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OREGON CITY, OR (KPTV) — Children from all across the country plan to lobby on Congress next week in an effort to advocate for Type 1 diabetes research funding.
It’s a medical condition 14-year-old Elizabeth Carlson says doesn’t get enough attention compared to other diseases.
Five years ago at the age of nine, Elizabeth started losing weight fast and she and her mother noticed other symptoms.
“My hair was getting thinner, I just wasn’t healthy,” she said.
Then one day her mother Tima Carlson brushed her hair, and she knew something wasn’t right with her daughter.
“There was something different about it, it didn’t have that normal glow,” Tima said.
Mother’s instinct kicked in and Tima took Elizabeth to the doctor.
They found out she had Type 1 diabetes.
Tima says it’s an autoimmune disease where the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin.
“I just felt completely hopeless, cause’ I had some disease that I didn’t know anything about,” Elizabeth said.
She’s learned to live with the disease and says technology now makes it easier for her to keep up on her insulin.
The majority of people have Type 2 diabetes.
But Elizabeth and Austin Ross, another child from Oregon, will be heading to Washington D.C. next week to speak with kids from all over the country to make sure Congress knows how important research funding is for Type 1 diabetes.
“It’s important as so many other diseases that get a lot more funding,” Elizabeth said.
That funding is set to expire September 30, 2019.
The event run by JDRF, a nonprofit for Type 1 diabetes research, runs from July 8 to 10.
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