By JACQUELINE PRIMO | Assistant Managing Editor
Twelve-year-old Palisadian Rebecca Leeds is the picture of health—active and spirited with a bright smile. Yet, the pre-teen, who had no genetic history of diabetes on either side of her family, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 7 after getting the flu and being exposed to the enterovirus.
“Our immunological system broke down and we all have recessive genes. The recessive gene that raised its ugly head told our white blood cells (T cells) that our beta cells were the enemy. The T cells killed off our beta cells, which are the insulin-producing cells. Once the beta cells are killed off you have no ability to produce insulin,” said Rebecca’s father Ben Leeds, who came down with the flu at the same time and was also diagnosed with type 1 diabetes shortly after his daughter.
Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
In the absence of insulin, sugar builds up in the blood system and creates a toxic effect, Ben added.
Rebecca experienced severe dehydration and was rushed to the emergency room where she was diagnosed with the disease. Her father’s condition worsened in the same vein soon after.
“My dad knew the symptoms. It was exactly what I experienced,” Rebecca told the Palisadian-Post of her father’s experience catching the flu before being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
“They said if he went in the hospital an hour or a day later, he would have died.”
Ben has been a board member of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) since Rebecca was diagnosed.
“We got the two-for-one bonus because I came down with [type 1 diabetes] and was already a member,” Ben said with a laugh.
“More and more people are coming down with Type 1 that are not juvenile, so now the group is just called JDRF type 1 diabetes.”
When the father and daughter were first diagnosed, they had to give themselves daily injections by needle. Now, they each have a pump that provides insulin with the push of a button.
“Type 1 diabetes is where you are insulin-dependent. The more sugar you eat, the more insulin you need,” Ben told the Post before hopping on his bike and heading for the trail, noting that he was turning off his insulin pump because “when you exercise, you need less insulin.”
Ben said he and his daughter each test blood sugar levels via finger prick and inject insulin eight to 12 times a day, including in the middle of the night.
“It’s hell to deal with, but better than the alternative: early death starting with loss of limbs and blindness,” Ben said of some of the consequences of untreated diabetes.
“The insulin pump is on my waist with little clips to attach it to my pants. If I put on a tight dress or a regular dress, it’ll show this big lump and I’m really self-conscious about it,” Rebecca told the Post.
“Once I was at my best friend’s birthday and [my blood sugar] was super high so I couldn’t have the cake. It’s really hard when everybody’s eating cake around you,” Rebecca said when asked how having the disease affects her daily life.
She added that most of the time, she feels like a normal kid and is able to do everyday things.
“I feel like a normal person. Sometimes a little too much and I forget [I have diabetes],” she said with a laugh.
Rebecca had the opportunity on Oct. 22 to model a dress that hid the insulin pump yet maintained every ounce of fashion and style when KTLA hosted a Swatfame fashion show for JDRF One Walk.
Swatfame is a California-based clothing company and longtime JDRF sponsor that has raised over $1.7 million for type 1 diabetes research.
Rebecca walked down the runway wearing a shimmery blush lace dress with rhinestones.
“The fashion show was my first time on TV. It was really fun. They gave me a really pretty dress and I got to keep it,” Rebecca exclaimed.
That weekend, the father-daughter duo participated in the JDRF One Walk Los Angeles on Sunday, Oct. 25 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, raising $45,000 between the two of them for “Team Rebecca.”
“It was a really great bonding experience, really beautiful,” Ben told the Post.
When Rebecca isn’t modeling or raising money for JDRF, you can find her in the mountains skiing in the Charger All-Mountain program at Mammoth Mountain or writing songs, plays and stories.
For more information about type 1 diabetes, visit JDRF.org.
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