The Warmington family turns a diagnosis into an opportunity to support pediatric care
A little more than a year ago, as a new school year approached, excited soon-to-be kindergartener, Charlotte Warmington, visited her doctor for routine immunizations, to which she had some seemingly insignificant reactions. However, these minor side effects to her shots were soon followed by a variety of a larger issues including leg pain, fainting at school, bed wetting, intense thirst and weigh loss.
Through it all, Charlotte was still her happy self, and while her parents, Jim Jr. and Deena Warmington, felt none of these symptoms were too alarming, they were still very concerned. Deena began reaching out to friends for advice on what might be going on with her daughter. A friend recommended she take Charlotte for a blood test. That same night, Deena tested Charlotte’s blood sugar using a home test and it read “HIGH.” She immediately called CHOC and was told to give Charlotte a ketone test. After seeing the results, it was decided that Charlotte should be taken to the ER right away. At the ER the Warmingtons learned their daughter hadtype 1 diabetes. Deena recalls not knowing much about type 1 diabetes other than what she had seen in the film Steel Magnolias, which didn’t paint a positive picture of the disease. Desperate to understand the severity, challenges and repercussions of living with type 1 diabetes, the Warmingtons immediately delved into educating themselves and Charlotte’s entire extended support team of family members.
Upon learning the news of their granddaughter’s diagnosis, Vicki and Jim Warmington Sr. turned to Hoag for guidance and support as they, along with the rest of the family, started down an unfamiliar path. Together, one of the first things they did was attend CHOC’s“Care Giver” class at the Mary and Dick Allen Diabetes Center to learn how they could help care for Charlotte. “The CHOC facility at the Allen Diabetes Center is fantastic for education and more importantly, was a lifeline for Charlotte and our family,” says Jim Sr. “It helped us to understand how serious type 1 diabetes is and that it truly is a 24-hour disease that will need to be actively managed for the rest of Charlotte’s life.”