MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Children’s Minnesota is known for the superior care they provide to children regarding their physical health.
But today we want to highlight what they are doing to support children’s mental health as well.
For Cottage Grove’s Yesica Mercado Munoz, their happy childhood was punctuated with a sad reality.
“Everything really changed when I was diagnosed with diabetes. It changed my whole life, ”said Mercado Munoz. “And I had to take on more responsibility as a child than many children didn’t have to.”
At 10, Mercado Munoz was losing weight – she was only 45 pounds, the size of a 3-year-old – when a doctor diagnosed her with type 1 diabetes. She was quickly hospitalized in Children’s Minnesota.
“I started with about eight injections a day,” she said.
The once free spirit was bound by blood sugar checks every three hours. Over the years it really began to make its way into the now 19-year-old University of Minnesota.
“I think it’s really setting in because this is a chronic disease that you will have for the rest of your life,” she said. “And the idea that this will never go away, that you will never get a break, is really hard on your sanity.”
She got tired of jogging with friends and had to monitor her eating while her colleagues ate freely.
“It’s always good to seek help when you need it,” said Mercado Munoz.
She did just that in Children’s Minnesota and found an ally in Dr. Sarah Gonzalez.
“The most rewarding part of the job is watching kids thrive,” said Gonzalez.
In an innovative collaboration, Gonzalez works specifically at Children’s Minnesota to counsel and strengthen the mental health of diabetes and neurology patients.
“Patients with diabetes are more likely than healthy teenagers or children to have mental health problems, anxiety, and depression,” said Gonzalez.
A case in point is Mercado Munoz, who received therapy and life management skills from Gonzalez.
“It gets me in so many other ways that many psychologists just don’t understand me or others never will,” said Mercado Munoz.
“Mental health is health,” said Gonzalez. “The stigma is subsiding, but the resources and access are not quite there.”
Her hope is that more Minnesotans will donate to children to help build the mental health program.
“It made my well-being so much better, I feel so much happier,” said Mercado Munoz
And children who are happier in the present make for a better future.
“Ultimately, I want to be a medical assistant, go to PA school, become a medical assistant and hopefully one day work for children,” said Mercado Munoz. “You won’t get rid of me.”
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