Diabetic Brothers Now Published Authors

It used to be that when Spike and Bodie Loy got requests for their popular manuscript about living with diabetes, they would have to update the pages on their home computer and run off copies at the local Kinko’s.

Now, when asked about “Getting a Grip on Diabetes,” the young brothers can refer calls to their own public-relations firm.

Spike, 20, and Bodie, 18, are basking in the glow of success this week as their first book--published this month by the American Diabetes Assn.--hits bookstores and online retailers.

“I was stoked when I saw it,” said Spike Loy, now in his second year at Stanford University, majoring in human biology and business. “Everything we wanted was in there.”

“It’s pretty cool,” said Bodie Loy, who is a freshman at USC studying biotechnical engineering. His mom brought him a copy after a box of the books was delivered to their Ojai home in early December. “It was a lot of work, so it was great to see the fruits of our labor. I’m stoked about it 24-7.”

The 130-page book is also the first-ever guide for diabetes targeting children and teens, said diabetes association officials.

“It’s a great book and something kids and teens can relate to,” said Lee Sequeira, associate director of book publishing for the ADA. “Spike and Bo give great advice--real-life tips for young people living with diabetes.”

Sequeira said the ADA is also publishing a book by the youths’ mother, Virginia Loy, that will look at diabetes from a parent’s perspective. It should be released in the next two years, she said.

The young men, both diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes a year apart from each other (Spike was 7 when he learned he had diabetes; Bodie was 6), are spending their winter vacation doing news interviews, recording radio spots and hosting book-signings.

The brothers said they want their careers to center around diabetes research, but that their futures may include more writing.

The book began as a class project for Spike when he was a senior at Nordhoff High School, and it took off a little more than a year ago when the America Diabetes Assn. agreed to publish it.

“Getting a Grip on Diabetes” is broken down into easy-to-read sections that provide information and lifestyle tips on everything from sports to driving to partying. The brothers write in first-person about their experiences, followed by a “What the Doc Says” section written by pediatric endocrinologists Janet Silverstein and Marc Weigensberg.

Virginia Loy said her sons won’t make much money on the book, despite a $1,500 advance and a contract promising royalties on sales.

The past year has been eventful for both young men, as they’ve learned to adjust to college life. Bodie said the dormitory food and the late-night schedules have been the biggest challenges for him.

But he’s educated all of his new friends--and his fraternity brothers at Delta Chi--about his disease, and he said they’ve been supportive.

Spike spent the summer working as an intern for Cygnus Inc., a biotechnology company in Redwood City in Northern California. Cygnus is developing the GlucoWatch Biographer, a noninvasive glucose monitor worn like a wristwatch.

The product has been approved for use in Europe and is expected to win approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Spike said. The monitor would prevent diabetics from having to do multiple glucose tests--using a needle to draw a drop of blood--each day.

“It was a really exciting thing to work with,” Spike said. “It’s a neat new step.”

Diabetes occurs when the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin, the hormone that allows glucose to be absorbed in cells.

High levels of glucose in the blood can cause frequent urination and thirst. Daily injections of insulin are needed for the body to maintain a normal level of glucose. A “crash” can occur with too low a blood sugar, a condition that can lead to coma or even death.

Dealing with that biological balancing act is a big part of a diabetic’s life, but Spike and Bodie Loy say it doesn’t have to prevent diabetics from doing anything.

“You just have to be a little bit smarter than everyone else,” Spike Loy said.

The brothers said they hope the book--which is available on popular Web sites such as Amazon.com--will do the same for young people across the nation.

“We just want to get it out to lots of kids,” Spike Loy said. “It feels good to know I’ve done something other people might benefit from.”

Diana Schwarzbein, a Santa Barbara endocrinologist who has treated the Loy brothers for the past eight years and wrote the foreword for the book, said she was excited to see it published.

“What’s really great about this book is it really does outline very simple-to-follow suggestions for teenagers,” she said. “I think the book says having diabetes doesn’t mean you can’t achieve.”

She has 25 copies of the guide for her office, and said she plans to tell young people she treats about it.

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FYI

“Getting a Grip on Diabetes” is available online at www.diabetes.org and at most major booksellers.