By Lisa Schick

Walking to cure juvenile diabetes

Mar 8, 2011 | 5:43 AM

A young, Prince Albert boy is getting ready to take on juvenile diabetes, one step at a time.

Ten-year-old Ty Skene is going to be the youth ambassador for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s 2011 Telus Walk to Cure Diabetes in Prince Albert.

Ty said he’s excited about the walk, “I (think it’ll) be pretty cool to be looked up to by younger kids, and I (think it’ll) be a step into life.”

Ty was diagnosed with Type I diabetes a year and a half ago.

Both Ty and his mother, Lee Anne Skene, said they were shocked when they heard the news, she said it was kind of a “no way” moment.

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Lee Anne said their main concern was how to keep life as normal as possible for Ty.

“(Ty’s) biggest thing was: how can I go on being a kid? So he continues to do sports and he continues to play hockey and is very involved and (he) just (makes) carb counting and giving insulin and managing blood sugar part of (his) daily routine,” said Lee Anne.

Ty needs to check and manage his blood sugar through finger pokes and insulin injections which he does himself anywhere from eight to 17 times a day.

At first testing himself was difficult for Ty but he said after a week or two it became part of the routine and now it’s easy for him.

Lee Anne said “it’s all about organization.” He has to be sure to check his blood sugar before, during and after sports – Ty plays hockey, baseball and track and field – and they need to make sure when they go away or when he is on a school trip that he has snacks and other things he needs with him.

Lee Anne said Ty has adapted really well to his condition, “He’s very mature and responsible and has done a fantastic job of adapting and doing what he needs to do.”

Part of the reason Ty has been able to adapt so well, is because he was diagnosed as an older child so he was able to understand what he needed to do.

“We were lucky in the aspect that (Ty) was old enough to understand one, what diabetes meant, and two, what he needed to do, so he could do his own finger pokes and he can do his own insulin injections. There’s some children who are infants and toddlers when they are diagnosed so it’s parents then who have to literally hold their kids down to do finger pokes and do injections,” said Lee Anne.

As the youth ambassador, Ty will be giving a speech at the walk, answer question and act as a role model for the other kids with the disease.

Lee Anne said the walk is everything for them. “The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is our biggest fundraising cause, and I mean, just because of the impact that it (has) on kids’ lives.”

Diabetes affects more than 70,000 people in Saskatchewan.

The organization is still looking for volunteers, donations, and participants for the walk Sept. 18.

lschick@panow.com