and they all said the same thing: go straight to the hospital. Jack’s blood sugar is through the roof, and he is going into a diabetic coma.”
“Diabetic ketoacidosis” is one of the many new terms Jack’s family learned over the past year. It is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body starts breaking down fat at a rate that is much too fast. “We went to the emergency department in St. Catharines,” Stephanie explains, “and they had everything set up for us and ready to go. They knew we were coming, and our family doctor had given us Jack’s lab reports, so thankfully, they took us right in.”
“Shortly after we got to the emergency department, Jack was admitted to the Children’s Health Unit, and even though we knew that they would test him for diabetes and that all the signs were pointing to that diagnosis, we were still hoping that it was all just a fluke and that his sugar would go back to normal.”
It is difficult for Bryan and Stephanie to think back to those long, straining days of taking turns staying with Jack at the hospital and being at home with his little sister. After three days, Jack’s medical team confirmed the diagnosis: type 1 diabetes. When they left the room, Jack turned to his mom and asked, “Mom, when can I stop taking the needles? When can I go home and stop?”
During all those weeks and months, this moment was the hardest for Jack’s parents—the moment when they had to break his heart.
“We had to sit down with him and explain that this is not something that’s ever going to stop,” Stephanie remembers. “To see the look on his face when he realized that the life he had before was going to be completely different… it was awful.” With every word Jack’s parents said to him, the reality sunk in that needles would forever be a part of his life. “He rolled on his side, faced away from us and cried,” Bryan says. “It was horrible.”
To see the look on his face when he realized that the life he had before was going to be completely different… it was awful.
The Children’s Health Unit team did everything in their power to lift Jack’s spirits. “I wouldn’t want to do that job,” Stephanie admits. “Having to tell a child that he’s going to have shots for the rest of his life at an age where he can’t understand yet that this is not their fault. To see them be so kind, even at times when he couldn’t be – it was amazing to see.”
A team member from the diabetic education centre explained diabetes to Jack in a way he could grasp, and while it helped him gain a better understanding of his disease, he was still quite sad by the time he was discharged. “He was still pretty down,” says Stephanie, “and then we were only home for about five or six days before he got a fever and started having ketones in his blood, an indication that his body was again starting to use fats as an energy source. So we went back to the hospital, and he was readmitted with Influenza B.”
To ensure Jack had not developed pneumonia, he was sent for an x-ray, and his parents remember him being inconsolable. “They were trying to get him into the wheelchair for the chest x-ray, and he was just sobbing,” Stephanie remembers. “It was so sad, and it turned out that he did have pneumonia, but when we returned to the room, there was a stuffed dinosaur on the bed, and they had written down a joke. There was a Lego kit, and prizes were hidden all around the room for him. It just… it was so good to see him smile, and the Children’s Health Unit team did that for him. It was just what he needed in that moment.”
Those small things really matter, Bryan adds. “Things like that bridge the gap. Being a kid, he blamed the medical professionals for what was happening to him and what he had to go through. So those small gestures and gifts showed him that they were on the same team.”
About one year has passed since Jack’s diagnosis, and his family has adjusted well. A celiac disease diagnosis, in addition to his diabetes, has added another layer of difficulty; yet, Jack’s parents are grateful for the ongoing support the hospital continues to provide. “His diabetic team is wonderful. Whenever I have a question, they are only an email away, which is very reassuring for us,” Stephanie explains.
The past year has been a journey for Jack and his family, and while Jack would prefer to stay far away from hospitals from now on, he was happy to share his experience with our donors and the community. “He said if it helps the Children’s Health Unit, then he is all in,” his mom smiles.
“I have been telling Jack this Christopher Reeve quote since his diagnosis: ‘A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming circumstances.’ I believe Jack is a hero and I believe when Jack was at the hospital in a tiny little hospital room on the fourth floor, the Niagara Health staff were heroes, too.”
Jack’s Journey At Niagara Health
When six-year-old Jack began feeling sick during the fall and winter months last year, his parents, Bryan and Stephanie, weren’t entirely surprised. After all, the holiday season, with its twinkling lights and delicious treats, is also the season when illness seems to be everywhere. And yet, something wasn’t right.
