Michael Hotchkiss

Guest columnist

I’ve never met Nicole Nichols, but I’m pretty sure I can tell you a few things about her.

She has an alarm on her phone permanently set for 2 a.m.

She long ago got over being afraid of needles.

She will do whatever it takes to keep her child safe and healthy.

ORIGINAL STORY: State representative to mom: Buy your own meds

When you have a child with Type 1 diabetes — as both she and I do — you learn quickly that diabetes never sleeps, so neither can you. You learn that needles save the life of your child a dozen times a day. You learn that while your child has doctors and nurses, you are the one most responsible for her health.

But most importantly, you learn to fight — all day, every day. You fight for your child. You fight high blood sugars. You fight low blood sugars. You fight a medical system that is flawed in a million ways. You fight with your brain, your hands, your wallet, whatever you have.

In other words, state Rep. Jeffrey Guice, you picked a fight with the wrong person.

She wrote you a very reasonably worded email seeking assistance securing diabetes medication and supplies for her child through Medicaid.

You fired back, “I am sorry for your problem. Have you thought about buying the supplies with money that you earn?"

Maybe that usually works for you. Other folks may be scared off and learn they shouldn’t bother someone as big and important as a state representative when they have problems with a government program.

But Rep. Guice, I promise that Nicole Nichols fights a bigger foe 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

When your child has Type 1 diabetes, her pancreas stops producing insulin. Without insulin, the cells in her body can’t convert sugar in her blood to energy. Without insulin, your child will die. So, as a parent, you take over for your child’s pancreas. You help your child monitor her blood sugar 24 hours a day. You help her figure out how much insulin to take by shot or through an insulin pump. It is a nonstop, unpredictable roller-coaster ride with your child’s life on the line.

This is a confusing time to be an American. We seem divided about everything, right down to the very basics of what it means to be an American, to be a productive member of our society.

But here’s a family that by all appearances is doing everything you would ask of them. The father works two jobs. They pay their bills. There’s just not enough at the end of the month to shoulder the back-breaking financial burden of diabetes.

So, because their daughter lost the medical lottery and became one of 1.25 million Americans with Type 1 diabetes, does that suddenly make Nicole Nichols and her family a bunch of freeloaders to be swatted away with an email from your iPhone?

I don’t think so.

The parents of children with diabetes are fighters. And I promise that the thousands of us across the country watching this story unfold have Nicole Nichols’ back.

But something tells me Rep. Guice is no match for her anyway.

Michael Hotchkiss is a former editor at The Clarion-Ledger and the father of a 9-year-old son who has Type 1 diabetes.