There’s a special time that Charlotte Fish and her 4-year-old grandson, Devin Keith, share every few days or so. First they go to the dollar store to buy a balloon and then they head to the beach or a park.
Once there, the boy watches the balloon as it floats high into the sky. He waits till he can’t see it anymore as it disappears somewhere above.
"He says, "Grandma, she got it," Fish said.
Devin is sending the balloon to his mother, Katie Fish, who died on Feb. 25 at age 25 from complications related to diabetes. Charlotte Fish, 52, and her family have formed a team called "Katie’s Angels" for the American Diabetes Association Tour de Fleur Walk in Mount Vernon on April 17. Devin will take part too.
The walk is an annual event to benefit the diabetes association, a resource for the more than 18 million Americans who suffer from the disease.
Katie Fish was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 10.
People with type 1 diabetes don’t produce the insulin the body needs to convert sugar and other food into energy. They depend on insulin by injection or pump, and must balance food intake and exercise to stave off long-term complications and the risk of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) or hyperglycemia (high blood sugar).
The disease shows up primarily in children and young people, but it can occur at any age. Katie Fish’s mother noticed that her daughter would become ravenously hungry. Her mother would make her special dishes but then Katie Fish wouldn’t want to eat them. Her mother took her to the doctor.
Katie Fish became active in the American Diabetes Association after she was diagnosed. She went on campouts and field trips. The family went to classes and took every piece of new information they got about diabetes seriously.
"Diabetes attacked her from day one," Fish said.
Katie Fish began her insulin regime but was in and out of the hospital and contracted meningitis at age 16. She began to suffer from chronic migraine headaches and neuropathy (pain) in the feet and hands. It wasn’t long before she was also diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, which occurs when the body doesn’t produce enough insulin or doesn’t properly use it.
She developed ulcers in her legs that were deep and painful. When she was pregnant she spent most of that year in the hospital. Her son, Devin, was born in March 1999. He was a preemie. The pregnancy was hard on Katie Fish’s internal organs.
"She kinda went downhill from that point," Charlotte Fish said.
Tonya Daoura, district director of the diabetes association’s Everett office, says that she sees a big difference in how people today deal with diabetes, especially teens, than when she herself was diagnosed 16 years ago when she was only 20.
She understands how hard it is for young people. Some teens use their diabetes in an effort to stay thin. They don’t take their medication and continue to lose weight, not realizing what the long-term complications will do to their bodies. "You just think that it’s not serious and that it’s not going to happen to me," Daoura said.
Teens have other problems, she said. Being a teenager is hard enough when you are trying to fit in at school, go through puberty and deal with a disease that has special dietary needs and requires medical attention.
Daoura says that the association is going to start working with schools about the importance of food choices for school lunches.
"It starts with the parents, but we need to educate the schools," she said.
Parents and children with diabetes can join a support group through the American Diabetes Association’s Everett office. They have dances for teens and Halloween parties for younger children. The events offer food that diabetic children can eat. Parents can network with each other and share ideas for raising children with the disease.
Charlotte Fish said that her daughter was partly in denial about the effects of diabetes and that some of her choices led to her declining health.
She describes her daughter, who attended Mariner High School and ACES High School, as being a very giving, caring, loving and energetic person.
"She was very sociable. A lot cantankerous. A true Capricorn," Fish said with a smile.
At one point Katie Fish worked at day care centers. She loved children but had a hard time holding down jobs because she would get every bug and cold the kids got.
She was in and out of the hospital so often that her own son, Devin, lived with his grandparents. His grandmother said he thrives on a consistent schedule and loves to spend time in the garage looking at tools with his granddad.
Friends and family have held bake sales and garage sales, and will be raffling a quilt that hangs in the Best Western Cambridge Inn on Evergreen Way in Everett. All proceeds from these events and the Tour de Fleur walk will go to the diabetes association in Katie Fish’s honor.
Charlotte Fish believes that with diabetes there are no guarantees. Her daughter could have done everything right — diet, exercise and medication — and still it might not have been enough. Katie Fish was in her 15th year with the disease. Her body just couldn’t handle it anymore.
With a crumpled tissue in her hand and tears making a path down her cheeks, Charlotte Fish is determined to send a message to others about the importance of taking care of their bodies, especially when they have been diagnosed with diabetes. The message is clear when she speaks about her daughter.
"I miss her. Her smile. Her company. We were very close," Charlotte Fish said. "She’d come bombing in here telling me where she would be."
There’s nothing that can take away the pain a mother feels knowing that her child won’t come through those doors again.
Charlotte Fish hopes to reach as many young people as she can and educate them about taking care of themselves. She believes that the more people she can reach and make aware of diabetes and its effects, the better it will be.
"You really just don’t have a choice," Charlotte Fish said. "The longer she’s gone the more I realize you have to do it."
Reporter Christina Harper: 425-339-3491 or harper@heraldnet.com.
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