HAWMC #1: Diabetes Time Capsule

The year is 2111 and a 12 year old boy running through the woods, ahead of his parents, caught his foot on something and fell.  When he looked down to see what had caught his foot, he saw the corner of a metal box.  He waited for his parents to catch up and when they did, his father helped him dig the box out of the ground.  The family gathered around to read the engraving on the top of the box:  Time Capsule of a boy from 2012, do not open until 2112.  What was it, how did it get there, why was it there?  The family decided to take the box home and on New Years Day of 2112, they would open the box.

New Years Day 2112!  The day has arrived.  The family is excited to open the box.  That afternoon after the meal is cleared and the kitchen is cleaned, the family gathers around the box on the kitchen table and excitedly unscrews the lid.

On top is a picture of the boy who created the box:

And the same boy a few months later:

Seth, typed a letter to the finder of his time capsule:

My name is Seth, and I have Type 1 Diabetes. My favorite color is red.  My favorite dinner is caribou steak with mashed potatoes, gravy and corn.  My favorite desert is a hot fudge brownie desert.  I love to play with Lego's and my favorite video game is Skyrim.

About my Diabetes:  Type 1 Diabetes is an auto-immune disorder that allowed my body to attack my pancreas, so it no longer produces insulin.  Here is the story of how I was diagnosed.  (The diagnosis story would be enclosed, but here it is for anyone who is interested:  Diagnosis Part 1, Diagnosis Part 2)

This is a REPORT I did in 6th grade about Diabetes.

Next is a light blue t-shirt with a dark blue circle on the front.  Attached is a note that says, Everyone in my family wears a shirt like this on World Diabetes Day.  This day is November 14.  Do you still have a World Diabetes Day?  My mom wears blue shoes because she is part of the blue heel society.  The blue shoes attract attention and when people ask questions then she can educate people about Diabetes.  She does as much as she can because she doesn't like people thinking that my diabetes was caused by my diet or exercise.

The next item the family removes from the box is a Kevlar packet.  Inside is a One-Touch Blood Gucometer, a vial of test strips, a lancing device, a baggie of lancets, some alcohol pads, some glucose tablets and a packet of almond buter.  A note attached reads:  I never leave the house without this.  With this I prick my finger 8-10 times a day to test my blood and see what my blood sugar level is at.    If it is above 150, I have to give myself insulin to bring the level down, if I am below 80 I have to eat 3 glucose tablets and re-check my blood in 15-30 minutes.  If my number is coming back up then I eat the packet of almond butter to help stabilize my blood sugar.  My mom even checks me at 3:00 am every day, because sometimes  diabetics go too low in their sleep and they don't wake up, it is a syndrome called Dead In Bed Syndrome.

Also in the box are two pens of insulin.

When I first came home from the hospital this is what I used to treat my Type 1 Diabetes.  This is Humalog, it is a rapid acting insulin that I use whenever I eat:

I put a pen needle on the end and inject one unit of insulin into my stomach or thigh  for every 15 grams of carbohydrates I eat.  This is called my Bolus Insulin.

This is Lantus:

Lantus is my long acting Insulin, called my Basal Insulin.  I take it once a day, at night before I go to bed.  It burns when I inject it because it crystallizes under my skin so that it can release over the next 24 hours.  This creates a baseline of insulin that would keep my Blood Sugar steady if I did not eat anything during that 24 hour period.

There were logs of numbers for Seth's Blood Sugars, the family had no idea what that meant, but his numbers were sometimes low 50 and sometimes high 450 and all places in between.

Lastly, there was a toy made from plastic bricks:

These are Lego's my favorite toy.  I like to use my imagination and create things.  Are there still Lego's in 2112?

When the family got done looking at everything in the box, they talked about what a brave boy Seth was and they decided to research what diabetes looked like in 2112...what do YOU think they found?