TikTok has become more than just a place to dance along to the latest trend; it has become a platform for advocacy for many issues, and diabetes has received increased exposure thanks to this social media app. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a TikTok of a very young boy putting on his own Dexcom G6! And he did it with confidence, bravery, and pride. I wanted to share Daxon’s story in the hopes that it inspires others as well. I reached out to his mom who was gladly happy to chat.
Hi Cassie, thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions! I would love for our community to get to know Daxon a little better! He is such a great role model for other children living with type 1 diabetes (T1D)!
At what age was Daxon diagnosed and what were the symptoms?
Daxon was diagnosed exactly 1 month from his second birthday at 23 months old.
He started to get a bad temper spring of 2019 and we never understood why. He would get so upset so easily and we just thought it was because of terrible twos. In July, he threw up twice one morning for no reason and out of the blue. He started throwing up at nighttime multiple nights in a row and only at night. I took him to his pediatrician, and they told me “it’s probably the stomach bug, it’ll pass” but I told him “but randomly like that? It doesn’t make sense”.
After about two weeks, it stopped until August. He threw up one more time in the morning and then stopped. Once again, we had no idea why. At the end of August he started drinking and peeing excessively. What really gave it away was that he was drenched from head to toe in pee after a 2-hour nap period one day and that was it. I checked his sugar and it was 461 mg/dL (borderline DKA).
How did you as a family adapt to your new normal?
Honestly, we are still trying to adapt. We take it day by day because it is always changing. The one thing about diabetes is that no matter what, it is different each day. Even if you do the same exact thing, sugars will change.
Did you change Daxon’s and/or your family’s diet at all? What are his favorite go-to foods that don’t wreak havoc on his blood sugars? I’m sure lots of moms could use some tips!
I did not completely change his diet, but I do swap stuff out for healthier carbs and a lower glycemic index. He does low-carb bread, cheese, and crackers instead of mac-n-cheese, Go-Gurts, Two Good yogurts instead of the higher-carb ones, chicken meatballs instead of chicken nuggets, Fairlife milk instead of others (because of his milk allergy, but it is better carb-wise also), keto-friendly cereal because others spike so much that I cannot get it down for hours, keto-friendly bread only because the GI level is so much better. There are some other changes, but the family has not changed any really. He does still eat candy, it is just more in moderation than before.
His go-to foods are pork rinds eggs, a brownie bar called “Good to Go”, keto-friendly ice cream, yellow bell peppers, broccoli, really any vegetable, cheese sticks, pepperoni, lollipop suckers. Any time we are out Chik-fil-A, grilled chicken and fruit are a must. That is all I can think of right now.
Photo credit: Cassie Daniels
At what point did you start using the Omnipod and Dexcom G6? How did Daxon handle that?
The Dexcom was a month after being diagnosed and he did not handle it well at first. We would have to hold him down to get him to let me put it on. It was a nightmare but once he watched a friend of ours put her’s on and she told him “you have a robot just like me” he got used to it and now it is normal. When his phone tells us it’s time to change it, he’ll tell me “robot needs changed” and he will 100% do it solo now which is amazing.
The Omnipod was a little different. His first endo wouldn’t approve it because they thought he would take it off, so we had to wait but once we switched to a different hospital, they got him on it right away; so, he was about 7 months in when he was able to get the pod. At first, once again — NOT a fan and it was horrible — but once he learned it meant “no more shots” he was perfectly fine with it (sometimes). We will scream — and I mean scream — the song “Baby Shark” so he will not hear the clicking for the needle and that seems to help also. He is currently working on putting the insulin in his pod so he is super excited about that.
I know I personally prefer shots, but am often intrigued by the control some pumpers get. Do you find using the pump helps make blood sugar management easier?
The pump for us personally is a lot better for different reasons. Omnipod allows such a small dose, so even 1 gram of carbs he would get some insulin, but with shots, we would have to round up or down, which meant [more fluctuations for him]. Also, in the middle of the night, being able to give him insulin without even touching him has been great. I hated waking him up to poke him with a needle. Also, when on the go we can dose from the front seat of the car. However, if he ever decides that he wants to stop the pump and go back to shots I will support him and what he wants 100%.
@cdaniels2015 95% completely solo 💙💙💙💙 He’s get the hang of this soooo quickly 😭🙏💙 #typeonediabadass #BigBoy
I couldn’t believe my eyes when my diabestie, Hillary Emmons, sent me this TikTok of Daxon changing his own Dexcom! I am so impressed and inspired! At what point did he express interest in doing that?
