Allison Shumate Photography
Rhodes and Alana Ritenour, authors of “The Adventures of Rhodes and Alana: School Bus Secret”
When they were dating and not yet married, Alana and Rhodes Ritenour traveled to Orkney Springs in Shenandoah County with his parents. On the last morning of their trip, Rhodes ran around packing and loading the car while Alana and his mother cooked breakfast.
“We finally sat down at the table, and Rhodes had barely gotten in a bite when his blood sugar tanked, and [it] threw him into a seizure,” Alana recalls. “It was terrifying.”
While Rhodes’ mother tended to him, Alana ran for an emergency kit. “I was shaking and so upset and trying to put this complicated device together, and the needle broke off,” she says. “The ambulance was 20 minutes away, so we were literally the only lifeline to save Rhodes.”
Rhodes’ mother found some old ice cream in the freezer and rubbed a spoonful on the inside of his cheeks so that he could absorb the sugar. Her trick worked, and Rhodes recovered.
Alana has been by Rhodes’ side ever since, supporting him in his journey with diabetes. Now married for 14 years with one law degree each and two children, the Ritenours have just published their first book. The story follows Rhodes, an 8-year-old with Type 1 diabetes. In “School Bus Secret,” Rhodes meets his best friend — Alana, of course — in the first book of the planned children’s series, “The Adventures of Rhodes and Alana.”
“When I was first diagnosed, I would have loved a book about a boy living life to the fullest without diabetes holding him back,” Rhodes says.
Rhodes was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 5. Once called juvenile diabetes, Type 1 diabetes can be diagnosed at any age, and the autoimmune disease has no known cure. Scientists believe Type 1 diabetes is triggered by a virus, causing the body to attack the pancreas. When someone with Type 1 diabetes eats, their body doesn’t produce the insulin necessary to carry glucose from the bloodstream into the body for energy. Low blood sugar can cause seizures like the one Rhodes had, while high blood sugar can lead to circulation problems, eyesight issues and kidney failure.
As a child, Rhodes didn’t get to go on sleepovers or to summer camp due to his treatment regimen. Several times a day he pricked his finger, put his blood on a strip and checked his glucose manually on a traditional meter. Rhodes estimates he has pricked his finger over 80,000 times and taken more than 20,000 insulin injections — numbers he includes in the book.
Even when the technology became available, Rhodes refused to wear an insulin pump. “I didn’t want that visible sign of being different,” he says.
A few years ago, he got a continuous glucose monitor that he inserts, along with an insulin pump, into his hip. The monitor checks his blood sugar every five minutes, and the pump gives his body insulin as needed. The devices are paired to an app so Rhodes and Alana can monitor his glucose levels. And now, instead of a complicated device to deliver the glucose-controlling hormone glucagon, Alana and Rhodes have glucagon nasal spray to use in a life-threatening emergency — a far cry from the freezer-burned ice cream that saved him as a young man.
“It’s important to realize how far the technology has come,” Rhodes says. “Unfortunately, a lot of kids don’t have commercial insurance or can’t afford a CGM. In the book, I wanted to show them they could still manage it and it’s still going to be OK even if you don’t have access to the latest and greatest.”
The Ritenours plan to introduce new technology as the series progresses; two more stories have already been written. In the first book, little Rhodes is on an insulin pump, and in the planned second book, he gets his first CGM, allowing him to go on a field trip without his mom. In the third book, a sibling participates in a clinical trial.
The couple created the series to normalize the disease, providing a basic knowledge without diabetes dominating the theme. “So many families tell me their children don’t know how to tell their friends,” Alana says. “It’s hard to explain a chronic illness when you just want to be treated like everyone else.”
When writing the first book, they relied on their children as an in-house focus group. Their daughter is 9 years old, and their son is 7.
“Our kids have been very helpful with the process and provide feedback on the illustrations and storyline,” Rhodes says.
The couple partnered with Richmond illustrator Crystal Cregge on the book, which is set in Richmond. In future books, they plan to incorporate more local flavor, such as a Richmond Flying Squirrels game that Rhodes attends with his youth baseball team. The series will address other childhood issues, such as making friends, dealing with bullying and getting an individualized education plan at school to provide accommodations.
“We also hope to relate to kids with other disabilities that make them feel different — whether that’s autism, asthma or allergies,” Rhodes says.
Proceeds from the book series will go toward the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, American Diabetes Association and the Diabetes Support Group, which the couple founded in 2010. Last year, Rhodes was named to the American Diabetes Association National Board of Directors, and Alana was named to the board of the Mid-Atlantic chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. The couple credits both organizations with helping advance technology and lower the cost of insulin.
In January, the federal Inflation Reduction Act capped insulin at $35 per month for Medicare patients. Next year, thanks to a partnership between Richmond-based Phlow and Civica Rx of Utah, a $140 million insulin production plant will open in Petersburg to produce insulin for no more than $30 a vial. One vial of insulin in the U.S. ranged from $100 to $300 in 2018, according to RAND Corporation. Most patients with diabetes need two to three vials per month.
“You shouldn’t have to choose between filling your grocery carts and getting prescriptions,” Rhodes says. “It’s exciting and encouraging work that’s being done right here in Richmond.”
“The Adventures of Rhodes and Alana: School Bus Secret” is available at Bbgb bookstore in Carytown and via major online bookstores.
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