In 2001, my world completely turned upside down. I was rushed to the emergency room, unconscious, and the doctors discovered I had a blood glucose level of 1587 mg (88.2 mmol for my UK friends) When I woke up from a coma, I was told I had Type One Diabetes and that my life would never be the same. I was two weeks away from my 14th birthday.
Diabetes was very different in 2001 than it is today. My insulin pump was big and bulky and people were always asking me if it was a pager, or called me part machine. It led to some pretty heavy depression, which stayed with me as I got older. I was told by many people that I wouldn’t be able to do particular things, which made me even more determined to do them. When I graduated from high school, I went on to study theatre and was told by more than one professor that I should choose a different area to study. In 2010, I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance and was accepted into the Walt Disney College Program, at Walt Disney World in Florida. I had some pretty amazing jobs in my 6 years with Disney, and it was here that I found the inspiration for Princess Prilla and her Pretty Pink Pump. I often saw children with insulin pumps or sensors, visiting with the characters. One such evening, I was working with Cinderella and welcomed a family into the room. The children went straight up to Cinderella but I noticed the little girl hiding behind her mother. I knelt on her level and lowered my voice so only she could hear me. “Princess, don’t you want to come meet Princess Cinderella?” She hid even more and mumbled something I could barely hear. But I heard it and it made my heart sink.
“I can’t. I’m a freak.” I looked to her mother, startled, and her mother quietly explained that she had just been diagnosed with Diabetes and was wearing an insulin pump, which made her feel very self-conscious. I sat beside her and pulled out my own insulin pump (which turned out to be the exact same as she had!) To make the experience even more magical, Cinderella came up behind us and said “I see you have the same insulin pump as my best friend AniKa does! Would you like to come into the light so I can see it better?” There was not a dry eye in the room, Cinderella’s included. That night, I went home and started writing Princess Prilla and her Pretty Pink Pump. Using my own experiences as well as what I had heard from children at work, I worked for 3 ½ years, creating a little princess who is diagnosed with Diabetes and discovers the challenges of living with an insulin pump. When I told my friends about the idea, they were excited and shocked. We have never seen something that deals so specifically with Diabetes before, and there are so many children living with this disease, that I decided I wanted to change that. I always heard growing up, if there is a character that you want to see, just create it yourself. I hope this book speaks to not only the little warriors out there but to anyone who knows someone with Diabetes.
I always wanted to be a writer. Since I was a child, it was my number one aspiration. I grew up loving YA books that were full of magic and adventure. Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Peter Pan are just a few of my favorites and these books all helped me through some difficult years. Working at Disney was amazing but pixie dust doesn’t heal the body. My Diabetes worsened and I received some devastating news, which made me leap into action immediately. Working on Prilla gave me courage to continue and when things got better, I decided I had to try to get it published, because this little princess had helped me so much; I could only imagine what she could mean to thousands of young children.
In 2018, I signed a contract and announced to my friends and family that Prilla would finally meet the world. I just received my box of books and it had to be one of the most incredible moments of my life. This book is dedicated to my mother, who raised me as a single parent. She stood right next to me as I opened the box and I gave her the first copy as joyful tears streamed down my cheeks. Seeing all of my work combined with my illustrator’s gorgeous designs is one of the biggest blessings God has granted me. Neither the writing process nor the publication process is easy, but it so unbelievably worth it in the end. I hope that this book touches and changes lives around the world.
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