After about six months of being a type 1, he has always been curious about everything. He has been checking his own sugar with the meter since about 6 months in when needed to be checked. And recently he was really showing interest in the Dexcom and doing it solo. He did half of it one day and then the next change he did it completely on his own, all I did was hold it and help place it. I never asked him to do it because I didn’t think he was ready for that task yet but that day he told me “I do it” and that was it. Now he is showing interest in some of the Omnipod stuff, which is amazing because he feels in control.
I give you credit as a parent for letting him own his management and giving him the confidence to know he can manage his disease! What would you like to tell other parents about how to get children to want to be a part of their daily care?
Make it positive, make it fun, and make it normal. We have the JDRF bear and we practiced on that since being diagnosed. At first, we used it so he could understand more of it. We also got his big brother and all the other family members involved since day one. We check everyone’s sugars, so it is normal for everyone. All the children in our family (our boys and our 3 nieces) have been very curious about it since day one.
I see you are using TikTok as a platform for awareness and this one video alone got over 103,000 likes! Kudos! What would you like people to take away from your videos?
I want people to know the signs of T1D and to normalize it. I hate when I see people hide that they check their sugar or even giving their self insulin. I want to help parents have a voice for their children because doctors sometimes do not listen, and we need to be loud for our children and to follow their gut. I have a lot of people say that he encouraged their children to try putting the Dexcom on solo and I love that it is helping other children also. One of my TikToks potentially saved a child from dying. Her sugar was almost 1000 mg/dL and she was in DKA and doctors were surprised she wasn’t in a coma. Children should not die for people [not being able] to figure out what is wrong!
Does Daxon enjoy making the TikTok videos? I think “injecting” some humor and fun is the best medicine of all! And one you can all do together as a family!
Daxon loves showing people his stuff. He knows it makes him unique and he loves seeing others who are like him. So, when people duet his videos and they show their Dex or pod it’s helpful for him also to see that there are others like him.
Photo credit: Cassie Daniels
What else does Daxon like to do with his free time when he’s not managing his diabetes and TikTok’ing?
Daxon is a typical boy and I mean ALL boy. He rough houses with his brother, loves to color, help with dishes, cooking, loves to read books, play outside, ride his 4-wheeler, and absolutely loves cuddling with me. I think him being a T1D made our bond even stronger.
How does Daxon feel about being a TikTok sensation and knowing that he is helping to inspire many other children just like himself!
I have told him many times that he is helping other children and I don’t think he really understands what it means yet, but he always smiles and says “they have a robot like me” or he’ll go “yay that makes me happy”. I ask him “do you want to make a video?” and normally he’ll tell me “yessss let’s make a video”. I will never make him make TikToks so if he tells me no then I’ll leave it alone.
I ask this in every interview! Do you think they’ll be a cure in Daxon’s lifetime?
100% honestly I do not foresee a cure ever. They make way too much money from insulin (when it should be free, but that’s another story for another time). I wish there would be a cure, but I don’t see it happening.
Photo credit: Cassie Daniels
What advice helped you? Can you pass it along to parents of newly diagnosed children?
My advice for parents is:
- Take one day at a time because it is an always-changing, never-stopping, headache of a disease.
- Do your best and never get down on your child for their blood sugars. That is the one thing I will never do to Daxon, anytime he has “bad” sugars, I never express it to him or show it on my face because it is not his fault, so I don’t want him to feel like he is failing.
- Always tell your child they can still do anything they like and never change activities. Just change foods to help [manage sugars during] the activities. For example, we took Daxon and his brother to a trampoline park and I knew his sugar was going to drop. He started at 170 mg/dL and dropped to 50 mg/dL. I was prepared with milk, yogurt, chocolate, and others, so he could still have fun and be a kid.
- Try not to have a fight if sugars are not in range, because everything is magnified if high or low. So what I do with Daxon if he is high or low and has a temper tantrum, I ignore it and let him do what he needs to do. Once he calms down, we discuss what happened and I explain I understand he doesn’t feel good but he doesn’t need to act that way.
- Treat them like you would any other child because diabetes does NOT define them.
Where do you see going with your advocacy and awareness on social media or elsewhere? Do you have other plans in the future?
I would love to bring more awareness to this disease. I would love for there to be a law that pediatricians must check A1c every year or every other year. They check your iron, and they check lead so why not diabetes? [Some] pediatricians think that younger children cannot get diabetes until at least six years old which is not true. It is ridiculous because a child’s death is avoidable if people were more aware of the signs and doctors tested when they should.
Thanks again Cassie, we really appreciate you taking the time! I look forward to continuing to follow Daxon’s journey and see how many kids he inspires along the way!
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