The Most
C hallenging
Role by MINDY HERMANN, M.B.A., R.D.
You may remember her as Liz Chandler on Days of our
Lives, but behind the scenes, Gloria Loring has had to play
a much more difficult role—the mother of a child with type
1 diabetes. When she became pregnant, Gloria was on top of the world. A
successful singer, songwriter, recording artist, and actress, she was traveling
the country appearing on talk shows and variety shows. But once her son,
Brennan, was born, she happily threw herself into becoming a dedicated and
health-conscious mother.
Real-Life Drama
Gloria realized Brennan was having trouble when he was 4 years old. “We
attended a family reunion in Canada. During our trip, I noticed things that
didn’t seem right,” she says. Brennan was drinking a lot of liquids, urinating
frequently, and wetting the bed. “I asked a relative who was a nurse if she knew
why he might be doing those things. She told me it could be diabetes, so we got
some test strips to see if Brennan was spilling sugar into his urine. The test was
positive. We flew back home immediately to put him into the hospital and start
insulin injections.”
Gloria was frightened. New food rules and restrictions, insulin shots, and
blood glucose management left her feeling overwhelmed and helpless. The first
couple of years were tough. “I had to do and learn so many new things. I made a
poster showing which foods Brennan could eat and in what amounts to balance
his insulin,” she says. “He hated the insulin shots, and they were a traumatic