“Jack and his sister would get the same cold but Makenna would bounce back really quickly, and Jack just wouldn’t.” All throughout last fall, Jack would get sick. “He was bedridden for weeks at a time,” his mom remembers. “He would just lie on the couch and couldn’t keep any food down. He lost about 15 – 17 pounds,” Stephanie says. While friends and family assured her that this was just a phase and that he was okay, deep down, she knew something was wrong. Eventually, Jack returned to school but only a few days later, his parents started seeing new symptoms. They called their family doctor who ordered a blood test.
The results would forever change the lives of the Fort Erie family.
“LifeLabs called me within only 12 hours of Jack taking that test,” Bryan remembers. “The lab called, the family doctor called, and they all said the same thing: go straight to the hospital. Jack’s blood sugar is through the roof, and he is going into a diabetic coma.”
“Diabetic ketoacidosis” is one of the many new terms Jack’s family learned over the past year. It is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body starts breaking down fat at a rate that is much too fast. “We went to the emergency department in St. Catharines,” Stephanie explains, “and they had everything set up for us and ready to go. They knew we were coming, and our family doctor had given us Jack’s lab reports, so thankfully, they took us right in.”
“Shortly after we got to the emergency department, Jack was admitted to the Children’s Health Unit, and even though we knew that they would test him for diabetes and that all the signs were pointing to that diagnosis, we were still hoping that it was all just a fluke and that his sugar would go back to normal.”
It is difficult for Bryan and Stephanie to think back to those long, straining days of taking turns staying with Jack at the hospital and being at home with his little sister. After three days, Jack’s medical team confirmed the diagnosis: type 1 diabetes. When they left the room, Jack turned to his mom and asked, “Mom, when can I stop taking the needles? When can I go home and stop?”
During all those weeks and months, this moment was the hardest for Jack’s parents—the moment when they had to break his heart.
“We had to sit down with him and explain that this is not something that’s ever going to stop,” Stephanie remembers. “To see the look on his face when he realized that the life he had before was going to be completely different… it was awful.” With every word Jack’s parents said to him, the reality sunk in that needles would forever be a part of his life. “He rolled on his side, faced away from us and cried,” Bryan says. “It was horrible.”
To see the look on his face when he realized that the life he had before was going to be completely different… it was awful.
The Children’s Health Unit team did everything in their power to lift Jack’s spirits. “I wouldn’t want to do that job,” Stephanie admits. “Having to tell a child that he’s going to have shots for the rest of his life at an age where he can’t understand yet that this is not their fault. To see them be so kind, even at times when he couldn’t be – it was amazing to see.”
A team member from the diabetic education centre explained diabetes to Jack in a way he could grasp, and while it helped him gain a better understanding of his disease, he was still quite sad by the time he was discharged. “He was still pretty down,” says Stephanie, “and then we were only home for about five or six days before he got a fever and started having ketones in his blood, an indication that his body was again starting to use fats as an energy source. So we went back to the hospital, and he was readmitted with Influenza B.”
To ensure Jack had not developed pneumonia, he was sent for an x-ray, and his parents remember him being inconsolable. “They were trying to get him into the wheelchair for the chest x-ray, and he was just sobbing,” Stephanie remembers. “It was so sad, and it turned out that he did have pneumonia, but when we returned to the room, there was a stuffed dinosaur on the bed, and they had written down a joke. There was a Lego kit, and prizes were hidden all around the room for him. It just… it was so good to see him smile, and the Children’s Health Unit team did that for him. It was just what he needed in that moment.”
Those small things really matter, Bryan adds. “Things like that bridge the gap. Being a kid, he blamed the medical professionals for what was happening to him and what he had to go through. So those small gestures and gifts showed him that they were on the same team.”
About one year has passed since Jack’s diagnosis, and his family has adjusted well. A celiac disease diagnosis, in addition to his diabetes, has added another layer of difficulty; yet, Jack’s parents are grateful for the ongoing support the hospital continues to provide. “His diabetic team is wonderful. Whenever I have a question, they are only an email away, which is very reassuring for us,” Stephanie explains.
The past year has been a journey for Jack and his family, and while Jack would prefer to stay far away from hospitals from now on, he was happy to share his experience with our donors and the community. “He said if it helps the Children’s Health Unit, then he is all in,” his mom smiles.
“I have been telling Jack this Christopher Reeve quote since his diagnosis: ‘A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming circumstances.’ I believe Jack is a hero and I believe when Jack was at the hospital in a tiny little hospital room on the fourth floor, the Niagara Health staff were heroes, too.”
