Slumped semi-conscious on the sofa, Megan Archer summoned up what little strength she had left and fixed the paramedic attempting to hand her a vital glucose tablet with a determined gaze.

Yet a few months later, a neighbor found Ty lying semi-conscious in his driveway; there was another trip to the er, where his medication was adjusted.

In the final week of his life the disease kept him awake in a semi-conscious state nearly twenty-four hours a day. As he dreamed, he'd talk out loud about what he was dreaming.