Mary Grace Goes to Washington

Suwanee Teen takes on diabetes and Congress, participating in JDRF Children’s Congress

BY: Tana Christian Suggs

With the challenge of academic success, the competition in extracurricular activities, and general peer pressure, growing up can be hard enough. Imagine growing up with these struggles and also dealing with a disease – diabetes.

Mary Grace Zaldo is a 14 year old Suwanee resident and freshman at North Gwinnett High School who is doing just that. On top of all the pressures of being a kid, Mary Grace also has Type 1 Diabetes, also know as T1D. Mary Grace was diagnosed with the disease at the age of 4 when her mother, Tracy Zaldo, took her in for her routine check up. It was during that visit the doctor found her blood sugar level was much higher than normal – in the 300s.

“I am very familiar with blood sugar testing because my husband, (and Mary Grace’s father, Mike Zaldo) has type 1 diabetes (diagnosed at age 19),” her mother said. “My heart fell – I knew it was a really high number.” From the doctor’s office they were sent straight to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite where finger pricks and insulin injections began. “…very traumatic for a child who had turned 4 the day prior,” her mother said. “We were in the hospital for three days, learning to care for our child with T1D.”

For most people, the body automatically works to manage and maintain sugar levels. But for Mary Grace, her pancreas doesn’t produce insulin, so she wears an insulin pump that helps her manage the disease. Every time she eats, she must check her blood sugar levels and she works hard to monitor to ensure accurate calculations. But even with careful monitoring, her mother said other things such as illness and exercise can affect the calculations, so there are times when he calculations can be off and Mary Grace ends up with dangerously high or dangerously low blood sugar levels.

Mary Grace said one of her biggest challenges with the disease is trying to explain it to her peers and get them used to it.

“If someone has never had any exposure to T1D, they don’t really understand the concept of blood sugar checks and the fact I have to take insulin every time I eat,” Mary Grace explained. “It can be a little scary at first.”

Dealing with T1D, Mary Grace said she sometimes feels a little different than others her age, but she takes it all in stride.

“Of course I’m going to feel different- but it’s not always a bad thing,” she said. “It was hard dealing with all the shots and hospital visits as a child, but I’m used to it now and am doing everything I can to stay a happy, normal teenager. I still notice when people stare as I prick my finger or use my pump to deliver insulin. I know it is because they don’t understand or because they are curious, but sometimes it makes me feel self-conscious. For the most part though, I am very comfortable with my T1D.”

Since her diagnosis about 10 years ago, Mary Grace has not only taken on the disease in a physical way, she has also taken on the fight to raise much needed funds and awareness about the disease participating in events such as the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes, where her walk team, Mary Grace’s Miracle Marchers, have raised more than $250,000 for diabetes research.

And in July Mary Grace was chosen as one of 150 delegates out of more than 1,500 children that applied to the 2013 JDRF Children’s Congress in Washington, D.C., a once in a lifetime opportunity that her mother said takes place every two years.

“I’ve been hearing about it since I was about 4 years old,” Mary Grace said, referring to the event. “I’ve always wanted to go and share my story… I was so excited when I found out I was one of the 150 delegates chosen. More than 1,500 children with T1D applied. Some of the delegates chosen were from other countries including England, Australia and Israel.”

Mary Grace said in addition to sharing her personal story, she also wanted to make members of Congress realize that diabetes is bigger than all of us and when it hits, it hits hard.

“But what it (diabetes) doesn’t expect is us hitting back with events like this (JDRF Children’s Congress) to help raise money and battle this disease,” she added. “I wanted to make sure that the Congressmen I met understood that we were not just asking for money from the government – that we all work hard to raise money for diabetes research as well. But, we can’t do it alone. We need the kind of money and support that can only come from them.” She said she felt like the T1D community was counting on them to stand before Congress to convince lawmakers to continue funding diabetes research. “A cure is so important to all of us – it made me want to do a good job!” she said.

While attending Mary Grace said she met a new friend who lives in Washington state, Vice President Joe Biden, and some other celebrities who have T1D. Now after such an eventful summer, Mary Grace is back home in Suwanee with her mother, father, brother, Sam, and dog, Jack, and back to being a normal teenager who loves running, likes to act and sing, loves to read and spend time with friends. ”I have never let T1D slow me down, and I never plan to,” she said. “In all other senses of the word, I am a normal teenage girl – I just have something a little special about me!”

November is National Diabetes Month. For more information about the disease, visit www.diabetes.org. For more information about JDRF Children’s Congress, visit jdrf.org. ■