WATERLOO - Initially, Cindy Heyerhoff thought her 4-year-old son had the flu. He complained of a stomachache and other symptoms common to the virus.

But then little Zachary's vision blurred and he was hit with overwhelming fatigue. He had extreme thirst and began wetting the bed.

"I had a bad feeling that something was really wrong," said Heyerhoff. "We took him to Urgent Care, and as soon as we described the symptoms, they ordered blood tests."

The family was sent to the emergency room where it was a "whirlwind," Heyerhoff said. When the diagnosis came back, the family was shaken. Zachary had type 1 diabetes, previously known as juvenile diabetes.

"It was traumatic. He was only 4 and didn't understand why all those people were poking at him," Heyerhoff said. "We were just inundated with education, how to care for him and manage this. It was so overwhelming."

According to the American Diabetes Association, type 1 diabetes is usually diagnosed in children and young adults. In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar (glucose), starches and other food into energy needed for daily life.

Zachary's food intake would have to monitored closely, and he would need insulin treatments for the rest of his life, something the preschooler wasn't equipped to understand.

"Zachary thought that when we came home from the hospital he was done with it. When he realized, 'OK, I've got to have these shots, it was terrible. My husband and I would take turns holding him down until he got used to the fact that this is part of his life."

Now 7 and a first-grader, Zachary is used to the pokes. He's now on an insulin pump, which alleviated insulin injections, but his blood sugar must be checked up to 10 times per day with a needle prick on his finger.

"We try to rotate his fingers. We use all 10, a couple of pokes per finger each day. His fingers do look pretty hammered," Heyerhoff said.

When Zachary started school, his parents worried how he would fare without their constant monitoring of his diabetes. Amy Sinnwell, a diabetes nurse educator at Allen Hospital, said part of her job is to educate parents, teachers and others about type 1 diabetes.

"Education is huge," Sinnwell said. "We teach the patient, the family, the school nurse, the teacher. It affects everybody who is going to be involved with the patient."

Zachary has done fine in school and continues to thrive on treatment.

"For the most part, he has accepted it," his mom said. "A couple of times he has said, 'I don't want to do this anymore. I just want be normal,' and it just breaks my heart."

Zachary will take up his own cause, though, on Feb. 9, when he and his family join the more than 1,000 people who are expected to gather at College Square Mall in Cedar Falls to raise research dollars for type 1 diabetes.

The Heyerhoffs will participate in the first Greater Iowa Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Cedar Valley Area Walk to Cure Diabetes. Participants can stroll the mall (and maybe even window shop) in the hopes their efforts will lead to a cure for juvenile diabetes, which the JDRF says afflicts as many as 3 million Americans.

"It's the first walk of its kind in the Cedar Valley area," said Mary Henry, special events coordinator for the JDRF Greater Iowa Chapter. "We've had one in Cedar Rapids for the last nine years, and so many families had diagnoses in the Cedar Valley that they said 'we should have our own walk.'" The Greater Iowa Chapter serves 52 families in the Cedar Valley, and "we get diagnoses almost every day," Henry said.

Walkers may choose a 1-mile or 3-mile course inside the mall, and first aid stations will be available. The mall is wheelchair accessible, and strollers are welcome.

Organizers say the walk has been successful in other communities and are excited to see it get off the ground in the Cedar Valley.

"The purpose of the walk is to educate people about diabetes, to raise awareness, to raise funds for research to find a cure," Henry said. "Insulin is not a cure. It's only life support until a cure can be found."

Go and do

What: Cedar Valley Area Walk to Cure Diabetes by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

When: Feb. 9. Registration begins at 8 a.m. Walk begins at 10 a.m.

Where: College Square Mall, Cedar Falls

More info: www.jdrf.org