Our #1 for March – Vincent Slack
in General

My name is Bridget, and my son Vincent is a tough, energetic, silly four-year-old boy. He likes superheroes, dinosaurs, racecars, ice skating, camping, jumping, sliding, swimming, riding, running, crawling and climbing!
Vincent enjoys more than anything torturing his seven-year-old brother Elden, who is his favorite person on the earth. He also is very close to his buddy Spencer in preschool and his many, many stuffed animal friends.

Vincent in an AMAZING artist. He can draw all of the superheroes and villains from his favorite comic books with remarkable accuracy. He designed the T-shirt for his 2013 Breakthrough T1D walk team, “Vincent’s Superhero Squad.”
Vincent has type 1 diabetes. He was diagnosed on July 7, 2013. The diagnosis was a shock. How could our extremely healthy and very active little boy have diabetes? No one in our family has it? We learned a great deal in those first months from Vincent’s awesome medical team, caring staff from a local support group and our Breakthrough T1D “bag of hope” which was provided to us in the hospital. Vincent’s diabetes is different than the type 2 diabetes we have all heard about. Vincent has an auto-immune disease, which doesn’t often run in families, and can happen to any healthy person at any time.
T1D has changed our lives. Vincent requires constant monitoring of his blood sugar, and insulin injections four times per day. Vincent adjusted quickly to the shots, and has accepted his condition better than any adult would. It has been difficult for our family to manage, especially initially. With some extra steps,

and help from friends and school staff that have been eager to learn, we have been able to resume our busy lives and achieve a “new normal.” Vincent enjoys all of the same activities of other kids his age.
Breakthrough T1D gives us hope for Vincent’s future. Their commitment to improving care through funding research efforts has led to significant advancements. I look forward to a time when Vincent can benefit from an artificial pancreas, or glucose-sensitive nanogel. These technologies will greatly improve the quality of his life.

T1D breaks my heart daily. Last week, while my husband was giving insulin, Vincent’s small friend asked, “Will Vincent have diabetes until he dies?” I am hopeful that one day, as a result of Breakthrough T1D’s efforts, We can answer “No.”