Spokane girl, 8, set to go to Washington, D.C. to talk about diabetes

As a Spokane child living with Type 1 diabetes, 8-year-old Natalie McNichols wants people to know why research dollars are needed toward fighting the disease.

She’s set to talk to U.S. Congress members soon, as one of five delegates from the state selected to go to Washington, D.C. for the July 9-11 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Children’s Congress.

“I want a cure to be made,” said Natalie, diagnosed at 4.

Natalie is also this year’s youth ambassador for the Sept. 23 JDRF One Walk fundraiser for the Inland Northwest in Riverfront Park.

“Each time I do the walk, I know we get closer to a cure, and there is lots of fun stuff to do,” she said. Her fundraiser group is “Team Natalie Noodlers.”

Every two years, more than 130 children with Type 1 diabetes between the ages of 4 and 17 gather in Washington, D.C., to meet with decision-makers. They represent all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five international affiliates.

Natalie’s ambassador role is following after that of her mother, Emily McNichols, who also at age 8 attended the first JDRF Children’s Congress in 1999 as an Idaho delegate with Type 1 diabetes. She’ll attend this year’s events with Natalie.

“Our hope is by meeting with Congress and saying, ‘I was here 24 years ago. Now, I’m here with my child,’ and showing the ways their support and funding has improved medications, technology and moved us closer to a cure, that the legislators will be encouraged to continue supporting,” the elder McNichols said.

She’s seen changes in the past 24 years since that first JDRF delegation, where calls for research then resulted in today’s sophisticated glucose monitoring devices and pumps, she said. As a child, McNichols tested her blood sugar with finger pokes at least eight times daily and received multiple insulin shots.

“I had to take at minimum five shots of insulin a day,” she said. “I did get an insulin pump not long after going to Children’s Congress, but they weren’t as automated as they are today. I had to put in a lot of information manually. It was a lot harder to manage my blood sugars.

“I remember my mom would get up at 2 a.m. every night to test my blood sugar, whereas with Natalie, I just have to listen for the alarm because it will tell me if I need to do something.”

Type 1, previously called juvenile diabetes, occurs when the body’s immune system destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas so the body produces little or no insulin, a hormone that enables blood sugar to enter the cells in the body where it can be used for energy.

Patients regularly monitor blood sugar levels and take insulin shots daily or wear an insulin pump to manage blood sugar levels and give the body energy. Continuously high blood sugar levels can lead to health issues, such as kidney failure. When levels go too low, patients can feel dizzy or confused, or even lose consciousness.

For some people, certain genes are passed on from parent to child that make them more likely to develop Type 1 diabetes, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many won’t go on to have Type 1 if they have the genes. A trigger in the environment, such as a virus, might play a part in developing Type 1, the CDC says.

Natalie has an insulin pump that is integrated with a continuous glucose-monitoring system, a device for tracking glucose levels and giving off an alarm if levels go too high or low.

“Her machine monitors blood sugar every five minutes, and she wears an insulin pump that gives her insulin around the clock,” McNichols said.

Because Natalie is growing, there are many nights when the alarm sounds because she needs more insulin or a snack.

At the Children’s Congress, the delegates often get to meet celebrities who attend. The elder McNichols met Mary Tyler Moore. “She was very kind,” she said.

Natalie hopes she’ll meet singer Nick Jonas, who was diagnosed at age 13 with Type 1.

Her other family members separately plan to travel to Washington, D.C.: Dad, Brad McNichols; brother Jude, 2; and sisters Remi, 11; and Mae, 13. None of her siblings have been diagnosed with diabetes. She has two aunts who have Type 1. Both are Emily McNichol’s sisters, including one who went to the 2003 Children’s Congress.

Natalie’s hobbies include hip-hop dancing, swimming, bike riding and reading. Although she lives in Spokane, she goes to school nearby at Farwell Elementary in Mead and just finished second grade. She hopes to become a school nurse to help other diabetic children.

“I was inspired by my school nurse,” she said. “She checks on me six to 10 times a day.”

More than 37 million U.S. residents have diabetes, but Type 2 diabetes makes up about 90-95% of all diagnosed cases. About 1.45 million Americans are living with Type 1, says the Diabetes Research Institute.

In Type 2, cells don’t respond normally to insulin, called insulin resistance. The pancreas makes more insulin to try to get the cells to respond. The pancreas eventually can’t keep up, and blood sugar rises. That sets the stage for prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes, a risk factor for high blood pressure, heart disease, vision loss and kidney disease.