Young diabetes patient hoping to raise awareness

In 2019, then six-yearold Kade Tiessen was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

He went undiagnosed for months before being admitted to the ICU at Met Hospital, where they broke the news to him and his family.

“He came home determined to fight this new battle, since he has an older brother with Down Syndrome who has inspired him to overcome odds,” says his mom Stephanie Segave-Tiessen.

Now, three years later, 10-year-old Kade continues to monitor his blood sugar levels up to 15-20 times a day.

“Kade was diagnosed late and was already in Diabetic Ketoacidosis and nearly died,” says his mom. “He could barely walk, could barely breathe and was vomiting excessively.”

The family had been to the doctor earlier that day, but a diagnosis wasn’t offered at that visit.

“As a parent I knew something was seriously wrong and I came across this story about another child’s diagnosis story, and I knew he had diabetes and rushed him to the hospital,” she said. “If we would have gone a day longer, it is very likely he would not have made it.”

That day changed their normal family routine forever and young Kade met with local MPs Chris Lewis and Irek Kusmierczyk last week to raise awareness about Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). It was part of a Canada-wide campaign called JDRF’s Kids For a Cure, where kids with T1D across Canada met with local Members of Parliament.

“I’m excited to share my story because maybe it will help other kids see that it can be cool to be dif- ferent,” said Kade.

Life with T1D is a fulltime job with no days off. Without a working pancreas, Kade initially needed to test his sugar levels up to 15-20 times a day with finger pokes and administer insulin by needle every time he ate.

He now has an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor to help.

Still, his blood sugar is almost never perfectly balanced, so he often feels sick when his sugar is too high and disoriented when it is too low.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

has a tool on their website that allows patients to calculate how many times they’ve been poked and Kade’s total stands around 7,140 times. He’s lived almost 1,400 days with T1D and received 9,639 injections, lost 784 hours of sleep and spent 392 hours recovering from

hypoglycemia episodes. Despite these challenges, Kade plays travel soccer and travel hockey and has become a Type One Diabetes Warrior.

With November being Diabetes Awareness Month, and 2022 being the 100th anniversary of Dr. Frederick Banting and

his team of researchers at the University of Toronto announcing the discovery of insulin, Kade is eager to spread awareness.

“Insulin was discovered right here in Canada and Kade is confident that a cure will also be discovered here in Canada,” says his mom.

On the left is Kade with his dad Ryan after diagnosis, while on the right is Kade two years later.