“We’ve adjusted, but we don’t like it.” -Scott Kline
Kelly Humphrey • kelly.humphrey@brainerddispatch.com
Above: Lucas Cline (right) and his brother play with a wheelbarrow at their house in Nisswa. Right: Lucas Cline’s glucometer shows the approximate amount of glucose in Lucas’s blood. Testing Lucas’s glucose concentration helps keep his levels as close to normal as possible.
carbohydrates, so he’s not deprived of anything. The Clines just have to make sure to give him a corresponding amount of insulin so his body can process the sugar. They also have participated in fund-raising efforts to raise money for research to find better diabetes treatwments and a cure. They gathered a team, named Team Lucas, and walked in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Walk to Cure Diabetes at the Mall of America Feb. 25, raising $5,000 for diabetes research.
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Scott Cline said there are treatments on the horizon that are promising. One experimental treatment now in clinical trials involves transplanting islet cells from stem cells into the pancreas of a person with Type 1 diabetes. Once transplanted, the cells begin to produce insulin. Another treatment that recently started in clinical trials is the creation of an “artificial pancreas,” in which a computer device would monitor and administer insulin on its own. While Cline often sees the consequences of uncontrolled diabetes in patients who come through
the ER, he realizes that it doesn’t mean this is Lucas’ destiny. Many children with Type 1 diabetes go on to lead normal, healthy lives. The Clines are optimistic a cure will be found in their young son’s lifetime. “We’ve adjusted, but we don’t like it,” Scott Cline said of his son’s diabetes. JODIE TWEED is a former Brainerd Dispatch reporter who is now a freelance writer for several area publications. She lives in Pequot Lakes with her husband and three daughters.