A three-year-old girl who was initially diagnosed with a virus but later told she had Type 1 diabetes is helping to raise awareness so other parents can spot tell-tale signs.
Paisley Coeator - whose 'diabetic diamond' social media pages are being widely shared - started to become "a lot more tired than usual" and "wouldn't walk more than a few steps" when she was aged one, her mum has revealed. Mum Leigh said she then started showing signs of increased thirst and was "soaking through her nappies".
The 30-year-old said: "It started off when she was one. She started becoming a lot more tired than usual, she wouldn't walk more than a few steps which was very unlike Paisley. Even though she was one, she loved to push her little baby brother around in his pram.
"But she suddenly wouldn't walk more than a few steps and would stop and want to be carried, which I thought was really unusual. Then it was thirst, so she was drinking a lot more than unusual and she was waking up through the night for any drink that she could get her hands on."
Leigh, from Halewood, Merseyside, told the Liverpool Echo : "Then it was toilet. She was still in nappies at this time but was soaking through all of the nappies and we tried different brands and this was all in the space of days. One of the nights she soaked through and asked for another drink, I stripped her down to clean her and as she was standing there I looked at her and I felt sick because I could see that she had lost weight out of nowhere and drastically."
Leigh contacted her GP who initially said it was viral and gave the now three-year-old antibiotics. However, the mum-of-three said that her "gut instinct was that it was something more serious than that."
The family took Paisley to A&E at Alder Hey Children's Hospital and after a glucose test it was found Paisley had Type 1 diabetes. The toddler's glucose was 37.7 mmol/L - a non-diabetics blood sugar should be between 4.0 and 5.9 mmol/L before meals.
Paisley was in diabetic ketoacidosis. This is where harmful substances called ketones build up in the body, which can be life-threatening if it's not found and treated quickly.
Leigh said Paisley turned two on the last day of her hospital admission. She said: "It just went from there. To be honest I can be standing in the kitchen now, washing the dishes and I will be back in the hospital room like it is all happening again, but she got better and her dad stayed at her side at hospital for the next four days.
"She turned two on the last day of the hospital admission, so she was in hospital for her second birthday but we managed to do all the training and get her home that evening. So far from there she's done nothing but raise awareness at such a young age.
"Paisley takes it all in her stride, she's so brave with it all and she loves to show her insulin pump off and her Dexcom to everyone. She's really good at it."
Paisley, at just three-years-old, now raises awareness for Type 1 diabetes. She shows how she treats the condition with her insulin pump and Dexcom on TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. Leigh is sharing her daughter's story ahead of World Diabetes Day on Monday, November 14 to raise awareness of the symptoms and warning signs of Type 1 diabetes.
Leigh said: "Not a lot of people know the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes and there is just very little awareness out there and obviously because it is our daughter we have become so passionate about raising awareness and wanting other people to know the symptoms and the warning signs because it could have been worse for Paisley."
Type 1 diabetes causes the level of glucose (sugar) in your blood to become too high, according to the NHS. It happens when your body cannot produce enough of a hormone called insulin, which controls blood glucose.
People with Type 1 diabetes need to take insulin every day to keep their blood glucose levels under control. Type 1 diabetes is not linked with age or being overweight – these things are linked with Type 2 diabetes.
The symptoms of Type 1 diabetes according to the NHS are:
feeling very thirsty
peeing more than usual, particularly at night
feeling very tired
losing weight without trying
thrush that keeps coming back
blurred vision
cuts and grazes that are not healing
fruity-smelling breath
Type 1 diabetes symptoms can come on quickly, particularly in children.
You can more of today's top stories here
READ NEXT:
- Salford lad who directed film slammed for 'vile stereotypes' defends movie as it appears in Netflix's most-watched list
- Bomb squad scrambled following 17-year-old's terrifying hoax - police feared they'd be killed
- The historic church being shaken to its foundations by motorway traffic
- Where to find the cheapest petrol prices in Greater Manchester
- Frustrated councillors claim Greater Manchester is a 'criminal free-for-all' despite improved GMP report
