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An article in my recent issue of the Diabetes Wellness Letter (March 1999,
Volume 5, Number 3), an article by Gloria Loring caught my eye.  She is a
regular contributor to this newsletter and is the mother of a child with
diabetes.  She is also the author of Parenting a Diabetic Child and The
Kids, Food & Diabetes Family Cookbook.  Also, according to the newsletter,
Gloria Loring has "personally raised over  1 million dollars for diabetes
research".

Ms. Loring's most recent article presented the story of two young girls
diagnosed with diabetes within 9 weeks of each other. Incredibly the story
presented the young mother's struggle to convince a doctor's office that her
two year old daughter had something wrong with her other than dehydration
due to "summer" and "increased activity" or (later) "the flu".  The story
goes on to tell how the mother, when told to go home again and "wait",
refused to leave the physician's office.  The child's condition deteriorated
quickly and she was comatose for three days.  Several weeks later the three
year-old sibling began to manifest the same symptoms.  There was another
trip to the doctor's office and once again the physician's refusal to do as
the mother requested, in this case a "glucose test".  Also again the
recommendation was to go home, to "watch and wait".  The mother used "Tami's
blood sugar meter to test Tori and it read 197.  Still the doctor wouldn't
do anything, so I went around him and called Tami's pediatric
endocrinologist and she had me take Tori to the lab first thing the next
morning.  The lab work confirmed that her blood sugar was 198!"

The reason I bring this story to the list is because of its striking
similarities to stories I hear from parents who have children with both
diabetes and celiac sprue disease.  These parents are also frustrated by
inattentive caregivers who fail to pay attention to parental intuititon.
When parents do find physicians who are willing to become team players with
the parents, the children benefit incredibly.

I wonder if any of you parents would be willing to share your own children's
stories,  the struggles and triumphs with diagnosing and managing diabetes
AND celiac sprue disease?  You can send you stories by e-mail to gloria
Loring at her web site:  www.glorialoring.com. I would also be interested in
any of your stories for the Diabetes and Celiac Sprue project we are (once
again) working on (ref e-mail to list on 2/24/99).  I think your messages to
Ms. Loring might be another way of spreading the word about celiac disease
and its connection with IDDM.  We need to remind the diabetic community of
this connection over and over again, every opportunity we get.

Thanks,

Sara Jones
Houston Celiac Sprue  Support Group
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