Alaina Riley is pictured in snowboarding gear from a previous trip. Riley was in first grade when she received her diagnosis in May 2013. 

MOULTRIE – It’s been ten years since Alaina Riley was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Now she’s paving a path for others while advocating for Type 1 diabetics.

Riley was in first grade when she received her diagnosis in May 2013. Her lifestyle changed drastically after being released from the hospital following a seven-day admittance. During that week, her parents Nancy and Jason Riley were being educated on the illness. That month, the Rileys returned to Moultrie after living in Middle Georgia for several years.

“It was just weird going back to school. It was a big change with having to dose before my lunch, having to count carbs, and other first graders having to know that I have a disease,” Alaina Riley said.

Her mother Nancy said, “When she was first diagnosed, we didn’t have all the devices and equipment that she has now. She was having to take shots, so we would have to carry this bag of stuff around with us everywhere with syringes and pens back then.” Alaina recalled visiting the school nurses throughout the day to receive her insulin doses every day.

“It was a little harder because it takes some time. I remember I would go before lunch, and everybody would already be at lunch. Then after lunch, I’d go again and I’d miss a little bit of class because we were dosing in the nurse’s office,” she said.

Ten years later, Alaina is entering her senior year at Colquitt County High School. Monitoring her illness has gotten easier, but it also has presented different challenges she adapts to daily such as checking her glucose levels before driving. Her visits to the school nurse have decreased, though.

“We’ve not had a bad nurse in the school system, and Suzanne Sumner, the [Colquitt County School District] director of nursing, is awesome. The nurses that we’ve had have done an excellent job of taking care of her. They are willing to understand that every student that has diabetes is going to be a little bit different,” Nancy Riley said. Alaina wears a tubeless insulin pump called the Omnipod 5 and a continuous glucose monitor called the Dexcom attached to her body. Together, the pump and monitor communicate with each other to regulate her blood sugar. Alaina and her parents are able to view her glucose levels through an app.

“It’s a lot easier. With the pens, you had to calculate how much you need to take, dial it up and get your needle to do it. I also had to carry around a bunch of needles and pens. The Omnipod is just this little fun [device]. It’s pretty easy to just type in your carbs and your blood sugar and it doses for you. It was a big change for the better,” Alaina Riley said.

Riley is also growing into an advocate for others with Type 1 diabetes. In May of her ninth-grade academic year, she created an Instagram page “@alainagotdiabetes” to raise awareness about living with diabetes and show the importance of having representation.

“A bunch of other diabetics have a separate account for their diabetes. They talk about like how these are my blood sugar levels today, this is how I took care of it or this is my new pump. I thought that’d be pretty cool, so I downloaded it and it just grew,” she explained. She recently began modeling with Michelle’s Formal Wear in Adel and often showcases her monitors.

“When I started modeling, I used that as an opportunity to show off my pump and Dexcom. I wanted to show other teens, it’s okay to not hide it. In fourth grade, I remember I used to hide it because it was kind of weird to wear. Now I want to show it, so people ask about it. Now I want other people to know, it’s okay to show it,” she said.

Alaina Riley looks forward to continuing to participate in the Colquitt County Future Farmers of America organization and pursuing a growing interest in welding. After graduating high school, she wants to attend college and obtain a degree in psychology. Her supportive family includes parents Nancy and Jason Riley, brothers Mitchell and David, and sister-in-law Cassidy.