My wife and I already knew how valuable the time at the City of Carson Early Childhood Education was to Lanea, our now 13-year-old daughter.
We watched first hand as some of the lessons learned in the "Purple Room" were applied on elementary school playgrounds and how that in turn helped to prepare her for the
challenges she would face later in Jr. high school. With such a positive experience the first time around, enrolling our 2nd daughter, London in CCECE seemed like an easy decision.
However, after being told by the Dr. that our 3-yr. old daughter has been diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes,
letting our daughter out of our sight and care for any extended period is now the furthest thing from our minds. After the diagnosis, we did what any scared parents would do… we panicked.
We shut down every other facet of our lives. At about the 3-week mark, it became abundantly clear… although we as parents were still learning to manage our daughters' Auto Immune Disease,
London was struggling just to be a kid. My wife and I realized this type of lifestyle wasn’t sustainable. We knew we had to find something to help London feel normal. There's a
quote attributed to an anonymous Navy seal: "Under pressure, you don't rise to the occasion, you sink to the level of your training. That's why we train so hard".
It was in that moment we realized that our challenge wasn't "How to raise a Diabetic Daughter?" our challenge was, "How to raise a Daughter that happens to have Diabetes?" Once we
"sunk to the level of our training" we brainstormed and tried to remember all the good things we had done while raising our oldest daughter.
One of the pivotal/cornerstone moments of my 1st daughters’ childhood was graduating from the CCECE program.
My wife wanted to try and get London on the waiting list for CCECE. I honestly didn't think London would be accepted into the program,
I told my wife not to waste her time filling out the application. I told her as soon as they got to the health portion of the application, they would see "Type 1 Diabetes" under health conditions and they would put her app onto the rejected pile. Even through all my negativity, my wife held strong to her convictions. She submitted the app and we waited. We soon got a call from Mrs. Raquel informing us that London had been placed on the waiting list and with graduation around the corner, spots would be opening soon in the summer. While we waited, Mrs. Raquel would keep in contact with my Wife to learn more about London’s daily needs. Together they had formed a treatment plan of sorts, where my wife would show up for snack times and lunch time, to administer London's insulin and we could monitor her remotely through her CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitor).
In July, a spot had opened up in the PM class and we were immediately overcome with a mix of both relief and anxiety. The "First Day of school" came and we held our breath, not knowing what to expect. London took to the playground like a fish to water. For the most part it was a normal “First Day of School”. This is where this story gets hard for me to write as a parent, because as a parent you believe with all your heart that NO ONE could ever love your child as much as you do. I’ve watched the teachers comfort London by singing while they rocked her on their knee after a particularly painful insulin injection. Observed a teacher taking London for a walk around City Hall because her “Sugar” was high and she needed to burn some energy off before she had lunch. Witnessed a teacher teach London that diabetes isn’t an excuse to be rude, and that exemplary behavior is expected from ALL the kids at CCECE. Lastly, I’ve sat in a classroom with London at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles surrounded by my Wife, my Daughter, my Mother and Mrs. Raquel (who took an unpaid day off from work) to learn more about a potential insulin pump that could help London immensely with managing her Diabetes. I sat in that classroom proudly, as other Type 1 Diabetic parents and the class instructor understood just how much a teacher must care for her student to take the time to be there.
I've taught my daughters that “Family” isn’t defined by genetics or DNA but by those that LOVE and CARE for you. That’s what the Teachers and Aides at CCECE have become to us…. FAMILY!
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The Lutali Family