Help Marshall and Owin Koethe Takedown Type 1 Diabetes!

Husband, Dad, Son, Provider, Coach….Type 1 Diabetic.

If there is one thing I’ve learned about this life, it’s when you get into a rhythm, start to feel confidence in your groove, it’s got a way of humbling us!

@Brittany-Koethe

May of 2024, our lives changed forever. Resilience had nothing on what was coming our way. It started with what seemed like a common cold, then the next week gastric and seemed to come and go like waves on this trend.

Finally, on May 20, after nearly being sent home again with no answers, we were quickly rerouted to the ER and Owin was hospitalized with an A1C of 12 and BS level of 799 at the U of I Children’s Hospital Pediatric ICU in ketoacidosis. We were very lucky to have persisted because he was an extremely sick kid at that point and had lost nearly 20lbs! He was sent home less than a week later with a new label diagnosis of Type One Diabetes, an autoimmune disorder that caused his immune system to attack his pancreas, leading to his beta cells being destroyed, which means his body wasn’t able to produce insulin or regulate insulin on its own. This was all so wild and crazy because everything I’ve ever known about T1D or diabetes in general is that it’s not contagious, so why is my husband at home dealing with the same array of symptoms? Well, in less than 2 weeks, we had another hospital stay. This time it was Marshall, though. His A1C was greater than 15, and he was in a state of ketoacidosis as well and taken to the Intensive Care Unit at the University also. His doctors, seeing how sick he too was with his numbers, continue to remind us how lucky we are he came in, as he too was very sick, and although the prognosis seemed very strange as an adult, he definitely fit the diagnosis. He too was sent home with the label “Type 1 Diabetes”

Now, this all seemed like a lot, and while we were happy to have answers, the answers came with a huge life change of more doctor visits, specialists, medical supplies, insulin, needles, testing supplies—the list really goes on and on—all while trying to navigate what to eat to sustain their bodies at two different ages and stages and also allow their bodies the time they needed to heal. Because even with all the medicines and technology, their bodies had been through a lot, which brings us here. Owin is a child, and while this prognosis has affected him physically, it’s also a lot to grasp mentally. We are beyond thankful as an athlete he finds so much joy and an outlet in wrestling, and we are surrounded by an amazing community of people who support and want to see him excel and succeed in all things in life. And that’s the thing about kids—they are so resilient. But adults, we have other obligations, bills, daily stresses, and for Marshall, as our main provider, recovery has not gone so simply. We have been blessed to have good health, and Marshall has always been able to provide, but right now, we need for him to be able to also take care of his health, and with orders from his doctor, that meant the physical demands he used to be able to fulfill doing asphalt had to take a back burner until his body has recovered which left him out of work this summer! Based on the timing of when he was diagnosed, this took a huge hit on our finances during the season he would have typically exceeded our means, and while we thought we would trudge through this and come out eventually, we have just hit hard times. So many reached out in the time of diagnosis, but even I could not grasp the waves we would still be riding months later trying to figure all the extra expenses out with the humbling lack of income to ensure we don’t end up back where we were last spring. Now is the time I’m reaching out for that help. We truly do not live out of our means, but it would be a blessing to be able to navigate this new journey without the added financial stress on top of it. So if what we get from sharing their story is prayers for them and our family in this time, we would be beyond grateful, but also if you’re able and willing to donate financially, it would also benefit us so greatly and hopefully allow Owin and Marshall the opportunity to heal and learn this new way of life.