Born July 22, Maverick Colt Roe was diagnosed with neonatal diabetes after his blood glucose levels soared to extreme levels within his first few hours of life. Due to limited diet and inactivity, newborns typically register low blood sugar readings. Maverick s levels, however, spiked above 1,000 milligrams per deciliter more than 10 times the normal range. Doctors initially treated Maverick with intravenous insulin and then insulin injections, but his blood glucose levels continued to fluctuate wildly, sinking as low as 20 and soaring beyond the meter s register. ACH has had good results using insulin pumps on toddlers whose glucose was difficult to maintain, according to pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Paul Frindik, so the decision was made to try the technology with Maverick.
Experts believe it is the first use of an insulin pump in such a young infant.
After just two days, the insulin pump has stabilized Maverick s blood glucose level to around 128. Neonatal diabetes occurs when immature pancreas cells are unable to produce the insulin that s necessary for delivering nutrients throughout the body. It is a rare condition with only three cases treated in 30 years at Arkansas Children s Hospital, according to Dr. Robert Arrington, medical director of the hospital s neonatal intensive care unit where Maverick is being treated. Worldwide, the German Diabetes Journal reports there are fewer than 100 cases of diabetes recorded immediately after birth. But it makes their glucose so much easier to control, especially when the family is as supportive as Maverick s.