Judging only by appearance, one would look at Zadie Kaye Bates and see an energetic, playful, beautiful little red-haired four-year-old girl. However, inside this boisterous little bundle of energy, she’s fighting a constant battle that affects around 1.25 million Americans - type 1 diabetes.
Zadie Kaye was just three years old in January of 2019 when her parents, Robb and Amanda Bates, began to notice some alarming symptoms. She seemed to be constantly thirsty, was making more frequent trips to the bathroom, and was losing a little weight. The day that Amanda picked her up from school and her teacher told her that Zadie Kaye had asked for her water cup ten times that day, Amanda decided it was time to visit her pediatrician. A half-day’s time spent running tests yielded results that both shocked and dismayed the Bates family. Not only did Zadie Kaye have T1D, she was in diabetic ketoacidosis, and would have to be transported immediately to Children’s Hospital in Little Rock for treatment.
“We were absolutely in shock,” remembers Amanda. “The doctor came in explaining everything that was about to be done to try and stabilize her blood sugar, and we asked when we needed to do all this and he said, ‘You have to go right now.’ But God had his hand on our family, because luckily for the first time ever, Robb and I and both my parents were there at the doctor’s office - I had plenty of support.”
