Winona Lake’s Sybella Dillon and Warsaw’s Charles Ker’s ages are 80 years apart. But they share something in common that is unique to both of them. Dillon, 2, is one of the youngest people in the nation to be diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease. Ker, at age 82, is one of the longest surviving people in the nation to have been diagnosed with the same disease. They know each other from the church they both attend, Warsaw Evangelical Presbyterian Church. Dillon was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 11 months. Ker was diagnosed when he was 14. Dillon had a virus three weeks prior to being diagnosed, and the doctors speculate this was the trigger for her diabetes developing. “She became ill and was vomiting a lot; had an increased heart rate, labored breathing and her lips turned blue,” her mother Siquilla said. Dillon was taken to Kosciusko Community Hospital where the emergency room doctor determined she was in respiratory distress and had her airlifted to Lutheran Hospital, Fort Wayne. She was stabilized and was later diagnosed with Type I Diabetes. Diabetes education for her parents, Paul and Siquilla, started immediately. “We had to learn how to test her blood glucose levels every three hours with a finger prick and administer Sybella’s insulin several times a day,” Siquilla said. With Type 2 Diabetes, the pancreas functions poorly. With Type 1 Diabetes, the pancreas does not function at all, which is why insulin is needed. Since Dillon was only 11 months and her insulin dosages were so small, her endocrinologist and parents made the decision to switch from administering insulin via injection to an insulin pump. “This allows for smaller, more accurate dosages to be administered. Also, she does not have to have several injections every day but instead only has had to have a site change where the port for the insulin pump enters her body every two to three days,” Siquilla said. Her parents also had to learn how to manage her food intake since her body is not able to break down carbohydrates without the exact amount of insulin. “She has adjusted well and she is a very energetic, happy and loving little girl,” Siquilla said. She loves playing in the sand at the beach and singing nursery rhymes. Elizabeth Tully, 19, a sophomore at Grace College, is Sybella’s babysitter who also has diabetes. “Since I have diabetes I know the signs of when she has low and high blood sugar levels,” Tully said. Ker was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes Nov. 6, 1948, by Dr. Clifford Dubois. He was sent to Methodist Hospital, Indianapolis, to meet Dr. John Warvel, a diabetes specialist. In 1948, Ker learned how to boil glass syringes, sharpen his own needles, weigh food on a scale and take insulin that originated from animals. In recent years he had accurate glucose meter testing, new biochemical insulins and had disposable syringes that are put into containers and are delivered to KC Recycling. Ker’s wife, Connie, also is on insulin for Type 1 diabetes and their youngest son, Kristopher, 27, also has the disease. Ker said advice he would give to people battling diabetes is to have a positive attitude and follow rules in controlling blood sugar levels such as counting carbohydrates and having a good exercise program.
