Diabetes Support Group in Middle Georgia

PERRY, Georgia (41 NBC/WMGT) – There is help now for parents who have children suffering from diabetes.

Belinda Enamorado is a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Volunteer Family Support Group Leader, for Middle Georgia.

Enamorado says she had no idea what “Type 1 Diabetes” was until her daughter was diagnosed with the disease.

” I had to take her to the doctor three different times,” says Enamorado. “The first time they said its viral, just keep an eye on it. The second time she said she has strep throat. Put her on antibiotics. I noticed that after a while she just didn’t seem to be getting well, like she should. It was taking too long.”

“So I took her to a satellite center in Atlanta,” she added. “The children’s hospital satellite center and said can you just check her out. They were getting ready to send me home saying she’s fine just give her more time. But, then they said let’s do one more check and make sure she does not have a secondary infection. So, they did a urine test to check for a urinary track infection and that is [when] and how they diagnosed her.”

You would never know her daughter, Vanessa, was a diabetic by looking at her. But, she is reminded daily of her disease and being a diabetic teenager has its own challenges.

“Waking up almost every morning with high blood sugar, trying to get up out of bed is hard enough and getting up with high blood sugar is just [as hard,] she says. “Sometimes, I think I can’t.”

Vanessa’s friends at Mossy Creek Middle school grew concerned because of the 13-year-old’s frequent trips to the school nurse.

“They were like why do you always go up to the nurse and I said well, and that’s when I told them, the story, that I have to go [see her] about my diabetes,” added Vanessa.

She is responsible for giving herself insulin shots four times a day and checking her blood sugar six times a day.

Her mother says diabetic children need family support.

“Her brother knows how to jump in if something needs to be done,” says the mother of two. “He knows how she acts when she has low blood sugar or high blood sugar and he’ll either handle it with her or he will call me.”

Vanessa participates in fundraisers hosted by the national chapter of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She also attends state and local fundraisers. She says she likes seeing all of the families together at the events.

“You talk to all the families and the kids meet other children that live with diabetes,” says Vanessa. “Like sometimes diabetic children are not around other kids with diabetes. So, when you do this. It’s really fun because you meet other people with the disease and you feel like you’re not the only person with diabetes. You are not alone.”

The diabetes support group meets on the last Wednesday of every month,
at Barebulb Coffee shop in Kathleen, at 9 a.m.
For more information, call 678-891-81-96.