BOZEMAN EDITION
The Monthly
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October/November 2015
The Invisible Epidemic: Elijah’s Story
IN THIS ISSUE Page 4
The Ellen Theatre
By Jessica Bayramian Byerly
Page 6
bozeman’s finest
with a great and caring staff Gallatin Veterinary Hospital
Gallatin Veterinary Hospital (GVH) provides cutting edge technology and professional service given with compassion, courtesy and respect. Pets are members of your family; we treat them like members of ours. Accredited by the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) since 2009, GVH was the first hospital in Bozeman to earn this distinction, which is awarded to only 12% of the veterinary hospitals in the United States and Canada. AAHA evaluates over 900 of the highest quality standards available in veterinary medicine, including: anesthesia, client service, contagious disease, continuing education,
dentistry, diagnostic imaging, emergency and critical care, examination facilities, housekeeping and maintenance, human resources, laboratory, leadership, medical records, pain management, patient care, pharmacy, referral standards, safety and surgery to ensure the best care for your pet. A significant continuing commitment in providing the best possible care for you and your four-legged family members, AAHA accreditation is a huge undertaking, but at GVH we believe it makes us stronger.
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It was the worst day of my life. On September 22, 2014, a week before my son Elijah’s third birthday, he became one of the 40,000 people newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes (T1D) each year and I knew a heartache unlike anything I could ever have imagined. There had to have been signs for months, they said. Based on his A1C, a measurement of average blood glucose (BG) over the prior 90 days, he had been struggling to manage his sugars for a while. But there were none. He wasn’t sick or weak. He hadn’t lost weight. He wasn’t behaving strangely. I brought him to a local pediatric office and insisted on a urine test for diabetes because Eli had been peeing and drinking more than normal for a few days. That was all. Other parents ask about the signs – how I knew – barely veiled expressions of fear on their faces as they hold their children a little tighter, look a little closer after I’ve described what could so easily go unnoticed. They know, if it could happen to my robust, rarely sick son; who has no family history of diabetes of either form; was breastfed until nearly two; raised on a 90+% whole foods, scratch-made vegetarian diet; with limited exposure to environmental chemicals (I removed all toxic cleaning and hygiene products when he was born); then, it could happen to anyone. (Researchers point to the aforementioned list of environmental factors as complicit in the development of T1D). I was told he had diabetes in the hallway outside the lab. As I broke down, the doctor ushered my son and
I into a room, where he sat for eight hours drinking endless bottles of water, being refused any food and bravely enduring blood draws and pokes until his body could finally purge the sugar threatening his life.
Gallatin Valley Life
Services
Computer Tomography (CT) We are excited to bring the newest and best technology in advanced 3D imaging to GVH. We are the first veterinary hospital in the state of Montana to install the NewTom 5G Vet Cone Beam CT. The technology is so advanced, that many of these machines are placed in universities, such as The University of California at Davis, or in larger cities. Why is this important? Cone beam technology allows equal and, in some cases, better image quality when compared to traditional CT scans. It exposes
Broad Comedy
We narrowly avoided hospitalization. We were “lucky.” We spent the next two days undergoing a thorough and exhaustive training and education session with pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Sharon Zemel and her team at Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes Clinic at St. Vincent Hospital in Billings, MT, the only provider of pediatric diabetes care in the state at the time of Eli’s diagnosis. There are now two. Dr. Zemel and her team were nothing short of miracle-working angels for my little family and the countless children – numbers which Zemel reports are growing at a steady and alarming rate – seeking treatment throughout the state.
Page 10
Harley's Corner
In the months since his diagnosis, Eli has weathered some ups and downs, retaining his courage and bright smile despite pains and challenges no three-year-old should have to weather. He started use of the insulin pump in May; it has been a blessing and a curse, ushering in a level of freedom impossible with multiple daily injections, but bringing with it a new set of challenges, variables and considerations that have stolen restful sleep and dry eyes from me for the foreseeable future. (Continued on page 8)
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