Rare Diabetes Can Disable in a Moment

It’s a fear that people with an uncommon form of diabetes live with every day: Being helpless in a moment of crisis.

The 18-month-old son of Pacific Symphony Orchestra conductor Carl St.Clair drowned in a neighbor’s Laguna Beach pool on Monday while the boy’s mother, Susan, was disabled by diabetic shock.

The risk of such sudden and incapacitating reactions is part of life for those afflicted with so-called juvenile diabetes. They must test their blood many times a day--and even with every precaution, they can suffer a disabling diabetic shock or coma, in some cases without warning.

“You can do everything right, watch what you eat, monitor your blood sugar, and still things can go wrong,” said spokesman Peter Sheridan of the Los Angeles chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. “There are so many unknown factors that you can’t predict.”

Type II diabetes, which affects at least 90% of the nation’s estimated 16 million diabetics, is most common in overweight people over 40 and can be controlled through diet, exercise and oral medication. But those steps are not enough for those with Type I diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes: Constant vigilance and life-giving shots of insulin also are necessary.

“Every day is like balancing an egg on the tip of your nose,” said Dr. Robert Goldstein, vice president of research for the national Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

If their blood sugar drops too low, people with Type I diabetes suffer a hypoglycemic reaction, which can begin with shaking and dizziness and lead to unconsciousness. If their blood sugar level soars too high, a hyperglycemic reaction can lead to a coma.

“If you’re a young person, you look great, but in the back of your mind, you know, even if you did everything right, maybe something bad will still happen to you,” Goldstein said. “That affects you in ways that someone who doesn’t have that burden to bear can’t know.”

Susan St.Clair has struggled with diabetes since it was diagnosed at 16, friends say. Last year, emergency crews were called out twice to her home in Laguna Beach.

Family members could not be reached to confirm that Susan St.Clair has Type I diabetes. But the early onset of her illness and reports that she requires regular insulin injections indicate this is the case, experts say.

A Mass will be said Friday for the couple’s son, Cole St.Clair, at 10 a.m. at St. Catherine’s Catholic Church, 999 Temple Terrace, Laguna Beach. Burial will follow at Pacific View Memorial Park, according to Rebecca Menes, spokeswoman for the Pacific Symphony Orchestra.

Visitation is scheduled for 2 to 4 p.m. today at Pacific View Memorial Park chapel, 3500 Pacific View Drive, Newport Beach. A vigil will take place at 7 p.m. at St. Catherine’s Church.

The St.Clairs have established a memorial fund in their son’s name for the orchestra’s education programs, Menes said. Donations to the fund may be sent to 1231 E. Dyer Road, Suite 200, Santa Ana, CA 92705.

News of the tragedy hit home with Mila Levy, 42, of Calabasas, who has lived with Type I diabetes since she was 22. Levy, a mother of four, says what happened in the St.Clair case is what all diabetics fear.

Shortly after her first child was born 12 years ago, it happened to her: “My husband came home one day and found me passed out on the couch. My son was on the floor with the dogs by himself. I woke up and I burst into tears. Luckily, nothing happened.”